movie-secretariat(2010)

7/31/2019 movie-secretariat(2010)

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Movie Title: Secretariat(2010)

Sport: Horse Racing

Themes: Motivation, Confidence, Commitment, Gender issues, Teamwork,

Overcome barriers

Secretariat, directed by Randall Wallace is based on the novel "Secretariat: The Making

of aChampion" By William Nack(Secretariat (2010)-IMDb). The movie narrates the true life

of a Denver housewife who grooms a horse against all adversaries, which wins the Triple

Crown and arguably becomes the greatest horse of all-time. Penny Chenery (Tweedy), after the

death of her mother, has to take care of her ailing father. There she meets her fathers secretary

Mrs. Ham and the groom Eddie Sweat. With the help of her fathers friend Arthur "Bull"

Hancock she hires Lucien Laurin to train her horses. Eventually he starts training a promising

colt Big Red (Secretariat). After the failure in the first race, as suggested by Laurin, she hires

the passionate and experienced jockey, Ron Turcotte. There by Secretariat starts winning races

and turns out to be the Horse of the year.

Followed by the unexpected demise of her father, Pennys brother and husband

pressurizes her to sell the horse. In order to solve her financial problems she tries to market the

breeding rights of Secretariat. After the initial troubles she somehow manages it. Even though

the expectations were high Secretariat couldnt win the race at the Wood Memorial mainly

because of an abscess. In the first race of the Triple Crown championship, the Kentucky derby,

the Secretariat wins the race by two lengths in its trademark style; coming from behind and

winning the race. It continues its domination with an improved margin of almost three lengths

at The Preakness, the second race. Secretariat was in the verge of making history as no horse

has won The Triple Crown Championship for the past twenty five years. So the anticipation

was huge among the fans. The third race was the lengthiest of the championship. As by the


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breed this horse was built for speed and not for distance. But in the Belmont race Secretariat

defeats his rival sham by a record margin of thirty one lengths. Thus a legend was born and

Mrs. Penny Chenery kept her familys legacy alive.

The major sports psychology themes and concepts used are motivation, confidence,

commitment, gender issues, teamwork, overcoming barriers. Mrs. Tweedy is motivated by her

fathers words. Commitment is evident from the behavior of Secretariats jockey, Ron Turcotte.

Mrs. Tweedy was provoked by the male biased society. Throughout the movie she faces

numerous challenges and overcomes them to achieve her goals.

Motivation is one of the major concepts in this movie. This can be clearly seen in the

scene where she remembers her childhood days with her father. Where her father tells little

Penny It's not whether they think we won. It's whether we think we won. You run your race,

Penny. Even on the day of funeral of her mother, she recalled those motivational words; it

shows how deeply it influenced her. This was the motivating factor behind her success.

Another concept used in this film is confidence. On the eve of Kentucky derby, the

horse was down with abscess and was not taking any food. Even the trainer doubts its

participation in the race. At this time penny looked confidently into the eyes of Secretariat and

tells All right, then. I'll see you in the morning. This single incident shows how confident she

is.

The value of commitment is demonstrated in the film. The commitment that Ron

Turcotte, the jockey have in his profession can be clearly understood from his own words

during the conversation with Penny; where he says I risk my life every time I climb on a

horse. Throughout the movie one can see how committed and focused he is in his work.


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Gender issue is another concept depicted in the movie. The owner of Sham, the rival

horse expresses the mentality of a male dominated society. He thinks that horse racing is

unforgiving for trainers, horses and housewives. There are incidents where Mrs. Tweedy has

not even allowed entering the club. They think that women are meant to be housewives and

shouldnt be in the mainstream of the society. But this movie undoubtedly shows that women

are in par with men in every walk of life.

This movie also very much reveals about the teamwork where Penny rounds up a small

but loyal team in which everyone in the team have one point in forward to achieve the Triple

Crown championship and make a record. When Secretariat losses the race due to an abscess,

we can notice the unity of the team to prepare it for the next race. In addition to this there are

lots of other moments which hit the word teamwork.

One of the major themes in this movie is how to overcome barriers. All along this

movie Mrs. Tweedy faces so many challenges and through sheer perseverance and confidence

she over comes these obstacles. She was not rattled by the loss of her mother and father. Even

her brother and husband didnt give her enough support. She also suffered from financial

troubles. But she believed in herself and was motivated enough that nothing could distract her

from fulfilling her dreams.

Sports have the ability to reach the hearts of millions. It measures ones physical,

emotional and the spiritual willpower. And it brings out the best in oneself. Even though the

outcome of the movie is quite predictable, it offers exactly what you expect. In my view the

movie is indeed inspirational but not the best.


4/4

Works Cited

Secretariat (2010). IMDb.com, Inc., 2011. Web. 5 December 2011.

movie-secretariat(2010)

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