Remember the Titans is a movie everyone should see. It chronicles the phenomenon of integration in the South and what happens when black and white players are forced to become a team and confront their racial prejudices. Denzel Washington, as the coach, is superb and brings the players together to form a well-functioning team. The story is true, and it is a moving tribute to the courageous players on that team.
In light of the administration’s attempt to reignite racial hatred in the United States, the movie is an important one and can be watched numerous times without becoming stale. It’s a feel-good movie, but it’s realistic and wonderfully acted by the entire cast. It’s currently showing on Amazon Prime.
The Pitt, a new HBO Max show, is in its second season. The series features an ensemble cast starring Noah Wylie, who, as a young man, starred in ER (1994-2005), one of the original medical dramas. The Pitt, which takes place in a fictional Emergency Room in Pittsburgh, has become very popular in a short time.
It’s easy to see why the show has become so popular and highly praised. It’s a fast-paced, clever series that accurately depicts real emergency room events. Like a well-coordinated basketball team moving down the court, the cast interacts smoothly while using complex medical terminology throughout. The emergency room characters showcase a wide range of personalities, making the show engaging and intriguing.
Noah Wylie as Dr. Robby is the glue that holds the show together, and he has a powerful presence around which the drama unfolds. A new chapter of The Pitt airs on HBO Max every Thursday evening.
Nuremberg (2025), a movie currently on Netflix, is a timely film. Russell Crowe gives his usual excellent performance as Hermann Göring during his trial as a Nazi war criminal at the end of World War II. Remi Malek, an Academy Award winner, plays the psychiatrist tasked with understanding the minds of Göring and the other Nazi leaders. He conducts the Rorschach test to understand these men, which caught my interest because I taught the test for many years at a local graduate school, CSPP-San Diego. When I was teaching, I had a book of Nazi Rorschach test results, and my students often analyzed the tests to understand the minds of these evil men and to gain deeper insights into the test itself.
The psychiatrist, Dr. Kelly, becomes discredited in the film for violating many ethical principles and boundaries. After returning to America, he encourages different audiences to learn from history and strongly warns that what happened in Nazi Germany could happen elsewhere. His messages don’t resonate well with American audiences, and feeling hopeless, he took his own life years later.
In today’s world, one cannot ignore Dr. Kelly’s warnings as authoritarian control takes hold of our country and minorities are scapegoated through deportations and imprisonment. Detention centers are being built across the nation, and although they are not called concentration camps, the similarities are obvious. We, the citizens, must stay vigilant. Just like in Nazi Germany, education is being restricted, loyalists are in charge, and the government seems to have its own version of German brown shirts in its ICE troops. Like in Germany, propaganda is widespread, and the government often tries to discredit what its citizens see with their own eyes.
After a road trip, people often like to pull out a map and see where they have been. Such viewing brings a sense of completeness to the journey in addition to reviving memories, both good and bad.
The same can be said of one’s life journey. Years ago, the artist turned psychoanalyst Erik Erikson wrote of the need for people to integrate their life journeys. It makes sense that we should all create a narrative that helps us understand where we started, where we went, and where we arrived.
Retrospective analysis can be painful and misguided. Though the task may sound simple at first glance, it is not. If everyone traveled in a straight line, there would be no problem. However, many people took a turn here or there, which complicated their journey. They took the wrong job, failed out of school, ended up with the wrong mate, or drank too much alcohol. Bad choices can create later regret with accompanying sadness and guilt.
Why do I say that? Think about it. The analysis is being made with senior eyes, not those of a twenty-year-old. Older eyes can be critical and judgmental while lacking context and understanding. When evaluating our past, we must step into the shoes of our younger selves. In that way, empathy can lead us to understand better the decisions we make as young people.
The excellent Danish comedy-drama series Rita (2012-2020) on Netflix demonstrates this point well. The series shows Rita, played by Mille Dinesen, as a young girl and later as an adult. She is an independent, headstrong unconventional teacher who went into her profession, she says, in order “to protect students from their parents”. She is nevertheless very flawed and is struggling in her personal life as the mother of three. In watching the series, the viewer sees Rita’s dysfunctional upbringing and how it led to many poor choices. It is easy to step into Rita’s shoes and understand her.
