Finding His Identity (Running Brave)

“Running Brave” is a movie about a teenage Indian boy who earns a scholarship for college with the condition of winning races in return. As I watched the movie, I thought: “Wow! How much pressure and prejudice can Billy take?". It was interesting to observe how Billy, through out his journey, starting questioning himself about what he wanted, who he was and what he really wanted for his future. In the beginning of the movie we see this Indian boy who simply loves to run. Running is something that he was good at and he had been doing since he was little. Given the opportunity to go to college in Kansas and race with the college’s team he is presented discrimination for his Indian background and starts his battle of identity.

Billy Mills’ coach was the first to say that Indians were quitters. Because of this, Billy knew he had to prove him and everybody else wrong, nonetheless he started encountering situations that pressured him more and more each day to actually quit. Being an Indian boy on campus, he wanted to fit in, but he was discriminated enough to become completely excluded. We see how he was rejected at a Fraternity were the rest of the track team was qualified and also how a police officer wouldn’t believe he was an actual student and demanded an identification. In addition he also had the weight of pleasing the coach and the rich man who sponsored his scholarship. All of these situations affected Billy’s perception of himself.  Towards the middle of the movie, Billy loses interest in running as he felt he was being obligated and therefore decides to quit and go back to the reservation. Here Billy realizes that he quit his dream and he shouldn’t let anyone interfere with that.

I felt inspired by Billy Mills and how at the end of the movie he accomplished his goal, which was to compete in the Olympics. In the movie, Billy never changed who he really was or how he was raised. For example, during the last race at the Olympics, even though his competition cheated and pushed him to side he never responded the same way. Billy was able to overcome the discrimination and how people were trying to manage him like a puppet and tell him what to do and how to do it. In the end, Billy Mills took control of his life, his future and the people that surrounded him and that defined whom he was.