With the commercial for The Express playing as I type this, I feel a little bad that I'm even typing this. The story of Ernie Davis is a great one, and quite honestly a movie should have been made about him a long time ago. The problem isn't with Ernie Davis or Syracuse or any of the actors. The problem is that the makers of the movie needed to express the racial hatred that Davis confronted his Heisman year. Unfortunately, to do that they had to tell a lie. A movie about the first African-American to win college football's Heisman Trophy includes a dramatic scene from Morgantown, WV where fans hurl garbage and racial epithets at the player and his Syracuse teammates. However, the ugly incident did not happen, according to players on both sides.In fact, Syracuse and West Virginia didn't play in Morgantown that year. Maybe the thinking was that West Virginia is one of the least populated states in the country, and if you have to play off a stereotype of a group of people, might as well be West Virginians. Because there are a lot of stereotypes about West Virginia and Mountaineer fans. Right? Who wouldn't believe it?
A review in the show business publication "Variety" says the movie's "most electrifying sequences portray Schwartzwalder's unbeaten 1959 Syracuse U. team playing West Virginia and Texas -- not exactly two bastions of racial tolerance -- with a level of racist vitriol pouring out of the stands that is a topical reminder of America's racial heart of darkness."Well, when you make a movie about a man that had to fight through stereotypes and racism, you ought to at least be factually correct about it. Otherwise you run the risk of lessening the impact of the Ernie Davis story. That would be and is a real shame. Because I have been looking forward to seeing this movie since I heard about it. But being a West Virginian and a Mountaineer fan, I find myself less and less interested in seeing the movie as time passes. Thanks a lot Mr. Producer man.
Hat Tip: Sports By Brooks
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dennis Quad ... Orange.
Orange ... Dennis Quaid.
Time for cocktails.
Oh John, get over yourself and your team. Out of all the stereotypes of a state, west virginia is usually the last. Try Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, etc. The Southern states. The ones that breathe football. It was a great movie. It's really not distorted. The point that the screenwriter was trying to get the audience to see were the obstacles that Davis had to face, not the west virginia team. Maybe he didn't face west virginia, but he probably did face it somewhere. You're biased just because it's your team, or so you say that's why you don't want to see the movie. Maybe you would just get a taste of what black players back then had to go through. That was the objective...
Well, we all know those things happened. I'm sure there is plenty of factual evidence to back it up as well. So, why not go with the truth and point the finger where it needs to be pointed instead of making something up? I live in a town in West Virginia that has signs at every entrace proclaiming that everyone, no matter their race, color, creed, etc., is welcome. And what I see every day does not match up at all with what is depicted in the movie. I'm just asking for a little honesty.