March
8
Race
Race is a multi-layered film about a famous African America athlete, Jesse Owens, coming into his own on the Ohio State University track team, running the 100 and 200 yard dashes and doing the long jump as well. He encounters much bigotry and racism as he struggles to establish himself as the #1 college athlete in the country, and then the #1 athlete in the world. However, the Olympics in 1936 are held in Berlin, and Hitler hopes to make those games the showcase for German / Aryan superiority. Owens shatters that myth by winning four gold medals.
Please answer two of the following questions:
- Describe Jesse’s relationship with his coach, Larry Snyder. Is Larry racist? What drives Larry to push Jesse to do great things?
- How does Jesse’s relationship with German long jumper Luz transcend the racial and political tensions of the Olympic Games in 1936?
- Describe examples of the racism that Jesse and other black athletes faced in both Ohio in the 1930s and in Berlin in 1936.
- Describe the conflict between the German filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl and German Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Why is there tension between Riefenstahl and Goebbels?
- How does the film portray Jesse Owens as a complex character? Use specific examples from the film.
- Examine the multiple meanings of the word, race, included in this film. Use specific examples from the film.
1. When Jesse first meets Larry, their is obviously tension between the two of them. Larry appears as racist at first, but slowly grows out of his anti-black skin. Snyder is very blunt with Jesse, telling him that he must be willing to work to be on the team. Not considering the fact that Jesse picked cotton in the fields on hot summer days, Jesse becomes very angry that Larry would even begin to question his ability to work. Eventually, Larry and Jesse create a strong relationship; Jesse is almost like a son to Larry. The two carry on conversations and bond like no other. Once Larry sees how talented and genuine Jesse really is, he begins to clear his mind of all of the prejudices he has against blacks. I think that Larry is so driven to help Jesse because he wants Jesse to achieve what he never got the chance to accomplish. At the Berlin games, Snyder shares with Jesse the real reason that he never competed in the Paris Olympics: Larry got in a plane crash that suspended him from competing. Personally, I believe Larry pushes Jesse because he wants him to show his full potential, and he wants to use Jesse to send a message to the world that blacks can do great things, too. What better place to do it than the Olympics?
6. Cleverly, the title of the movie, Race, is a play on words. The word refers to not only the art of racing, but also to how your race affects your life so drastically. In the 1930s, blacks were severely mistreated and given little respect from whites. The movie shows many instances of this, such as when Jesse and his friends boarded the bus and were forced to sit in the back. Also, upon Jesse’s return from his success in Berlin, they held a dinner for him to celebrate his unparalleled accomplishment. When Jesse arrived at the hotel with Larry, the bellhop forced Jesse to use the service entrance because he was black, even though the dinner was being held in his honor! A third instance of many when racial discrimination is shown is when the white members of the Ohio State football team forced Jesse and his friend to wait to shower until every player had finished showering. Just because they were black, they were forced to be courteous to whites in every possible situation. I don’t think I need to fully explain the other definition of race, simply because the movie constantly shows people racing on a track. What I did love, though, about this movie was when Jesse said what he loves most about racing and why he runs. When he is on the track, spectators often boo at him and yell hurtful racial slurs because he is black, but to Jesse they are invisible. He says that when you are in a race, your race does not matter. Nothing matters: not black, white, Christian, Jewish, male, female. Jesse says that the reason he races is to be free of racism for just 10 wonderful seconds. This thought by Jesse is what tied together the two meanings of the word race used in the film.
1)Jesse’s relationship with his coach is pretty much a normal coach athlete relationship but I think they are way closer than any other coach and athlete. They are really close and I think that that’s because Coach Snyder has one shot to try and be important in the world cause hens losing a lot so when he saw that Jesse could run he believed that Jesse could be his one shot. And Jesse he just trusts him because he doesn’t have anyone else and Coach Snyder seems like a good coach and I feel like what really makes their relationship amazing is that they believe in each other. I don’t think Coach Snyder is a racist because he was the first to recognize Jesse’s greatness and he didn’t want Jesse to care about what others say. He also tried to help him with his Daughter and he relates their lives because they both have daughters. I think that the fact that he believes that Jesse can be great is what pushes him but also the fact that he could take it to the Olympics and he could get what himself didn’t work for. He’s trying to give a kid the opportunity he didn’t have.
2) It transcend the racial and political tensions because Luz is white and Jesse is black which to the government of Germany they shouldn’t be friends but they are. When Jesse didn’t know how to do the long jump, Luz helped him and to the German government they might think he gave the Americans the win cause helping him made Jesse win but actually Luz just wanted it to be a fair fight. In Germany, it took a lot for them o accept a black to come and fight for gold but they allowed it but they actually didn’t want their country to befriend him. I believe they might think it was bad for Luz to do that but I think it was good for them to be friends.
At first, Jesse was trying to figure out where to jump from, but overstepped the line which resulted in faults. Luz stepped in and showed him where to jump from so Jesse could qualify. During the games, Jesse and Luz went back and forth setting records, but Luz messed up on his last jump so he could not beat Jesse. He told Jesse to take his last jump, resulting in a new world record. Jesse and Luz showed support for each other and relaxed the tensions. Jesse was not supported by many people in the games because of his race. Luz wanted to prove Jesse could beat him fair and square. By being supportive, Luz showed Hitler and the Nazis they do not control every piece of the games and that they also have no control over who is a good athlete. It was a breakthrough because Jesse set a record and proved anyone can be athletic regardless of religion or race.
Leni Riefenstahl wanted to get the best coverage of the games. She wanted a fair, unbiased portrayal of the Olympics. She included everything she could. Joseph Goebbels, however, was upset because a black person was winning and did not want him shown. He continued to try and control what she filmed, including turning off her cameras on the day of the relay. She refused to let him do that and uncovered her cameras so she could proceed with covering it all. He wanted the film to promote the Nazis and be in favor of Hitler, but Leni only wanted to make her film covering the games. He expected her to be working with Hitler but she wanted to work with the games, essentially. He threatened her to make it how he wanted, but she did not want to follow his mold.
1. I think that at the beginning of the film Jesse’s coach Larry Snyder does seem a little racist. I don’t think that he means to come off that way, but it was just more of him being a white man in that time period where 95% of white Americans were racist in some way or another. However Larry did support Jesse, and took a chance on a black athlete when a lot of other coaches wouldn’t. Larry also had Jesse’s back when white athletes would make fun of him or say that he couldn’t do the things that they could, he told Jesse to block out the noise, he told him to ignore them and focus on his race. Larry and Jesse’s relationship started out a little rough in the beginning, Larry came across as very aggressive and blunt, he told Jesse right off the bat that he had to focus on only running and nothing else. Jesse had a daughter and a fiance back at home and he had a hard time trying to support them. Once Jesse started winning races, and Snyder realized how much potential and talent Jesse had, they started bonding even more. Jesse even said at one point in the film, before he was about to go to Berlin, that Snyder was the only one he wanted to coach him, even though there were Olympic trained coaches that were probably more qualified than Snyder willing to coach him as well.
