Film: Not Just a Game
Everyone,
This is the last week of our on-boarding. This week will be a little closer to a regular week, but still a little different. Instead of simply reviewing Not Just a Game, I want you all to simply react to his documentary. This film serves as a jumping-off point for our exploration of sports as a powerful force in society/film.
In Not Just a Game, Zirin challenges and dismantles the long-standing myth that sports and politics exist in separate realms. Through vivid examples of both complicity and resistance, Zirin reveals how sports have historically reflected and shaped societal values, serving as a platform for both the reinforcement of dominant power structures and the fight for justice and equality. His argument aligns with George Orwells assertion that No book is genuinely free from political bias. The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude. Just as Orwell believed art cannot escape the influence of political contexts, Zirin extends this idea to the world of sports, showing that no game, no athlete, and no arena exists in a vacuum free from social and political meaning. He takes a step back and investigates sport not as opportunity to count wins, calculate batting averages, or re-watch highlight reels, but to look at the bigger picture and see how individual sporting events or players display and impact our culture.
Sports, much like art or film, are cultural creations that carry with them the ideologies, conflicts, and aspirations of the societies in which they exist. In Not Just a Game, Zirin underscores how sports have been used both to maintain societal hierarchies and to challenge them. He explores how sports have often reinforced dominant structures of power and exclusion, particularly through hypermasculinity, militarism, and a form of patriotism that sometimes veers into jingoism. And, at the same time, Zirin highlights how sports have also served as platforms to challenge the status quo. For example, Jackie Robinsons groundbreaking integration of Major League Baseball and the iconic raised fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics reflect moments where sports became a space for resistance. He shows us that sports have long been a site of both oppression and resistance. I think the best example of this is Kathrine Switzer’s run in the Boston Marathon where Switzer is challenging the status quo by running the race, one man is attempting to remove her from the race to maintain the status quo, and another man is pushing him off and standing up for Switzer’s right to engage in sport.
Sports are not just games; they are arenas where power, privilege, and ideology are reinforced and contested. Zirin asks us to reflect on the ways sports normalize dominant values, such as militaristic rituals at NFL games or the marginalization of women and LGBTQ+ athletes, while also serving as platforms for change. His focus on figures like Muhammad Ali, who risked everything to oppose the Vietnam War, and Billie Jean King, who fought for gender equality, invites us to consider the courage it takes to resist societal expectations and use sports as a force for progress.
Although you have not yet explored the concepts from the articles we will read this semester, the film introduces themes that we will revisit throughout the course. It offers real-world examples of how sports intersect with issues of race, gender, age, and power. While some of Zirins examples may feel dated, they lay the groundwork for understanding our present. History can seem distant, but it is important to recognize that these events shaped the society we live in today and they shape the views and actions of many currently living in our society. For example, our parents and grandparents might still think a 10% tip is acceptable, and we might interpret their views as rooted in a different era, but they still affect those working in the service industry today. Every waiter and waitress who serves one of my older family members is stuck dealing with a mindset that was developed many years ago.
While watching the documentary, I want you to think about what controversies are occurring in sport today. How do they relate? How are they evidence of progress and simultaneously backlash to progress? How might Zirin interpret Colin Kaepernick being heroized by some and vilified by others for kneeling during the national anthem? How might he frame college athletes only recently being able to earn money from their likeness? How might he frame the fact that a football or basketball coach is very likely to be the highest paid public employee in nearly every state in the USA? As we move through the course, I want you to think of how Zirin’s presents his interpretations of sport. I do not want you to mimic Zirin, but I want you to use the way he looks at sport as a way for you to look past the surface of our films and really interrogate their meanings and messages.
For this week, as you watch Not Just a Game, consider the questions raised about how sport’s influence our perceptions of identity, power, and culture. How do these stories connect to your own experiences with sports, whether as a player, a fan, or an observer? What does it mean for sports to reflect both the best and worst of society? Don’t worry about reviewing the documentary, instead, use this week as an opportunity to reflect on your own experiences in sport.
While your response should include your reaction to the film and an attempt to relate the film to your life, please do NOT use deeply personal examples.