"Running Brave" - A journey of independence

There may not be an "I" in "team," but there's certainly an "I" in "running."

   In many ways, the movie Running Brave contains a lot of the traditional tropes found in sports movies: it's based on a true story and features an underdog, who we all root for, who goes to extreme lengths to become a champion. He faces challenges, and gets pushed around until he finally rises up to the challenge.

   One trope that it doesn't use, however, is the typical "teamwork" cliché. In these kinds of films, there's almost always an emphasis on coming together in order to win the big game. In many occasions, two foil characters must put their differences aside and come together in order to win. Even if they don't win, this loss is never portrayed as a bad thing. The moral of the story, after all, is that working together is the most important thing.

   Running Brave is many things. It's a journey movie. It's a film about sports. It tackles issues like prejudice and racism. It's about overcoming personal, social, and cultural barriers in order to win. But make no mistake: this movie is not, in any shape, way or form, about teamwork. This trope is so prevalent in Hollywood, that as I watched the movie I patiently waiting for Bill to bond with his fellow teammates. I kept waiting for those friendships to flourish, yet they never did.

   When Bill first starts running, he's going on this journey for himself. His Native American heritage is an important part of his identity, and so it becomes an extension of him. His family isn't forcing him to run. He's running for himself and for his people, as one. However, when he arrives at his university, we see other forces influencing his journey. He's forced to run for a coach who doesn't respect him and to represent a college that won't even let him participate in a fraternity. He wants to wait for the other athletes, to develop a sense of friendship with them, and yet his coach is constantly cutting him off.

   His journey as an athlete can be divided into two parts: his internal journey, and his external journey. His internal struggle has to do with transitioning into a "white" world and finding where he belongs. His external journey is a reflection of that: he leaves the reservation, goes to the "real world", goes back to the reservation to do some thinking, and then leaves again. At one point, he forgets his purpose for running. On one hand, he wasn't allowed to run for and with his team; but on the other hand, he was scolded when he interacted with Native Americans from other teams

   He wanted to run for his tribe, for his home, while being physically away from home. He was able to maintain that connection alive for some time, but eventually he had to go back to remind himself why his running career mattered. He had to make a physically journey to his hometown in order to pick himself up again and remind himself his real reasons for running.

   Billy Mill's journeys –both internal and external– did not revolve around teamwork in the traditional sense. He was running alone yes, but the most important thing was for him was to avoid feeling isolated. In his case, teamwork isn't about physical, athletic cooperation. Here, teamwork is about Billy running by himself, but being supported by his people back home.