42 is a biographical film illustrating the life of Jackie Robinson. The movie takes place in the 1940s and is about Jackie’s road to breaking the color barrier. Even though African Americans where free and equal, according to the Constitution, there was still segregation. Blacks and whites could not use the same bathroom, water fountain, or even be in the same school. These were all know as Jim Crowe laws. This was very wrong but was considered ok because of the Supreme Court ruling of separate but equal. White baseball players played in the MLB while black baseball players played in the Negro Leagues. No one ever thought about having a black man play in the MLB until one team owner decided that it was time for segregation to end on the ball
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By breaking the color barrier he paved the way for all African American athletes that followed. Today his number is retired throughout all of baseball and every year on April 15th every MLB player wears the number 42 to commemorate the life and legacy of Jackie. Most of the facts in the movie were accurate to what Jackie had experienced. In reality the movie probably did not represent a fraction of what Jackie had experienced while playing. Everything in the movie was undoubtedly much worse than it was depicted. There are a couple differences between the movie and what really happened to Jackie. In the movie Jackie tossed a ball to the young Ed Charles from the train, in reality this never happened. Ed Charles was there with his friends to see Jackie leave but he never got a ball from him. Another difference is when Jackie breaks his bat in the tunnel after taking racist verbal abuse. This never happened and was only used for dramatic effect. The final difference is when Jackie gets hit in the head by Fritz Ostermueller in the movie but in real life he got hit in the shoulder. This was only done to make you feel sorry for Jackie. This was a very good movie. It may have been dramatized for entertainment purposes but it does a good job in explaining the challenges that Jackie had to face in his career as a baseball player and as well
By breaking the color barrier he paved the way for all African American athletes that followed. Today his number is retired throughout all of baseball and every year on April 15th every MLB player wears the number 42 to commemorate the life and legacy of Jackie. Most of the facts in the movie were accurate to what Jackie had experienced. In reality the movie probably did not represent a fraction of what Jackie had experienced while playing. Everything in the movie was undoubtedly much worse than it was depicted. There are a couple differences between the movie and what really happened to Jackie. In the movie Jackie tossed a ball to the young Ed Charles from the train, in reality this never happened. Ed Charles was there with his friends to see Jackie leave but he never got a ball from him. Another difference is when Jackie breaks his bat in the tunnel after taking racist verbal abuse. This never happened and was only used for dramatic effect. The final difference is when Jackie gets hit in the head by Fritz Ostermueller in the movie but in real life he got hit in the shoulder. This was only done to make you feel sorry for Jackie. This was a very good movie. It may have been dramatized for entertainment purposes but it does a good job in explaining the challenges that Jackie had to face in his career as a baseball player and as well