6) The title of this movie is “Race”, and this title not only refers to the literal race that Jesse Owens is running in Berlin in the 1936 Olympics where he claims 4 gold medals, but also to the color of his skin. Throughout the movie we see racial discrimination against black athletes, from other athletes in the locker room calling black athletes names, and not letting them use the showers until they were finished, to white audience members at track meets yelling at them trying to get them to mess up. We also see this after Jesse comes home from the Olympics, and there is a party in his honor. The man at the front door makes Jesse go in through the back door, where colored people go in. I mean this is his party, he just won 4 gold medals, and the bellhop is making him go in through the service entrance.
4. The conflict between German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and German Minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels is that Leni wants guaranteed access to all of the events. The problem here is that the point of having Leni at the Olympic games was to capture the greatness Germany through the ceremonies and athletes competing for the country, but there is no way to ensure the victories of the German competitors. What good is a propaganda film that shows Germany losing to other countries? Leni’s intentions are with the sole purpose of creating a quality film which captures every event of the 1936 Olympics. On the other hand, Joseph wants something that shows off the strength of Germany. That’s why there is so much tension between the two who are working together, and this is also the reason Joseph tries to prevent Leni’s crew from recording yet another race where America wins. Leni ignores this with a warning to Joseph on telling her what she can and cannot film, and continues to film the games along with later having Jesse redo his record breaking jump in order to recreate the scene despite it not showing off Germany.
6. The duel meaning of the title of Race starts with the obvious. It’s the story of Jesse Owens and his training to becoming a gold medalist in the 1936 Olympics. The series of races he competed in to achieve record breaking times was one of the main points of the movie. These races, however, could be particularly more challenging to him than the other white competitors. Because in a majority of meets he ran, he had to face the challenge of blocking out the derogatory terms shouted at him from in the crowd. The movie also shows how as a black man Jesse Owens did not let his race stand in the way of becoming one of the best of his time at his sport. One of the toughest decisions Jesse had to make in the movie dealt with if he was going to go to Belin and prove his title, or stay at home in protest of the racism brewing in Berlin. Even some of his closest family members told him it was his duty as a minority in society to refuse the Olympics to make a point. In the end, Jesse decided not to let his race determine the result of his career in track so he went to Berlin, and proved even the idea of German supremacy to be wrong by bringing home four gold Olympic medals.
1. Race is the story of African American Jesse Owens and how grew from his humble beginnings in a poor area outside of Cleveland, Ohio, to win four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. He did this at a time when the German leader, Adolf Hitler, was determined to racially cleanse all of Germany. Jesse attended Ohio State University two years prior to the Olympics, which few African Americans did at that time, and ran for their track and field program under white coach Larry Snyder who was determined to see Jesse succeed regardless of skin color. Snyder was motivated to get Jesse to the Olympics because of his own failure to attend the Olympics in his own hay-day. Jesse Owens and his black teammates faced many obstacles, including being told by the football team to shower after everyone else, and faced racial slurs by the football team and their coach. Jesse’s track coach and mentor Larry Snyder however taught him to block out all taunts and jeers and focus on succeeding. There were several aspects in the film that stood out to me. One was when Jesse learned that when he goes to the Olympics, Snyder would not be able to go with him. The whole audience was engaged in Jesse’s internal struggle with his decision to go against the NCAA’s wishes and go to Germany to compete in the Olympics, and to do so without the guidance of Snyder. The pressure of the Olympics without the man who taught Jesse to block hate and reach for better things seemed to only increase which each new event in the movie. When Jesse was alone and standing on the ship’s balcony staring out at the vast ocean, en route to Germany, a large wave of relief washed over me as Jesse’s coach appeared behind him. His coach had paid his own way onboard the ship Jesse and the rest of the Olympic team took to Berlin. I shared Jesse’s surprise when he learned that the coach would not be staying in first class, but rather staying in steerage with Jesse and his other Black teammates. It is clear that their different skin colors did not separate them in the end.
2. Another part that stood out to me was when Jesse Owens beat the highly acclaimed German runner, Carl ‘Luz’ Long. Carl then leads Jesse on a “Victory Lap” around the track in honor of Jesse’s Victory, much to the German leader’s dismay. This shows that Long did not care about their differences, he knew Jesse was the better runner, and celebrated him. It is unclear and probably unknown whether Long really felt entirely at peace with losing to an American, but it was clear racial differences played no part in the competition. It was fairly won, and fairly celebrated thanks to efforts by Long.
1. Coach Snyder is the closest bond that Jessie made during the course of the movie and his Olympic training. There are some points in the movie where Jerry seems like he hates black people, including the scene after the Joe Louis fight. Jerry is always truthful and has no filter with Jessie, and always says what he needs to hear. He is Jessie’s biggest critic because he wants him to be able to achieve what Jerry couldn’t, the Olympic Games. Larry couldn’t go to the Paris Olympics due to a knee injury from flying his plane, however he knows that Jessie is the greatest sprinter in the world and wants Jessie to both realize what he can achieve politically, and fulfill his dreams of going to the Olympics. Throughout the movie the bond between Jerry and Jessie is shown by them being inseparable, even when Jerry couldn’t get on the coaching staff he paid for his own ticket to go with Jessie and the team to Berlin.
2. Jessie’s bond with Luz was one that was on the level only professional athletes can have when they want to face the best, that it is not an issue with winning or loosing but that you went up against the best. This is how both Jessie and Luz became friends, Luz wanted to face Jessie at his best, to see where he ranked. Their friendship transcended lines of race and political lines. Luz being a German during Nazi times means that he was supposed to hate blacks and Jews. However they both just wanted to run, and their sportsmanship was what brought this unorthodox friendship together. The bond in this seemingly normal friendship was seen as wrong by the eyes of Hitler which is shown when he sends Luz off to fight in the war.
2) Jesse’s relationship with the German long jumper Luz transcended the racial and political tensions of the Olympic Games in 1936 by the two athletes knowing exactly what was going on in Nazi Germany, and racist America, and not letting it stop them from becoming friends. When Luz put the towel on the ground to show Jesse Owens where to jump so he wouldn’t get his third foul, the entire audience was shocked. The tension beforehand between the competitors was cold and indifferent, at best. When Luz helped out Jesse, not only did he transcend the invisible barrier that sets competitors apart, but he transcended the barrier that his country was trying to set up against colored people and Jewish. Not only this, but Luz openly embraced Jesse when they went for the victory lap around the track after Jesse won. Clearly, Luz had no stipulations in trying to show his people that what his country was doing—what it was becoming—was wrong. Later, when Jesse visits Luz to share a Coke with him in his room, Luz gives him his 2 cents on what his country was doing to its people. Without directly saying it, the two understood that the amicableness they had demonstrated with each other in front of the entire Olympic audience represented much more than pushing past the tensions from the Olympic competitions—they were representing all that their countries could become.
