Lynch: A History
David Shields takes the micro, the life of NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, and opens it up into a larger discussion on race, and the expectations of “good behavior” that this country puts on Black people in “Lynch: A History,” which started streaming on Topic this week. A film simply about Lynch- the punishing back, whose pushback against the norms of what we expect from celebrity athletes in the latter years of his career made more headlines than his play on the field- would have been compelling enough, but Shields makes this a story about the Black experience in America, and the legacy of Oakland, Lynch’s hometown, as a city known for “troublemakers” who try to bring about change in society. His film doesn’t use talking heads to set context for his narrative, but images that bring it home powerfully, unambiguously.
I’ll admit that I did not know a lot about Lynch before this. I knew he was from Oakland, his nickname was “Beast Mode,” where he played, and how he started to “act up,” according to the media and NFL, at media availabilities, leading to his iconic “I’m just here so I don’t get fined” presser at the Super Bowl. And I knew of his retirement, and coming back to Oakland for a couple of seasons, where he continued to get in trouble when he sat down for the national anthem in the wake of Colin Kaepernick’s protests. We don’t get Lynch sitting down to tell his story in this film, but there’s plenty of film on him to where Shields doesn’t need him to; it’s much more impactful to see Lynch’s life in the context of his roots in Oakland, the other individuals who came out of the city, and how, the bigger the spotlight seemed to get for him, the more he seemed to shy away from being a traditional NFL “star,” and remain, defiantly, himself. We also see how that approach with the media, as much grief as he received for it, trickles down to other athletes who are done suffering foolish questions, and how some of the most well-known white coaches in sports get away with doing the same thing, with less the hassle.
This film gave me a greater respect for Lynch as an individual, and how he’s handled being held to a different standard throughout his career (and life), and it also gives you plenty to think about when it comes to the way systemic racism remains a living, breathing thing in everyday American life, and shows it in action as we see the reactions Lynch has inspired with his actions. A regular documentary about him, with Lynch looking back on his life and career, would not have made as much of an impact as Shields’s approach does. Like Beast Mode himself, Shields doesn’t let up until he’s made it to the end zone, leaving nothing else that needs to be said. It’s worth seeing how he does that for yourself.
