The Movie
Running Brave is a movie about a young Indian man named Billy
Mills. Billy enjoys running for fun and competition. He started running when he
was a kid back at the reservation. With time he became talented and a natural
and was now running for the track team in Arkansas State University. Being out
of the reservation he faces the challenges of the outside world including
critics and discrimination. Even when the reserve was under deplorable
conditions he was still happy there, been with his family and people of the
same ethnicity made him feel safe on his comfort zone. This was
a new journey for him. The journey of being a professional athlete and making
it to the big leagues and the Olympics, fighting against the tough currents of
discrimination, the greed of other people and the doubts within himself
developed over time. Relying on the people he loved and going back to his home,
Billy found strength within himself to overcome the fears and negative
forces that were holding him back and won the gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo
Olympic Games.
An External Journey
We do not have to be a runner or an athlete to go through the kind of journey Billy Mills went through. When we travel to other countries or even cities we get out of our comfort zone and we are at risk of experiencing or becoming exposed to similar social pressure and discrimination. Why? Because while some people enjoy change, new and different things, some others don't. This of course doesn't justify discrimination in any way, but it happens and it is very real and hurtful. This is what makes traveling a journey. It's not only about making the trip but to experience the different cultures and believes and even facing the problematic, if any, of people that don’t enjoy the change and culture of people external to their world. This may seem antisocial but we have to remember that when we travel we also carry the culture of our country and our habits, good ones and bad ones. It is important to overcome negative situations when you travel while enjoying the beautiful moments to avoid judging and creating stereotypes of other places.
An Internal Journey
Although strongly related, a journey doesn't have to involve traveling or moving to a different place. An internal journey is if anything, the most important kind of journey. Is the kind of experience that makes you grow as a person and as a society. It's what keeps you sane or insane. An internal journey is a journey where you confront your conscience and thoughts. Billy Mills had lost a few races and before he knew it he had trouble remembering the reason he was running for. His internal journey was finding that reason to continue running and keep pursuing his dreams to make it to the Olympics. Your internal journey is could be any conflict you have been dealing with for the past few days, weeks even years. It could be finding the strength to say no to the cupcake on the fridge or push play to the exercise DVDs. An internal journey could be how to become a better person everyday or how to win a person's heart. As a student, an internal journey could be about deciding which subject to study next when you have an exam about another the next day. It could also be deciding what you want to be as a professional or whether you will pursue graduate studies or not. Any little or important decision that troubles you or a conflict that you experience is an internal journey. A journey with yourself.
It is very true that experimenting change is sometimes very difficult to confront. In agreement with you I believe that differences and change is not a reason to discriminate, but sometimes we as travelers have to adapt a bit to the other culture.
ResponderBorrarWhen we go to a different place we have to adapt never forgetting who we are. It is hard to adapt but is something we have to do at a certain time.
ResponderBorrarOne must always be true to ones self and ones morals no matter what and where they are going through in life. The important part is not hurting anybody on purpose and making a difference which is what Billy Mills ultimately did
ResponderBorrar