By empathizing with our younger selves, we can accept our past. We may not like it and feel pain around it, but through empathy, we can let go of guilt and regret. We can accept, not condemn, and find peace.
I recently watched this older film Scent of a Woman (1992) starring Al Pacino, who received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Army Lt. Col. Frank Slade, a decorated, blind Vietnam War veteran who is planning a last blow out weekend prior to taking his own life. Charlie Simms, a scholarship student at an exclusive New England prep school, takes on the job of watching Frank over the Thanksgiving holiday. It happens that Charlie is drawn into a dilemma involving school mates in which he must make a difficult choice. The film explores complex themes of loss, redemption, despair, hope and, most importantly, integrity. Frank supports Charlie by delivering at his school what has now become a famous speech on the importance of doing the right thing even when it is against self interest. You may find the scene of particular interest given the issues with which our nation currently grapples. This is a film worth watching!
Currently streaming on Netflix, The Penguin Lessons is an engaging, psychologically complex film. A burned-out teacher accepts a position at an elite, private school in Argentina, as a revolution unfolds across the country. He is disinterested in his job, his students, and his life.
On a beach holiday, he rescues an oil-covered penguin whom he takes back to his school. Eventually, the penguin plays a crucial role in his life and that of others, and through his relationship with the bird, the hero regains his courage, self-esteem, and ability to love others.
The film is touching and powerful while remaining relevant to these times.
Back in the 50s and 60s, like most families in our neighborhood, we watched Ed Sullivan’s show, Toast of the Town, from 8 to 9 PM on Sunday nights. Little did I realize at the time that Ed was bravely breaking color barriers with every show.
Born into a modest background in New York City to fair, reliable, and compassionate parents, Ed Sullivan began his career as a sportswriter. He was outraged when a northern college refused to let a Black player participate due to the University of Georgia’s objections before an upcoming game. Sullivan became a passionate advocate for civil rights before it became fashionable.
At some point in his career, his boss at The New York Daily News moved him from the sports desk to covering Broadway. Although he was initially unfamiliar with theater, Sullivan was a quick learner and quickly developed a keen eye that helped him evaluate shows and talent.
Television was still in its early days when CBS hired Ed Sullivan to host a variety show on Sunday nights. Little did he know that he would change the face of the industry by featuring a steady stream of Black artists, who the industry had previously shunned before his show. Artists like Harry Belafonte, Stevie Wonder, and Dionne Warwick showcased their talents and became nationwide stars.
Ed Sullivan faced a tough challenge in putting his beliefs into action, and he was a heroic figure, though an unsung one, in the fight for civil rights in the United States. The excellent documentary, Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan is currently available on Netflix.
This coming-of-age story is complex and multi-tiered. A young girl who is intelligent and respected by the school staff becomes the head girl. She, on one hand, identifies with the strict authoritarianism of the school, but on the other, she finds herself rebelling against her intrusive, overcontrolling mother. Her resolution? She becomes enamored with a male student and begins to explore her emerging sexuality.
Her mother sees what is happening and steps in to “protect” her daughter, but in the process finds herself vying for the attention of her daughter’s paramour.
The suitor, a manipulative teenage boy, ultimately reveals his true nature. The story highlights the struggles of women in India and the double standard in expectations for men and women.
It has taken me a while, but I finally arrived at the Bosch site on Amazon Prime Video. Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch, a robbery/homicide detective in the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, is a quirky, irreverent, and brilliant police officer. Essentially a rule of law man, Bosch frequently walks on the edge of police regulations in order to obtain justice. Harry’s most famous line is “Everybody counts or nobody counts”. The outspoken Bosch is a character who never grows old. Titus Welliver, the actor who plays Detective Bosch, embodies elements of Bogart, Brando, and DeNiro. The seven seasons of Bosch and the three seasons of its sequel Bosch Legacy can both be seen on Amazon Prime Video. An additional sequel is in the works. This show deserves to be seen and ranks among the best series ever made.
