"Secretariat"

As my cultural event, I went to see the film, “Secretariat” in the theater and I really enjoyed it. To give just a brief summary, a woman has a mother, and eventually her father as well, who dies and she goes back to her dad’s horse breeding ranch and begins to take over and run the operations rather than sell which was the original plan. She ends up winning this horse in a coin toss and trains the horse to race with the help of others and the horse ends up winning the Triple Crown and enough money to keep the ranch going. This woman doesn’t want to give up something she, and her parents, love and believe in. That is why she keeps racing this horse and in the end she is able to rise up to the top and achieve her dreams.

Above is Penny Cheney: actual owner of Secretariat

This film is based on a true event that occurred in the 1970s. It is a modern representation of the everlasting idea of the American Dream. This idea of the American Dream has been a part of our culture since our country began. It still has a strong hold on American culture today. Many Americans still believe that their dream is accessible and strive for it, even though many times reality has a way of disappointing us. For some in this country, the hope of achieving something more is far from reality. But, each person also has a different view of what the American Dream is for them. It often involves many aspects of life such as family, education, careers, homes, and just being able to provide for a family. For this woman in the film, her dream consisted of preserving something she loved and being successful for her family. For her it was more about doing something she believed in rather than getting enough to support her family. Her husband had a nice job and they were comfortable, but she wanted to preserve her father’s legacy and prove to the world, and to herself, that she was capable of great things and also that the horse was capable of doing something that others thought was impossible.

Although her story was inspiring and a noble cause, I felt many times in the film like she was neglecting other responsibilities she had in order to prove something that was less important. It was evident in the film that she struggle being away from her children and husband when they needed her, but she felt like she had to keep pursuing this dream of the horse winning and preserving the ranch. This decision put a strain on her family and her relationship with her husband. Then at the end it seemed that things had resolved all by themselves. I felt like that aspect of the film was artificial and unrealistic. It seemed like just because she was successful with the horse races, things magically worked out in every aspect of her life. Perhaps things did resolve relatively easily by the time she was able to keep the ranch, but I don’t feel like it was portrayed well in the film. Overall, this film was a good depiction of the view we, as Americans, have of the American Dream and how it is achieved.