Movie
based on the life of Olympic runner Billy Mills
and his
internal and external journey as a North American Indian, born and raised, in a
Native American reservation. He confronts problems and obstacles but overcomes
all of them and surprises everyone at the end by, not only competing in
the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but also taking the gold medal.
He goes through a time of adaptation when he gets to Kansas University because he is received with judgment. Not knowingly, he too judged his fellow teammates. In time his teammates respect him and even finds a friend in his roommate. He falls in love with a well to do young girl, who exposes him to another side of the American culture. His coach though obsessed with winning had the best intentions with his training. He saw the incredible potential in Mills but was biased by past experiences with Native Americans that had quit whenever they got homesick. Billy Mills did not quit simply because he was homesick but the visit from Frank and Eddie Mills made him feel that by following his dream to become an Olympic runner he would be betraying his culture, his people and his family. When he leaves, on his way home he encounters two children that ask him if he will become the second “brother” to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Because he is going through a very difficult time this shocks him and makes him smile. After the kids leave he expresses nostalgia, as if already missing his dream and what could have been.
His time back home was a short one, for the death of Frank Mills, wakes him up and gives him the drive and confidence he needed. He graduates from Kansas University and enlists in the Marines Reserve. As a Marine he trains to be a runner once again. He makes the US Olympic team and places second, because of this he was not considered a contender in the 10,000m race. At the Tokyo Olympics, the real contenders were the representatives of Australia, Ethiopia, and Tunisia. During the last lap of the race he was pushed by Clarke (runner for Australia) and later pushed again by Gammoudi, which landed him in the 4th position. He ran as fast as he could and took the lead again just as he passed the finish line, making him the first, and only, to this day to win the 10,000 meter race. He came from obscurity and became a legend.
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He goes through a time of adaptation when he gets to Kansas University because he is received with judgment. Not knowingly, he too judged his fellow teammates. In time his teammates respect him and even finds a friend in his roommate. He falls in love with a well to do young girl, who exposes him to another side of the American culture. His coach though obsessed with winning had the best intentions with his training. He saw the incredible potential in Mills but was biased by past experiences with Native Americans that had quit whenever they got homesick. Billy Mills did not quit simply because he was homesick but the visit from Frank and Eddie Mills made him feel that by following his dream to become an Olympic runner he would be betraying his culture, his people and his family. When he leaves, on his way home he encounters two children that ask him if he will become the second “brother” to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Because he is going through a very difficult time this shocks him and makes him smile. After the kids leave he expresses nostalgia, as if already missing his dream and what could have been.
His time back home was a short one, for the death of Frank Mills, wakes him up and gives him the drive and confidence he needed. He graduates from Kansas University and enlists in the Marines Reserve. As a Marine he trains to be a runner once again. He makes the US Olympic team and places second, because of this he was not considered a contender in the 10,000m race. At the Tokyo Olympics, the real contenders were the representatives of Australia, Ethiopia, and Tunisia. During the last lap of the race he was pushed by Clarke (runner for Australia) and later pushed again by Gammoudi, which landed him in the 4th position. He ran as fast as he could and took the lead again just as he passed the finish line, making him the first, and only, to this day to win the 10,000 meter race. He came from obscurity and became a legend.
In my opinion Billy Mills is an example of life, because we all have obstacles in life, some harder to surpass than others, but at the end obstacles. We have to learn from Billy that some people want to see us fail, but that a whole lot other wants to see us succeed.
ReplyDeleteYou are right he definitely became a legend, there should be more stories like this published.
ReplyDelete“He came from obscurity and became a legend”
ReplyDeleteI love how sometimes you use these rhetorical sentences in most of your blogs. Is a beautiful way to culminate a blog because it makes you reflect and say “indeed, it is true, he did came from obscurity and he did became a legend”