4) The conflict between the German filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, and German Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels is over how they think Leni’s film—a piece of propaganda to make Nazi Germany look good—should be produced. There is tension between Riefenstahl and Goebbels because of this issue. Leni wants this movie to portray everything that is happening throughout the Olympic Games: she wants Luz arm in arm with the colored Jesse Owens. She wants Jesse Owens winning his medals and the crowd cheering for him. She wants to paint the illusion that Germany, at that time, was a good place to be—not a place of anti-Semitism and racism. Joseph did want to paint this illusion, as well—but not at the cost of actually demonstrating that Germany found colored and Jews acceptable. That’s why he told the crew not to film Jesse Owens, without informing Leni. Leni was furious and told her crew to immediately start filming when she noticed they weren’t at their posts. When she brushed past Joseph, she angrily told him that he had no right to tell her how to make her movie. Leni wanted her movie to be real, to show what Germany could be with men such as Luz. Joseph wanted it to lie by omission to the people, so that it only catered to make Germany look good, without taking away their principles of anti-Semitism and racism. A conversation between Leni and Joseph over Luz’s actions really portrays the tension and conflict the two had. When Luz and Jesse were taking their victory lap, Joseph angrily asked ‘What is he [Luz] doing?’ to which Leni answered, ‘He’s making my movie’. Luz was demonstrating what Leni believed Germany to be—but in Joseph’s eyes, Luz was demonstrating exactly the opposite of what Germany was becoming.
1. Describe Jesse’s relationship with his coach, Larry Snyder. Is Larry racist? What drives Larry to push Jesse to do great things?
Jesse had chosen to attend Ohio State University because his high school track coach told him that the coach there, Larry Snyder, was the best collage track coach. Jesse chose to work with Larry despite the racist atmosphere of the school. Larry was extremely impressed with Jesse’s athleticism, yet pushed him to his breaking point because he knew that Jesse was capable of great things. Both of them respected each other’s athletic positions and as men. Their relationship seemed to be color blind, and was based on mutual respect because they both needed each other’s time and respect to rise to greatness. No I did not view Larry as a racist he didn’t care what color Jesse was he only cared if Jesse was committed to the team and to striving to do his absolute best. The memory of Larry when he was younger and crashed a plane before he was going to attend the Olympics drove Larry to push Jesse into doing great things because he did not want to see someone with such talent like himself blow it all away by doing something stupid and unnecessary.
4. Describe the conflict between the German filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl and German Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Why is there tension between them?
Leni Riefenstahl only cared about making her movie a great movie, where as Joseph Goebbels was focused on keeping the image of power over the German and Nazi regime. They had a large conflict between them because Leni would put stuff in the movie that would show German weakness and Americans strength from individuals who were black or Jewish, which made Goebbels angry because he was concerned that this would harm the German image and make them look weak. The tension between them exemplified by each ones struggle to have power over the other one. For example during the 400 meter relay Goebbels ordered all cameras to be turned off and covered so as not to record another American victory led by Jesse Owens. As soon as Leni learned of this she confronted him in front of his people and ordered the cameras to be turned on and filmed immediately.
1. When Larry first meats Jesse his reaction is not very exciting. He seemed as if he did not see much to come out of Jesse. This could very well be for racist reasons although it is not certain. Racism was very much going on in the time period in which the movie was made around. A majority of the people at that time were racist which would lead us to believe that Larry was being racists in showing that he did not see much to come from the African American racer. Him being racist would greatly explain why their relationship started out how it did. One of the first things that Larry told Jesse after he had told him he wanted to race for OSU was the he would have to put everything that he had into racing and do all it takes. He didn’t really say this in a “I see lots to come out of this guy” kind of way, rather it was a more “Ill give it a shot because what do I have to lose” kind off way. However, as the film goes on and Larry sees the potential that Jesse has he quickly opens his eyes to something new. Jesse opens his eyes to move away from his before racist state of mind. He then does whatever it takes to help Jesse become successful. We also learned that Larry was supposed to go to the olympics when he was a runner. This did not happen, as Larry crashed a plane a day before he was able to compete to win medals and break records. I believe that Larry found someone who was capable of doing what he was going to do before the crash. He felt that Jesse could accomplish what he was not able to. This was a big reason why there relationship escalated as it did. It was because of Jesse that Larry moved away from the racial livelihood that he was living before and into a new one where he could see the good in everyone.
2. Jesse’s relationship with German long jumper Luz transcended the racial and political tensions of the Olympic games in 1936 because both of the men knew that what was going on in America and Germany about racism was not right and they both knew how to make a change. They knew that if they allowed this to stop them from being friends then the racism wouldn’t end. When it was Jesses turn to long jump Luz even helped him out knowing that long jumping was not something that he did regularly. Luz did what Jesse did in the big ten championships, he helped him by letting him know where to jump from and making it easier. Luz knew that Jesse might be able to beat him, but he wasn’t about to take the win because Jesse fouled every jump. He wanted to win or lose fairly and did his best to make this happen. Even though Jesse did in fact win and set another record, the two of them became great friends going against everything that Adolf Hitler wanted for Germany.
1.I would say Jesse and Coach Larry Snyder have a special relationship. In the very beginning of the film, I wouldn’t say that Larry was necessary racist, but I think he was skeptical of his athletic abilities when he was deciding on signing him. I don’t think Larry was perfect either, he probably had some racist views but they defiantly went away after getting to know Jesse. Jesse and Larry trusted each other a lot and both wanted to prove great things to each other at the beginning of the film. Owens had to show that it wasn’t just natural talent and that he would work hard to prove that he deserved to be where he is. Snyder, in my opinion, was trying to prove to Jesse throughout the movie that he was an excellent coach and runner. When you put the two together they were unstoppable. Larry helped provide motivation and coaching skills to help Jesse’s work in running. And Jesse had the talent but I think he held back his opinions a lot, and yes I understand why, but Larry was always there to get him through it and stick up for him. Larry defiantly saw himself in Jesse. He saw the potential that Jesse had and wanted to make him be the best because he could never do that for himself. Larry was too injured to compete in the Paris Olympics so as a coach, he wanted to have the ability to go back to the Olympics and even though not to compete in them himself, but his student. During the whole movie Larry and Jesse grew very close to each other and rely on one and other because they both helped each other’s dreams come true.
6. I honestly before watching the movie didn’t even realize that the title has double meanings. The first way to interrupt the movie is by skin tone or ethnicity. Jesse faced many hardships throughout his life just because the color of his skin. He grew up in poverty with almost nothing, hell he was picking cotton at the age of six! But when he finally got the opportunity to go to Ohio State his family was proud, but just because he made it didn’t meant that it would be easy the rest of the way. Jesse was constantly harassed by the football players for being black. And when they went to Ann Arbor, he was being booed by the fans because is skin tone, but when they watched him compete and break world records, they started to cheer him on. When Jesse was on the boat with everyone to the Olympics, he and the other black athletes were placed in the worst part of the ship cause of their color, and they are Olympians! Hitler also refused to shake hands and congratulate Jesse on his big win. And finally they most disturbing and outrageous thing of it all was during his own celebration dinner, he could go through the white entrance like everyone else. The other meaning has to do with racing. His whole life was meant for Jesse to run and work for a gold medal. He constantly was running and training so he would be able to make a career off of it. He proved everyone that doubted him wrong or judged him by race. He broke so many world records and won four gold medals from his amazing running career.
