Review of Salute (2008) by Carly J — 13 Jan 2009

A simple raising of a clenched fist, a silent and momentary protest by two men that became the most enduring image in the history of the modern Olympic games. Desiring nothing but to draw world attention to the plight of the impoverished black man and woman in the Land of the Free, the Land of Prosperity, they were punished as a reward for winning gold and a bronze for the USA at the 1968 Mexico City games. In the middle, in 2nd place, a young white Australian athlete that ran the 200m in 20 seconds flat. His decision to side with his two co-victors was to embroil him in the controversy too. This story details his small, chance involvement in a most significant, fateful moment.

A fantastic overview of the turmoil that was the year of 1968, where the USA was on the brink in Vietnam, while Russia invaded Czecheslovakia, China's Cultural Revolution began, and Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy were assassinated.

Couldn't help but feel that this film was trying to elevate Peter Norman's involvement in the moment beyond what it was. Perhaps it should have just told it through his eyes and left it at that rather than trying to make him into an accidental hero of the moment. The moment belonged to the Carlos and Tommy. It was an immense privilege for our very own Peter Norman to share the dias with these men on this fateful day. Very proud of the stand that he took with them in the events that unfolded afterward.