Race Parent Guide

Stephan James runs ahead of the pack in a fine performance playing the 1936 Olympic champion Jesse Owens in the movie Race. As an African American, Owens faces more challenges than a quick dash down the track: he struggles with harsh prejudice in his own country and he feels the wrath of Adolph Hitler, who engineered the XI Olympiad as a Nazi propaganda tool.

The athlete’s road to Germany begins when Ohio State track coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis) sees the young man’s incredible potential. Bringing Owens into his office, Snyder proposes they work together for the next 28 months and aim to compete in the Berlin Olympics. Yet the fleet-footed racer isn’t sure he’s willing to face the inevitable opposition that will bring. Even the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) would prefer the runner boycott the games in order to send a strong message to Hitler’s racist regime.

In a second storyline we learn that thoughts of a boycott are also brewing at the US Olympic Committee, as they become aware of the dictator’s controversial pronouncements regarding Jews. However, Avery Brundage (Jeremy Irons), a vocal proponent of amateur sport and a former Olympian, still wants to send the team. So it is decided that Brundage will go to Berlin to check out the situation. While there he meets with Joseph Goebbels (Barnaby Metschurat), Hitler’s minister of propaganda, who assures the visiting American that local Jews will be allowed to compete—even while they are being rounded up within the country.

The script takes a third detour with the introduction of Leni Riefenstahl (Carice van Houten). Hired by Hitler to film the event, her trailblazing work with its use of multiple cameras is still considered one of the most notable documentaries of all time.

It is too bad this movie gets so far off track instead of focusing on just one historical figure. While the politics of the 1936 Olympics are interesting, and Riefenstahl’s dedication to covering the games accurately at the risk of Hitler’s rage is commendable, both of these subplots would likely have been better as the subject of their own films.

Parents desiring to share Race with teens should be aware that the film includes some mature themes including implied extramarital affairs and the fathering of a child outside of marriage. At least 15 mild profanities and a couple of scatological curses are used. Smoking and drinking is frequently depicted. And in one scene a drunken character gets into a shouting and shoving match.

But getting back to Jessie Owens: the last thing Hitler wanted was for an American, let alone a black man, to become the star of his Olympic Games. Yet Owens did just that… and took home four gold medals. His determination to block out the jeers and insults hurled at him (a technique he learns from his coach) is a powerful example of how we can move toward our goals despite opposition others might place in our way.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.