5. Race portrays Jesse Owens as a complex character because it shows him from all sides. History tends to remember people as all good and no bad but in the film we see Owens was just as human as us. He had an affair while he was away from his wife and daughter, showing that although he was good in so many ways, he definitely had his flaws. He had to fight to get Ruth back and to right the wrongs that he committed. Going to Berlin to participate in the Olympics also was a controversial move by Owens because the NAACP tried to convince him not to go to protest the racism that was happening in Germany. Owens chose to go to Germany despite this and this choice portrays him as complex because he had to make choices that the African American community might have seen as negative.
6. The title of the movie, Race, has multiple meanings. The film focused on the running career of Jesse Owens and a lot of the screen time was his races and how incredible this man was. The film also focused on the deep racism and how race was a big factor in people’s lives at the time. Jesse Owens was a fantastic runner, his times and records can attest to that, but still, he was discriminated against and he had to put up with all the racism that any person during this era had to. At Ohio State University, he encountered a lot of racism from the football team, who kicked Owens and his friends out of the locker room on multiple occasions. Owens also dealt with racism at the Olympics where, even though he had just won gold at the Olympics and was the fastest man alive, Hitler would not meet with Owens because of his race. Another example of the racism during this time period was when Owens and his coach Larry Snyder were attending a dinner held to celebrate Owens’ accomplishments and Owens had to use the service entrance to enter the dinner. Snyder talks to the bellboy and yells, “Do you know who this is?” and the bellboy nods and apologizes that Owens and his wife would still not be allowed to enter through the front entrance. Owens and Ruth enter through a dirty entrance where waiters and the cooks are working to the dinner held to celebrate Owens. This shows blatant and horrible racism and is a big scene in the movie because of this. Owens wasn’t even recognized by the White House for his Olympic accomplishments until after his death, because he was African American. The title Race perfectly sums up the theme of this movie that celebrates a man who brought so much fame and pride to America and still wasn’t recognized by its government because of the color of his skin.
1. I believe that Jessie and his coach, Larry, have a very special relationship. At first Larry is skeptical of Jessie because he claims he is a “natural” at running. Larry does not believe that Jessie will put in the work needed to become the best. After working with Jessie and seeing how fast he really is, Larry pushes Jessie because he believes that Jessie can make it to the Olympics, and take home the gold. Larry fears that if he does not push Jessie, he will not redeem himself for missing his shot to go to the Paris Olympics. I do not think Larry is racist. Throughout the movie, Larry stands up for Jessie. One example of this is at the meet in Ann Arbor. Larry starts to yell at one of the timers for the 100-meter race because he is giving Jessie a slower time than he actually ran. Another example of Larry stands up against racism is when the football coach wants to use the locker room. Larry knows the football coach is racist, and refuses to leave the locker room until he finishes his talk with the team, including Jessie.
6. The first, and most obvious meaning of the title, Race, is the running. Throughout the movie, Jessie Owens is shown running in track meets, breaking records as he goes. The deeper meaning of the title is the theme of racism shown throughout the movie. Jessie Owens was African American, and because of it, is discriminated against throughout the movie. One of the most prominent examples of this racism is when Adolf Hitler leaves the stadium before meeting Owens. Hitler refuses to meet Owens after his first gold medal purely because of the color of his skin. This occurs again later in the film when he stands up and leaves after the American team wins the 400-meter relay, with two African Americans in place of two Jews, who were not allowed to run.
1 & 6
The relationship between Larry Snyder and Jesse was complicated. When Jesse first got to Ohio State, Larry Snyder saw Jesse’s potential but strongly believed in the mantra that hard work beats talent. So Snyder was harsh on Jesse about that fact. Snyder was racist, though he wasn’t a coldblooded screaming-racist either. At the beginning Snyder saw Jesse Owens as an athlete, and only as an athlete. Evidence of that was of how he treated Owens after he learned Owens got a job at the mail office. Though later on in the scene you learn that Snyder felt guilty about how he reacted to Jesse. Later on Snyder and Jesse’s relationship started to progress, evolve, into more of relationship of a coach and athlete. A relationship were Snyder started to treat Jesse more like a person, and less like a pawn on his chess board. The two began to learn things about each other’s; they grew out of the acquaintance phase and began to act like a mentor and a student. Towards the end of the movie, Snyder and Owens have a strong friendship, a kind filled with trust and a kind of love for each other, the kind a father and son would have. Where Snyder would do anything for Owens, for example pay a ticket for the boat to Germany to watch Jesse run even though he technically can’t be there. Within this film, many meanings of race are shown. The most obvious meaning is the fact it’s a sport’s film about a track star, who goes to the Olympic for a (multiple) race(s). Another way to describe the meaning for sports is that since Jesse Owens is a track star, every event he does, except for the long jump, is a race against time. Another meaning for the title is the meaning of Race as in the color of Jesse Owens skin. I found that the film nicely showed every complex aspect of being Jesse Owens. A big example of this is at the very end the movie, when Jesse Owens and his wife, and Larry Snyder and his date are going to a dinner celebrating Jesse and his accomplishments in New York City. It blows my mind that the person that is being commemorated and celebrated was forced to take the back door. Another meaning of the title that could be recognized, but also isn’t as big of a theme is the race meaning a group of same origin and culture. The movie displayed this well with the different scenes showing the difference between American and German culture. There were pros and cons for each culture, for example a pro for the German’s was they didn’t have different living spaces for African Americans and Whites, but the con was that, they didn’t have separate living spaces because the African Americans were being kicked out of the country along with the Jews and everybody else who didn’t fit in the “perfect” German Nazi view.
1. Larry Snyder was an amazing coach and by far the best pick for Jesse. Larry never had the racial obstacles that Jesse endured but he was still able to connect with him on other levels. You knew he wasn’t racist even towards the beginning of the movie because he was the one to pick Jesse to be on his team, where as he easily could of picked any other white man to race for him. To Larry of you could run then you were good enough and the color of your skin didn’t matter to him. They both started out on a rough track mainly due to little communication between the two of them, for example once Larry learned that Jesse had a daughter to provide for he gave him money to send home so that he could train instead of having to work. All Larry wanted was for Jesse to do his best. The one scene that sticks out the most is the one in the locker room with the football players, when Larry stood up for his team and taught Jesse and his other African American teammate that not everyone is going to like you but you just have to push them aside. Larry knew that Jesse would have problems because of his race and he taught Jesse how to block them out and do all he could to push himself to get better. I think Larry is mainly motivated to push Jesse so much because he doesn’t want him to give up on his dreams for something stupid like he did. Jesse almost didn’t go to the games because some Black association wanted his support just as Larry didn’t go to his Olympics because he injured himself in a plane crash. Larry saw drive and motivation in Jesse and became not only his track coach but also the one deflecting those that didn’t believe in Jesse.
