Documentary Reflection “Miracle”

Documentary Reflection: “Miracle”

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Documentary Reflection: “Miracle”

Miracle is a film directed by Gavin O’ Connor which gives a story on the united states Olympic hockey team beating mighty Soviet Union, consequently winning a gold medal. The game is between different national teams, competing for a common reward. The American team has a coach named Brook, who kept watching game movies to find new ideas to improve his USA team (Russell et al., 2020). The game was a way to promote nationalism between countries through the management of the teams, the coach and players. It is also a form of competition between people and interpreted as a form of cohesion between two gaming countries. During the game with Soviets, US team was regarded as weak compared to Soviets who had won four gold medals, and had the best players. That is why US winning was considered a miracle. Later, the US team was scheduled to play with Russian team but they preferred boycotting the game due to fear of defeat.

National sports involved players from various countries. The people from each country get together to support their national team to win against the other. National solidarity is whereby communities which are economically engaged creates a complex adaptive system (Ferrera & Burelli, 2019). The unity among people to get together encourage solidarity, as they cheer to support their own team. The Ice hockey sport through the 1980 games, encouraged people to unify and support the US team as it is a representative of the country as a whole. As they cheer, it is the name of the team that is mentioned and not individual team members therefore showing the support they have for the national team.

Nationalism is evident considering the actions of players, coaches and management of the various teams. It Is the ideology and political movement that holds the nation or state together, under specific values (Kramer, 1997). Herd Brooks seems to be very tough with his players. He makes changes with his players and Patrick is concerned that it would make him lack the best players. He responds by acknowledging that he does not want best players but the right ones. This response shows that the coach only wishes for the best for the country. Also, he encourages the players to play right and professionally by skating, passing, proper flow and creativity. During the US Sweden game, Brooks is not happy with the way his players are acting. He asks them why they are playing like they are throwing away the game. He also comes up with new ideas stating that there are opening options that he illustrates would help in winning.

The Olympic games encouraged competition between countries since every nation is fighting to win. After US long period of defeat, Brooks support his team and they are able to defeat Russia and Soviet, and won a gold medal. This became the pride of the country. The Olympics assemble individuals with different philosophies about war, peace and negotiations in the name of peaceful rivalry (Gary & Rubin, 2020). Although, after the defeat of Soviet Union, it was remembered how powerful it was, hence relating to the cold world war. Miracle is a reminder of the war, along with the doubts had in the US that led to reluctances hence the adverse effects of the war on people. During the war, everyone tried to protect what is theirs, which reflects in Olympics where attendants only support their team.

Before the defeat of soviet in the hockey game, it had invaded the land of the Americans. It took military and political control; hence the country had to take action to restore their land. In 1980, there was a plan to boycott the games, including Russia and supported by the US government. However, some athletes wanted to take part in the Olympics even though the United states united committee had also banned transport of athletes to Moscow. The boycott was one of the factors that enhanced peace which led to the Soviet and United states competition in Los Angeles. US win showed they are capable of defeating the invader hence celebrated throughout the country.

National pride depicted in the 1980 Olympics is still evident currently. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, each country tends to support and celebrate their specific countries. One athletes’ win is the whole country’s victory and is celebrated within the country. Each nation looks at own athletes and if all are defeated, the country is not recognized nr acknowledged. Victors in a certain game are feared and thought as stronger than others. For example, using the hockey winter Olympics in 1980, Russians were scared of playing against US because of fear of defeat just like the Soviets. The fear led to boycotting since by this time US were considered champions in hockey playing.

References

Ferrera, M., & Burelli, C. (2019). Cross‐National Solidarity and Political Sustainability in the EU after the Crisis. JCMS: Journal Of Common Market Studies, 57(1), 94-110. doi: 10.1111/jcms.12812

Gary, J., & Rubin, N. (2020). The Olympic Truce: Sport promoting peace, development and international cooperation. Retrieved 13 February 2020, from https://www.apa.org/international/pi/2012/10/un-mattersKramer, L. (1997). Historical Narratives and the Meaning of Nationalism. JSTOR, 58(3), 525. doi: 10.2307/3653913

Russell, K., Clarkson, P., Emmerich, N., McCann, S., Welsh, K., & Cahill, E. et al. (2020). Miracle – DVD Netflix. Retrieved 13 February 2020, from https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Miracle/60033300