MEN OF HONOR

 

THREE STARS - Challenging

 

      

       There is a fine line between honor and pride.  As the most deadly sin, pride can create a stubbornness that masquerades as an act of honor.   But as the most treasured virtue, honor can create an integrity that is often mistaken for simple pridefulness.

       This truth in all its complexity is presented by George Tillman, Jr. in his depiction of the true story of the first African-American to become a Navy diver.

       The son of a sharecropper whose own life was an exhausting disappointment, Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is compelled by both his father’s love and his father’s obsession to make something of his life.  Even though Brashear has to quit school in 7th grade to help his father keep from losing their land, his dream is stoked by the promises of a Navy recruiter.

       When he finds himself placed on permanent kitchen duty as a black man in the only recently desegregated armed forces, his frustration elicits the words of his father who had told him to “break the rules” if necessary to break the limitations of his race and socioeconomic class.

       It is in this moment that his honor as a human being is at stake.  Rather than allowing the prejudice of the officers and other sailors to keep him invisible within the bowels of the Navy vessel and institution, Brashear breaks into an all-white swimming time and demonstrates his superior swimming ability.  This provides his promotion from cook to rescue crew.

       But it is during a moment of heroism by Master Diver Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro) that Brashear identifies his personal goal in life:  he decides to become a navy diver.

       Soliciting the help of his captain, Brashear starts a two-year process which finally opens the door for him to begin training in the all-white diving school, now taught by Sunday.

       His determination is soon tested by the cruel prejudice of Sunday and the other students.  Through a series of events that reveal his integrity, courage and skill, Brashear clearly demonstrates his honor and heroism, which is incredibly denied and credited to another.  When the commanding officer of the school directly forbids Sunday from graduating him, Brashear’s excellence and perseverance once again demonstrate his honor in a way that this time cannot be denied.

       This is the clearest form of honor, an honor that comes not from friends but from foes who want nothing more than to dishonor you but are compelled instead to acknowledge the necessity of showing honor when it is undeniably deserved

       However, the same determination which propels Brashear into a place of unprecedented honor in the Navy becomes a debilitating stubbornness in his marriage.

       When an accident costs him the use of his leg, Brashear’s wife, Jo (Aunjanue Ellis), begs him to retire and come home with her.  Instead, Brashear stubbornly ignores both her love and her professional medical counsel and has his leg amputated so he can have a prosthesis and return to diving.

       This stubborn, single-minded self-absorption threatens to cost him his relationship with his wife and son.   Calling his prideful act one of honor in his hearing to return to active duty, the confusion of honor with stubborn pride is obvious within his life.

       The struggle to achieve honor without falling into pride is a struggle of subtle dangers and ultimate choices.  “Men of Honor” begins to help us understand the difference.

 

(564 words)

 ________________