2. The relationship between the German long jumper Luz and Jesse Owens was remarkable. The entire time Jesse Owens and his teammates were in Germany they were met with constant obstacles because of their religion or race. When Jesse was doing the long jump he did his normally routine of marking his steps but it caused him to get disqualified on two of his four jumps. Instead of letting his competitor mess up on the third jump Luz took a handkerchief and marked were Jesse should jump and Jesse ended up making an Olympic world record! Even after he broke a record Lux encouraged him to jump again just purely for entertainment. Luz knew how he was “expected” to act and treat Jesse because he was his competitor and African American but he never did. Luz and Jesse half way through the Olympics met up and discussed the difference in how they were treated and how they both wanted the equal treatment for everyone even after the Olympics ended. Luz risked his reputation every time he talked to Jesse and he knew it but he didn’t care, even at the end he invited Jesse to do the final walk around the track with him while the anthem played. Luz never cared about how people saw him he honestly looked up to Jesse and was truly impressed with his talent, he even voiced to Jesse that he knew his acts of admiration towards Jesse could later get him in trouble but he didn’t care because he truly saw Jesse as a friend. Luz represented his country in the best way he could through his sportsmanship towards Jesse and disregard for Jesse’s skin color. Before the Olympic Games began The United Stated wasn’t sure if they wanted to be part of that year’s Olympics in Germany due to the questionable acts under Hitler’s rule affecting the Jews. The Jews weren’t accepted and there weren’t any blacks in Germany during that time; the concentration camps were being introduced. Anyone who was different wasn’t accepted by other Germans except for Luz who just saw Jesse as another competitor. Luz truly showed his defiance of Hitler’s beliefs and made a strong impact on Jesse, when I watched the movie his actions were unbelievable for the consequences that he knew would follow. Luz was just as much an inspiration and Jesse.
1. Jesse Owens went to Ohio State University where his track coach was Larry Snyder. At first things were iffy between the two of them, Larry believed that Jesse was just another good athlete, a “natural,” he called him. Although the kids at Ohio State were racist towards Jesse, Larry saw great potential in him the first time he saw him run. I believe Larry used to be racist but his relationship with Jesse as his coach closed the color gap between the two of them. Larry wanted to see Jesse do well and go to the Olympics in Berlin. Jesse had broken every world record and I believe Larry pushed him to go to the Olympics because he himself wasn’t able to. Larry was an athlete like Jesse, but had an accident before he would’ve gone to the Olympics in Paris, France. Larry was able to achieve his goals and dreams through Jesse by training him for the Berlin Olympics and coaching him to smash world records.
6. The word race of the film “Race” has two obvious meanings. The first is obviously about running. Jesse Owens was a young athlete who went to Ohio State and was coached by Larry Snyder. He broke world records at meets and went to the Berlin Olympics, where he won four gold medals. Owens was clearly a talented individual in track, and became a person to look up to for future athletes. The second meaning of the word race in the film is about ethnicity. The color of his skin. Because Jesse Owens was black he faced many problems inside and outside of his track career. During the 1930’s racism was a big issue and Owens faced a lot of it. When he went to college, other students picked on him because he was black, such as when he was in the locker room and the football players made him wait to shower. Also, at a celebratory party for Owens in Germany he was not even allowed to enter using the main doors, instead he had to go through the service entrance because he was black.
1) I do not think that Owens’ coach, Larry, is necessarily racist. However, I do believe that there was internal prejudice that was drilled into his mind throughout his life, along with the minds of the majority of whites during that time. Though Larry appeared stern in the beginning, he helped Owens cope with the prejudice against him by telling him to ignore it and that he can be great if he puts his mind to it (parallel to Dr. Dre and Eminem?). In Berlin, Larry tells Owens that the reason he never competed at the Olympic level was due to a plane crash that he was in. I believe that the reason Larry pushes Owens so hard is not necessarily for Owens’ benefit, but rather the self-worth of Larry. Since he was essentially robbed out if his chance to compete, he feels that by coaching Owens to a level where he can win, he is finally getting a chance to prove himself and be content with what happened to him.
6) When I first saw the advertisement posters for the film, I did not think it to be anything except a movie about a race. There was a man running towards the camera, and the word “Race” written in white, bold letters. I did not watch any trailers before I saw the film because I thought of it as an assignment instead of a pass-time. As the film progresses, cases of racial discrimination accumulate. When Owens is in the locker room, white athletes antagonize him and prohibit him from showering until they have all finished, when he boards the bus, he is forced to sit in the back, when white audience members yelled at him to try and make him fail, and when the bellhop made him use a different entrance to a celebration in his honor. The story reminds me of the Jackie Robinson story: the first black player to be allowed in the Major Leagues goes on to be one of the greatest of all time, despite backlash and disapproval from whites. To be completely honest, I did not get the double meaning of the title until I read question six. Once it clicked, it made me appreciate the film and its message about overcoming obstacles despite prejudice much more powerful.
2. As the action of the movie comes to a high point, we see a sort of friendship begin to flourish between Jessie and Luz, a German olympian, both in and outside of the Olympic games. Even during the event in which the two men were competing, Luz helps Jesse out the best he can. For example when both of Jesse’s first two jumps were called as fouls, Luz made a suggestion to Jesse as to where to jump. The two also have a conversation as if they had known each other for years after most of their events. Luz says to Jesse that whatever events he is entered in, that he hopes that Jesse will win. This relationship is especially remarkable considering Nazi Germany’s feelings on Owens. They saw him not only as inferior, but a threat to Germany bringing home the gold. In fact ever since Jesse arrived in Germany, he wasn’t treated as a real athlete. Jesse was not even allowed the privilege of shaking hands with the same people as other gold medalists. Luz gave hope not only to Jesse, but to the audience who at this point, had lost most hope for humynity.
6. In my opinion there are three meaningseparate of race in this movie. First there is the color of Jesse’s skin, the main thing that his but barriers in his success since he began life. The second meaning is the physical race, the running, the thing that makes Jesse Owens so special. The third and least obvious meaning is the internal race that Jesse is facing. A good portion of the movie is Jesse
Deciding whether or not to go to Berlin, and the personal struggles with him in his wife. These all represent mental competitions or as Jesse would probably think of them: races. There’s him vs his morals, there’s his coach vs him, there’s the press vs him, it’still himself vs himself, it’s his wife vs him and the list goes on and on. Jesse Owens never stopped competing in this movie, even it was not athletically. Whether the race was against the athletes of the world or the a race in his mind , Jesse Owens truly never stopped runnng.
