Recently I saw the film, “The Boys in the Boat,” as adapted from the book.
My husband, my granddaughter – who was a competitive rower at the time – and several family members read the book; they all raved about it. Like many great films adapted from books, it couldn’t possibly be all that the book was; it was, nonetheless, great. I’m thinking at least five Academy Award nominations.
It’s about the dark horse American Olympic crew team of 1936. This true story documents the people who lived it, their struggles, discipline, hard work, sacrifice, tenacity, and how small decisions shaped their lives. There’s also a side note to the story about wealth, and how it also factors into, and affects, the lives of these and most people, with or without it. It defines how the rich and powerful hold wealth and its entitlements close, how they increase them, pass them on, and how, most importantly, the deck is often surreptitiously stacked in the favor of those who have them. Many of us bristle at that remark, but being unpopular or uncomfortable never made the truth untrue, exaggerated, or less repugnant.
Ironically, it wasn’t until this very moment, with my fingers racing around my keyboard, that I had another small realization. I intended to mention that, playing a minor but important role in the film was the song, “Ain’t We Got Fun?” I hadn’t realized that the irony in its lyrics, echo a small, but key, similarity to the Washington State Crew team and life itself; the lyrics are, “… the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” These words denote the true life challenge this underdog crew team came face to face with.
The invitation to too many things in life, and the place-card holder they come with, are attached to financial solubility. The fact that this sad truth did, and still does, affect possibilities, even in our nation that promises equal opportunity for all, is one many prefer to deny.
This docu-drama truthfully depicts the underdog rowing team winning their spot in the Olympics. The Ivy League runners-up weren’t happy being outdone. Then, the winners were told they, like all others, had to come up with big money to get to the Olympics. If they didn’t, the runners-up, the team from the well-healed university of “moneyed people,” would go instead. That team, which lost the race, would represent America as the Olympic team, simply because they were better financed … and the beat goes on.
Many years ago, Chatterbox presented a column about nepotism. We talked about how generations of families continue getting the introductions and breaks they need from family connections and being born with “a foot in the door.” We discussed, specifically, the acting field, but this is true of many fields, colleges and universities. These are clear advantages that underdogs don’t have and, worse, there are conscious moves against them. This doesn’t mean start-ups can’t achieve greatness; it just means they’ve got to overcome more obstacles to succeed. This should never be the case, especially in America, where we boast about equal opportunity.
We’ve talked before about the ways in which the United States has manipulated the system to preach freedom without fully delivering it and about this American hypocrisy being long in the tooth. Sadly, it’s easy to note that even our legislators are divided into those who fight these injustices, and those who profit from them.
It’s 2024, and America’s elite still stack the deck, sending more and more power and wealth to the top. The Congressional Budget Office reported last year that, in America, “In 2019, families in the top 10%… held 72% of [America’s] total wealth, and families in the top 1% … held more than one-third; families in the bottom half … held only 2% of total wealth.” Read that last part twice; we’re courting a caste system in this “land of the free.”
In this dangerous dilemma, we’re compelled to remain aware of what’s real news, what’s contrived, what’s manipulated information presented as fact to obstruct justice and confuse us, and what’s propaganda distributed by privately owned news outlets with private agendas. Such outlets aren’t held to any standards. Public news stations are.
America has more intelligent and honest people than it has corrupted and corruptors. We the people have stared down great threats to civil liberty before and progressed, but we must remain diligent to win. The question we must ask ourselves is, “Which side are we on?”
We’d best know.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
