Eddsnake, you simply misunderstood what I was getting at: that IMDb's mechanics and layout produced a top-billed 'cast' of entirely white faces for a documentary about an all-black team, and that situation was worthy of note.
Boycott and Benaud are only heard as commentators in archive footage, and Botham appears at the end, in a test that the film posits as a turning point of respect between the two teams. Beefy is in a still photo smiling with Viv (I think) at the end of one of the matches. I'm not saying that they were given the 'boogeyman' status the film gave to Greig or the WICB, nor am I branding them racist, which is a mightily silly word that is not fit for purpose. However, I think that you are right to question the amount of focus in the final film on race. The film tells its story in a generalised manner, covering a lot of thematic and historical ground in less than 90 minutes, so any involvement of an issue that deep-seated will always be somewhat superficial.
On the other hand, I do feel that the film does justify me calling those three 'establishment'. My interpretation of the film's argument is based on one of the first proper interview clips with Viv in which he says his motivation was to prove his worth as an equal, that he was as good a cricketer and an individual, as the white players he played against. Irrespective of whether those players were racially prejudiced or considered him unequal, his perception of their opinion of him is what drove him. He felt they didn't respect him as an individual, as an equal, and his feelings drove him to greatness. This feeling of wanting to prove oneself equal is echoed by other players throughout the film, and comes down to acknowledgement. The group of players that emerged in the '70s sought to gain acknowledgement for their skills and for the wider community of islands they represented. It was part of a larger story that the film touches upon all too briefly, in which the Caribbean was asserting its culture worldwide for the first time, and gaining attention, acknowledgement and respect in the process.
The film shows both the English press refusing to acknowledge or respect the West indians' skills and the ICB failing to support the (clearly correct) players over equal pay. In essence, the film argues that whilst trying to fight against a losing tradition, the team was also fighting against their institutional place in world cricket, against everyone's opinion of who they were and how they were supposed to behave. Their struggle was against cricketing tradition. Benaud and Boycott were part of that tradition, and had grown up with a very different West Indian team. They were both the kind of people whose opinions Viv, Holding &c all felt they were changing with their victories. Beefy was part of the England team, one of its 'star' players, and part of the white, mainstream British society whose respect and admiration the West Indians were aiming for.
All I'm saying, eddsnake, is that from the film's perspective, all three represent the establishment, the traditional order of things. The top-billed cast was generated from the alphabetical cast list, and it just so happens that none of them are either part of WI team that the film is about or from the Caribbean. The film's narrative, for me, is about achieving respect through sporting success, so not naming one of those players is (unintentionally and insignificantly) disrespectful. Thass' all. Overall, i thought it was a great overview of the team because it really emphasised the players themselves, and left me full of admiration for their playing abilities. The images of Holding's run-up (as one of the talking heads describes its African rhythm), and Viv hitting the most elegantly brutal cover drive I've ever seen, have both stayed with me since I watched the film. For those who already know a great deal about the team and the period, as you do edd, I can understand why this film would have left you dissatisfied. However, I was 14 when I watched my favourite bowler at the time, Curtly Ambrose, play his last test ever against us. The WI were my second team, as they were for pretty much every English boy my age, and I had never known a period when they weren't one of the world's best test nations. It was fascinating to learn about the generation of cricketers who forged that winning tradition, names I had never heard of before like Clive Lloyd, and see vintage footage of the players in their pomp, even if the film leaves you on your own to find out about their extraordinary lives in greater detail.
reply
share