Jackie Robinson

Ken Burns brings a two-part four-hour documentary on the life of legendary baseball hero Jackie Robinson. He faced racism in Pasadena as well as his Olympian brother. His Army tour is derailed by a court martial. It looks at his groundbreaking role in the major leagues and his life after baseball especially his role in the civil rights movement as a Rockefeller Republican.

This is a solid in-depth look at his life. He is popularly seen as the stoic representation of the saintly hard-working black man who faced down unrelenting racism with class and perseverance. This documentary adds on top of the popular myth with his unending, fierce, and unquiet battles with racism. The image is a strain and an incomplete construct. Honestly, I never knew about Jackie's brother's amazing story. The main thing missing is Jackie Robinson's own voice in his early life. He has limited recordings and overwhelmed by the aura that he himself created during that time. This has the Ken Burns style with the constant narration. It is certainly a good basis to get a fuller understanding of the man more than the superficial image.