Review of Concussion (2015) by Alexander B — 16 Jul 2016

An excellent film with Will Smith at his best since Six Degrees of Separation, this film tells a story familiar in America since the inception of major corporations--employee workers having their health and lives endangered by their occupation, while the corporation, in this case the NFL, denies that the problem with the (in this case well paid) employees is a result of their work for the corporation.

It's very similar to what happened in the asbestos industry and with nuclear power. Just because you get paid a lot of money, doesn't mean that you shouldn't know the dangers of what you do for it.

As the mother of a son, I'm glad I never let my son play football because I thought it could cause him injuries that might affect him for the rest of his life--"football knee," for instance.

At least thanks to Dr.Omalu, professional players now know what they risk. I know my stance on professional sports is far from the average person"s, but I really wonder how "fans," who think these men are so wonderful, can get enjoyment from watching their heroes do such terrible injury to each other.

I feel it's rather like the Romans idolizing the gladiators who killed each other in the arena for the crowd's entertainment. But those men were slaves who had no choice, and nobody lied to them and told them that the arena was a safe place to be.

At least the Romans were honest in their love of blood sport. Have we really come that far? And when you think about it, the idea that repeatedly taking blows to the head can lead what boxers used to call being "punch drunk" is something that should have been easy to see.

But we see what we want to see. And corporations in America have always been able to buy their way out of facing their responsibilities, just as the NFL did here.