I loved the movie Race and thought it was very interesting. I thought that Jesse’s relationship with his coach was very interesting. He started out with acting as if Snyder was above him and slowly they grew together. In the beginning you could visibly see the stress melt from Snyder’s face as he found Jesse and his talent, he also wanted to push him as hard as he could. As Jesse started to become stressed and miss practices Snyder became angry with him and said that he could not miss practices. This was when Jesse then asked how he was going to put clothes and feed his daughter and practice all the time. I believe this is when Larry realised how hard Jesse really works and how hard he tries. I also believe that the way that Larry coaches Jesse makes him almost a father figure to Jesse. I don’t believe that Larry is racist and he tries not to be. You can see that he gets hurt when Jesse says that he might not go to Berlin because he has to represent his community, and Jesse says that he has never had to deal with his problems because he is white. I also believe that Jesse may have changed his view of blacks by just a little and instead of not being racist he starts to fight for Jesse towards the end of the movie. You can see this when he gets frustrated with the doorman in the last scene and Jesse had still go through the service door even though the dinner was being hosted for him.
I thought that Jesse and Luz’s relationship was also unique and different. Jesse was having a hard time finalizing for the olympics and Luz, the German’s player, Decided to help Jesse by showing him where to jump so that he would not get a foul. Their relationship turned political and racial, because the main reason The Germans wanted to host the games that year was to show the world that they were still on top. When Luz helped Jesse this created tension between Luz and the Germans, because he was not supposed to help them. Luz knew that his Government was corrupt and believed that this could give them a wake up call. He helped Jesse and in the end of the Long Jump, each person gets three tries, and Luz got a foul on his last and Jesse knew he had won, but Luz told him to take the last jump anyways. Jesse took the jump and beat the world record. He then did a victory lap with Luz to show that race and country do not matter.
1. Larry and Jesse ha a complex relationship. At first Larry and Jesse seemed awkward. They didn’t come from similar backgrounds and couldn’t relate. Larry was hard on Jesse but only because he saw a greatness in him and saw his potential. Larry saw what Jesse needed and he was relentless because Larry could see with just a few tweaks to this technique, Jesse was gold medal material. Larry taught Jesse to stay low to the ground during his start so he could glide into his stride and with minor adjustments like this was how Larry pushed him to be the best runner he could. Larry was also a runner and because he injured himself before the olympics he couldn’t go; since he knew what it was like to not be able to follow his dreams he pushed Jesse really hard so that Jesse wouldn’t have to go throughout he regret he Larry did. Larry wasn’t racist, he didn’t care if you were black, white, or a martian; if you could work hard he would train you.
4. The conflict between Riefenstahl and Goebbels was that Riefenstahl want to film the olympic games all the time, no matter what happened; basically film the event on her own terms without restrictions. When Jesse was about to compete in his third event Goebbels told the film crew not to film because he could tell that Jesse was going to win and didn’t want that to be recorded because it was just the USA winning again and not the Germans. Riefenstahl told her crew to film because she didn’t care who won, she wanted to document history, she believed in making a film to inform and tell, not to show bias towards her home country. Whereas Goebbels only wanted to show Germany as a successful country. By allowing Riefenstahl to film Jesse Owens winning all those events it was documenting the failure of the germans under the nazi regime. There was plenty of tension between Riefenstahl and Goebbels because one was for telling sharing the truth no matter the outcome, and one just wanted to show their own country as the best, even if they weren’t.
1) Describe Jesse’s relationship with his coach, Larry Snyder. Is Larry racist? What drives Larry to push Jesse to do great things?
When Jesse first starts training with Larry, I think it’s obvious Larry had some prejudices against black people. When they first meet Larry sort of disregards Jesse possibly because of anti-black biases, however he agrees to let Jesse race for OSU as long as he gave it everything he had. Jesse knows he can work hard and do what it takes because he grew up doing manual labor so he’s willing. I think Larry’s anti-black perceptions are just a result of the time period and the way Larry grew up to be racist, but Larry soon realizes that african-americans have to same capabilities as whites. Larry see’s how hard working Jesse is and that Jesse has world-class potential. So Larry and Jesse develop a very strong student-coach bond and Jesse views Larry as a father figure to look up too. Larry wants to push Jesse as hard as possible because he realizes that Jesse has the potential to become the greatest sprinter in the world. I think that Larry sort of viewed Jesse as a second chance to go to the Olympics because Larry got the knee injury which ended his dream. So Larry wants Jesse to achieve his dreams, and also knows how that it would be a huge political statement for Jesse to compete and win in the Olympics. Larry pushes Jesse so hard because he knows how important it is to him.
6) Explain the multiple meanings of the word “race” included in this film.
The title has two meanings. The first obviously means race as in running. Jesse broke numerous world records and racing was a huge part of his life. The other more subtle meaning refers to Jesse’s race as in skin color. The fact that Jesses was black changed his life more than anything else. Especially in the 1930’s blacks were discriminated against and were not respected. Racism permeates most parts of Jesse’s life, and the movie showed many examples of him being mistreated. In the locker room Jesse and his other black friends are forced to wait for the whites to shower first before they can shower. Jesse is also forced to sit in the back of the bus. One major action that stuck out to me was when, after Jesse had won numerous gold medals and was getting banquet in his honor, the bellhop still made Jesse use the side entrance. It goes to show how natural it was for white people to think of black people, even black people who were way more accomplished than them, as lesser. I think Jesse is really good at overcoming the racism thrown at him. One powerful quote from the movie was when Jesse said “There ain’t no black and white, there’s only fast and slow”.
1. Jesse’s relationship with his coach, Larry Snyder, is at first a coach to player relationship, which eventually becomes a friend-to-friend relationship. Larry is at first hard on Jesse because he doesn’t want him to ruin his chances of winning an Olympic medal. Larry was once a runner like Jesse and pushes him because he sees the talent in him that he once had before and doesn’t want him to ruin it like he did. Larry wanting to restart his journey as a young runner in the Olympic games through Jesse drives him to push Jesse to do great things. Jesse and Larry’s relationship becomes a friend-to-friend relationship when Larry defends him from other racist people they encounter throughout the movie. Especially at the end when a white man made Larry and his wife Ruth use the colored entrance and Larry went off on the white man. Larry is not a racist, we know this because he gets mad at people who point out that Jesse is black like it means something.
2. Jesse’s relationship with German long jumper Luz transcends the racial and political tensions of the Olympic games in 1936 by showing how little race and ethnicity really means. When Larry shows Jesse pictures of his competitors at the Olympic games, he empathizes that he needs to beat his main competition, Luz the German long jumper; because he is German but Jesse doesn’t think that makes him more of a threat. Jesse and Luz first transcend the racial and political tensions of the Olympic games in 1936 when Luz helps Jesse by telling him where to start to jump during the long jump. Without Luz helping him Jesse might not have gotten the world record at the time. They also run Jesse’s victory lap around the track together. When Luz first helps Jesse, the crowd cheers but the German government watching is surprised. The German team also congratulated the American relay team when they won the relay against Germany.
