Greetings,
I hate sports. I have mentioned this often. And I have my reasons, including but not limited to the fact that I am not good at them. Still, I think what I more have an issue with are sports fans and the behavior that they sometimes engage in. Now I know that my opinion of sports is just that, an opinion, and I know for certain that most fans are good people who just want to have some fun. But, then, every so often, some of them do things that make me question if I am of the same species as these people. I was reminded of one of those times when I saw the film, Catching Hell.
Catching Hell is a 2011 documentary directed by Alex Gibney. It chronicles the incident that occurred at a 2003 Cubs game wherein a single fan, Steve Bartman, was accused of interfering and ultimately costing them the game and, eventually in the minds of the fans, the World Series, though this was not even yet the World Series. I say "accused" because, first of all, he thought he was simply going for a foul ball, as you do, and second of all, he was one of about eight people who did the same thing. How he ended up getting blamed is something I still wonder and something that this film questions, as well. After focusing on the actual incident itself, we also go further into what happened to that man after the fact, how his life was affected and how the fans treated him. Spoilers: They didn't treat him very nicely. In some cases, I might even be inclined to use the word "barbaric". Look, I get it. You're upset that your team...sorry, "your" team lost. Because it's not yours. Because you're not a part of it. But, perhaps, some life perspective might do you some good. And by the way, another thing the film explores that people tend to forget is that many things went wrong and led to the Cubs' loss that day. However, some find it better to place all the blame onto one person rather than to accept the fact that, sometimes, crappy stuff just happens. Go figure.
Now don't think for a minute that this thing is one-note or one story. In fact, they used the tale of what happened at this game to juxtapose something that happened at another game 17 years earlier. That would be the infamous Red Sox game where Bill Buckner made an error. Yeah, these two stories definitely line up. One person makes a mistake and he is demonized for it, despite the fact that others made mistakes as well. Oh, and the fact that both of these games happened during Game #6 out of 7, which means both teams had one more chance and both teams blew it. They all could have bounced back, teams and fans alike, but they let themselves be defeated, in more ways than one. But, again, too easy to accept that. We need a scapegoat, which is something else discussed in the film, in a very masterful way.
An interesting aspect of this film is that the aforementioned director is a big sports fan. One would think it might make him biased in favor of the teams. But no. Gibney decided to show this story in a fair and honest way. You know, that thing that all documentary directors are supposed to do but so often fall at. And in the end, we get a fascinating story about blame, responsibility, priorities and the nature of human beings when they feel they have been wronged. Even when it comes to something as trivial as baseball.
At its core, this film serves to put a mirror in front of so many people in order for them to see the insanity of their behavior. A person's life is not less important than a game. Having respect for others, even if you're mad at them, justified or not, should be the default setting for humanity. It's not a lot of the time. And frankly, that's just sad to me. In fact, there were many parts of this movie that kind of broke my heart. It was rather a disgrace the way that both Bartman and Buckner were treated. It's not how we should be. Hopefully, this film has made and will make some people change.
So, to wrap things up, check out Catching Hell. Even if you're not a sports fan, as I am not, you will still find this entertaining, interesting, thought provoking and perhaps, even mind changing.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
