42

Beyond the particular Jackie Robinson story, 42 is about the gap between the law and the code. As Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) is warned early, breaking the law can earn you respect and admiration; violate the unwritten law and you’re ostracized. That’s what makes this film reflect upon current America, Obama’s America as much as Robinson’s. The America that defeated fascism and that professes all citizens’ equality is contradicted by the various codes of prejudice, whether based on race, on religion, on geography, or on class.

Brian Helgeland’s film plays Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) as a man of passion, anger, sensitivity, a rebel with more than enough cause to explode. As Rickey teaches him, though, he has to have the guts not to fight back. He has to suffer the stings and narrowness of a bigoted, violent culture without losing his cool. He has to play his game whatever he suffers. He has to overcome not just his opponents but his own teammates -- and his own reactions. 

The predictable love story enforces the softness and sensitivity of that heroic sufferer. The closing song, which equates baseball and religion, coheres with Rickey’s early confidence that Robinson will succeed as the first black player in major league baseball because he -- like Rickey and, of course, like God -- is a Methodist. There’s Methodism in what appears to be Rickey’s madness. The religion theme works not just to represent Robinson’s calvary but to remind us that our moral values are in constant test, especially when we might think they are not, as in our business, in our politics and in our play. 

America has come a long way since those redneck 40s. But as the opponent manager who taunts the black man mercilessly, then asks to pose for a picture with him, demonstrates, even a profound change can remain shallow. The pool of prejudice, hatred and fear runs deep. This is a film made in supposedly post-racial America that reminds us how the prejudice persists. As the codes aren’t ruled by the laws, the reality falls short of the pretense.