2.) Jesse’s relationship with German long jumper Luz transcended the racial and political tension of the Olympic Games in 1936, because Luz represented Germany, whose government currently under the control of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Knowing this, Luz deliberately assisted Jesse Owens in the jump yard by showing him where his jump mark was and by also being a good sport about him winning. In the act of doing this, Luz thought nothing of Jesse’s color or nationality. He merely treated and respected Jesse like a human being. He truly wanted to help Owens, because he could see that Owens honestly didn’t know the rules, since it was his first time at the Olympics. Also, because he might’ve known that Owens tended to inspect his course/runway before going through with it. Luz’s opposition to his government’s views was especially shown when he asked Owens to do a victory lap with. When zoomed in on Hitler and the Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, Hitler walked away and Goebbels grimaced at the German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Luz’s actions and relationship with Owens gave a giant slap in the face to the Nazis and Hitler, because they abhorred African Americans, Jews, and other races/cultures that weren’t like them or, didn’t agree with their views. They would not dare to be caught seen associating with them. A prime example of this shown when Avery Brundage, president of the U.S Olympic Committee, brought Jesse up to shake hands with Hitler (which I totally thought was bizarre knowing the racial and political tension at hand…) and the Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, explained that Hitler was in traffic. However, in Germany he had said that Hitler would never be seen congratulating an African American. Another way that Jesse and Luz’s relationship was shown transcending racial and political tensions of the Olympic Games in 1936, occurred during the after math of Owens victory against Luz. Jesse went to Luz’s room to have a victory drink (Coke) with him. In this scene, Luz explained to Owens the deeper impact of losing to him (Owens) and how it helped Luz show a type of resistance to the Nazi’s regime. Luz also told Jesse that he and the U.S had to win (or at least not the Germans) because it would prevent the Nazis from furthering their influence on the world by using the Olympic Games. This especially meant a lot because Jesse was African American.
4.) The conflict between the German filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl and German Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, is that she wants to film the Olympic Games of 1936 that are in Berlin, Germany. However, there is political and racial tension with the fact that the Olympic Games are being held in Germany, where their government is under the control of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The Nazis plan to use the Olympic Games as a way to promote their superiority through their medal victories. When Riefenstahl shows Goebbels and other German officials her work, he is amazed by her production and pictures the honor and greatness she can capture for them (of course, the German’s victories and memorable greatness). However, when the games begin and Jesse Owens begins to collect gold medals in various events, especially against German long jumper Luz, Goebbels orders Riefenstahl and her crew to stop filming. At Jesse’s last and unexpected event in the Olympic Games of 1936, Riefenstahl ordered her crew to continue their filming, disregarding Goebbels’ order. She had been taken a back by his instruction, because initially he gave her permission to film. Goebbels simply didn’t want Riefenstahl to film, because Owens and the U.S team had been beating the Germans (and of course no one likes to look at their failures, but only achievements). He originally expected her to be recording the German’s success, but things didn’t go according to plan; instead Leni would be capturing the losses of Germany. A prominent example of this attitude/tension was shown when Luz did the victory lap with Owens. Leni told one of her men that Luz was making her film footage, after he questioned Luz’s decision to run with Jesse. Goebbels and the rest of the Nazis absolutely would be (well technically were) left in horror and disgraced to have footage of their German brethren running with an African American. As Leni Riefenstahl said at the end of the film to Jesse Owens, filming ensured that his success and other successes at the games would be forever remembered in history.
1. Throughout the entirety of the movie, Jesse and Larry have a very complex relationship. When Jesse and Larry first meet each other, there is a quite obvious bit of tension between the both of them. Although Larry eventually becomes the closest bond that Jesse made throughout his experience of his Olympic training, Larry and Jesse appear to undergo a personality clash which sets them back a bit in the movie. Throughout the movie there are brief instances in which Larry appears as racist towards African Americans, which is apparent in his disturbing scene following the Joe Louis fight. However as the movie progresses, Larry seems to make a favorable transition, and slowly but surely begins to abandon his previous racial views. Coach Snyder shows a bit of ignorance in his scene in which he is telling Jesse that he must be willing to work in order to be on the team, His ignorance is truly displayed because he does not consider the fact that Jesse had previously been objectified to picking cotton in the fields on summer days with extreme temperatures. The ignorance of Coach Snyder upsets Jesse, as he becomes very irritated that Larry would even begin to question his work ethic, and his desire to be on the team. As the movie further develops, Coach Larry Snyder and Jesse create a very strong relationship. Towards the middle and end parts of the movie, Jesse is almost portrayed to resemble a son of Larry’s. Jerry is always rather truthful and straight forward in regards to Jesse, even if that requires him to be a bit harsh. Coach Snyder is also extremely blunt when it comes to Jesse and however it may seem, always tells him exactly what he needs to hear. Coach appears to be Jessie’s biggest critic because I think that Larry extremely driven to help Jesse acquire the ultimate prize that he himself never accomplished; to make an Olympic appearance. Throughout the remainder Jesse and Larry carry on both deep and meaningful conversations, as well as forming a strong bond between the two. Once Larry sees all of the potential, and talent in which Jesse possess, it appears that Larry has an all new approach to his thoughts regarding black people, Jesse’s talent along with his genuinity are really what begins to clear Coach Larry Snyder’s mind of the raging prejudices he possess regarding African Americans. In Berlin, at the Berlin games competition, Snyder discusses with Jesse the real reason that he never had the opportunity to compete in the Paris Olympics. Larry informs Jesse that he got in a plane crash, which led to a knee injury which suspended him from competing. I believe that Coach Larry Snyder is very harsh and brutal when it comes to Jesse because he wants what is best for Jesse. Coach Snyder realized Jesse’s potential, and tried his hardest to bring it out of him. Lastly I believe that Larry was striving for the success of Jesse because he realized the political message it will send to society, and the positive affect that will accumulate from the success of Jesse.
6. As one may predict, the title of the movie, Race, is a play on words and has two different meanings which directly relate to the plot of the movie. The Title race refers to both racing, as in competition, but as well as race including the color of your skin, and your ethnic background. The movie is cleverly titled to give its viewers a duel interpretation of how both your race, and racing itself can have such a dramatic effect on your life. The duel interpretation of the title helps give the viewers an insight of how race, or ethnic background back then, and even now can and will affect you. The movie follows the story of Jesse Owens along with his training to eventually become a gold medalist in the 1936 Olympics. Throughout mostly the entire 20th century, African Americas were badly mistreated and displayed little to no respect from whites. The movie vividly illustrates many instances of this, such as the scene including Jesse and his friends as they boarded the bus and due to racial segregation laws of the early 20th century, were forced to sit in the back. Another, example of the impact races had upon specifically African Americans is the scene which includes Jesse’s return Berlin, following his successful trip to compete in the Berlin games, they held a dinner for him in order to celebrate his unrivaled accomplishment overseas. As Jesse arrived at the hotel with Coach Larry Snyder, a hotel employee had forced Jesse to use the service entrance because he was black, not even talking into consideration that the dinner was being held in his honor to commemorate his outstanding achievements. Another example of how races had affected the lives of African Americans include Jesse’s races. Before each race and competition, Jesse had to endure a whole bunch of racism, racism which most definitely distracted him from his races. Considering the fact that he had to go to Germany during the duration of time in which Hitler and fascists Germany were in power of Europe, It showed in his competitions how tough it was being African American during the early 20th century. In Europe, the Nazi’s, and Fascism were quickly spreading throughout Europe, and in America, there were constant threats to African Americans, as living conditions were increasingly tougher to endure. It was apparent at some parts of the movie that everyone had seemed to be against him except his coach Larry Snyder. Even his family and friends told Jesse that he needed to stay home, and not attend the Olympics in Berlin in order to protest the racism that had been put in place by the rule of Germany and the Axis powers.
1. Jessie Owens, and his coach Larry Snyder formed a fantastic and growing relationship throughout the story. Even in a time of harsh racism, and strong segregation, their friendship was still able to prevail. Initially, I do believe that Coach Snyder did have some prejudices against black people, however they began to fade as his relationship with Jessie developed. This is why I believe Coach Snyder was such a skeptic of Jessie when he first saw him. I believe there are multiple reasons why Coach Snyder was so driven to push Jessie as far as he did. One of these reasons I believe is because Coach Snyder wanted Jessie to succeed where he had not been able to. He may have felt that he could still reach success through Jessie. Another reason simply may have been that he wanted to beat and embarrass Germany. Hitler’s goal for the Olympics was to show that the race he wanted Germany to be was in fact superior to all others, and Coach Snyder wanted to make sure that this was not demonstrated by the Olympics.
6. Race does have a few different meanings in this movie, which helps to add layers to the film, and overall better explain what exactly was going on at the time in terms of not only the Olympics, but global politics and domestic social issues. One of the more obvious meanings of “race” in this movie would be the races that Jessie Owens had been competing in and what he had been training for. The other meaning of “race” would be skin color. This was a huge theme in the film. Jessie Owens had to persevere through the racism not only is fascist Germany, but also his own home. Even his own coach had a problem with him being black originally. At races, Owens would have to try to zone out the hecklers yelling racial slurs.
1. Larry Snyder was Jesse Owens track coach at Ohio State. Early on, I felt Larry had some racism towards Jesse but that changed quickly. Larry thought of Jesse as a natural who had plenty of untapped potential. Larry’s new goal was to make Jesse even better. He wanted to make him better and good enough to be in the Berlin Olympics. Jesse ended up breaking every World Record. Larry was not able to go to the Olympics, that’s why I think Larry pushed Jesse so hard. He wanted Jesse to do something he couldn’t do. Larry had an accident the Paris Olympics, which was a shame for how hard he trained. Larry sort of got his goal of being in the Olympics by helping train Jesse to get into the Olympics and surpassing world records. All put together, Larry was a very good coach for Jesse and knew what Jesse had to do to be the best.
6. The title of this movie being Race has multiple meanings. One of the meanings I believe is about skin color. Jesse Owens was looked down upon and always made fun of being one of the only African American runners at the time. He was discriminated against, for example: when he would go to the showers, the white people would make him wait for them to finish before he could begin. Jesse Owens had beaten many world records while running at Ohio State and was coached by a white man. Jesse became a well-known name and was looked at as an inspiration to all; anyone could do whatever they set their minds to even during tough times. I think the other meaning behind the title is about racing. He went to the Olympics and was very fast. He had started something big by standing up for himself by competing. He was starting to turn around racism.
Examine the multiple meanings of the word, race, included in this film. Use specific examples from the film.
Race can mean color or ethnicity, a competition between runners, or it can mean a strong current throw a narrow channel or river (which I loosely interpreted as a sequence of events). In regards to the color/ethnicity, Jesse is African America. And during this time there was still restrictions for African Americas. Like in some of the final scenes of the movie where his is attending an event where he was being honored, as him along with his wife and Larry and a lady he brought walk up to the door of the main entrance, an employee of the establishment tells the party that blacks are not allowed to come through the front doors and that there is an entrance that goes through the back. Though Larry persists that this event is for Jesse and points out that this man is stopping Jesse from entering his own event but Jesse is passive and goes through the way suggested. There is also a scene after Jesse has won multiple gold medals while he is at the Olympics and is taken by a representative of NOC to meet Hitler. As they walk a set of stairs and are coming close to being face to face with him, he instead has someone talk to Jesse for him. The person lies to him and says that Hitler has taken a brief moment of absence when he is in reality just steps away simply just not wanting to talk to him and sees him as lesser than a human. Race meaning a race between runners also makes me automatically think of a particular scene. When Jesse is pinned up against another runner who has done well as he has and says something vulgar to him before they start the race and the other man ends up winning. And for the last correlation with the sequence of events like Jesse has everything going for him and there’s a scene where he still not a hundred percent sure if he’s going to go to the Olympics or not and there is a meeting at his house with a NAACP and they say he shouldn’t and his father, how doesn’t say anything at the beginning of the movie, and say that it doesn’t matter if he goes or not in retrospect.
How does Jesse’s relationship with German long jumper Luz transcend the racial and political tensions of the Olympic Games in 1936?
It’s really refreshing to see after all the racism that has been going on during the movie. And Luz doesn’t see Jesse as lesser because he has made it his far and there would be really no point for him to be disqualified for simply just not understanding. Luz helps Jesse by placing a cloth at the point where he should jump so that it is counted. And when Jesse ends up getting the record Luz congratulates him and compliments him on his skill set.
1. When Jesse first met Coach Larry there wasn’t an instant bond. Jesse was looking for the “runner life” and Larry Snyder was in a total “show me what you got” type character. You can tell Jesse wanted to be a respectful African American when it came to the point where he was sitting in Snyder’s office, for example instead of looking into his eyes while having a conversation with Larry, Jesse looked down at his lap. Snyder found is more respectful for him to look him in the eye. I’m guessing because Jesse is black Snyder doesn’t think he may want to be on his team bad enough, and makes it very clear that if he’s going to be working with him, he’s going to be working hard. Larry quickly learns to not to take the African American that was once sitting in his office for granted as soon as they get on the track, after discovering what Jesse is really capable of. A strong bond forms between the two and whatever prejudice way Larry felt against blacks was no longer there. Larry is not racist in anyway. To Jesse he is not only a coach but also a friend, and he doesn’t take discrimination lightly. What drives Larry to push Jesse to do great things because he sees himself in Jesse in a way. He sees a young man chasing his dreams (as far as the track field), and he wants to help him accomplish great things, things he wasn’t able to accomplish himself. Larry also wants Jesse to compete in Berlin to prove the Nazis wrong.
2. Jesse’s relationship with German long jumper Luz transcended the racial and political tensions mainly because the Germans discriminated African Americans and Jews, and for Luz and Jesse to display such an open bond, being black and white, it really set the stage. Instead of Luz having a nasty attitude towards Jesse and his win, he celebrated his victory along with him, running a victory lap along with Jesse, not steal the spotlight, but to show to his own government and to the world watching that the color of their skin or religion doesn’t matter, blacks can win fairly just as well as whites. In the movie Luz stated the Germans were using the games as a weapon, in the end as we watch the movie the “weapon” backfires. Luz takes no shame in his loss. He disagrees with the government and said how if it were him that won, he would’ve won for just him and not the government. Hitler saw the wrong in this but the two showed how a friendship was possible.