April 15, 2021
Inspirational Movies
These movies will make you smile, they’ll make you laugh, and they might even make you cry. But most importantly, they’ll inspire you to make your life one that’s worth living.
The Miracle Season: In 2011, the Iowa City West High School volleyball team was fresh off a thrilling state championship and the favorites to win again in the upcoming season.Then, a few weeks before school began, tragedy struck when the Trojans’ star player Caroline “Line” Found was killed in an accident, leaving the entire tight-knit community in mourning. Line’s teammates were too devastated to even step on the court without their beloved senior captain, but West High head volleyball coach, Kathy Bresnahan, helped the girls see Line would’ve wanted them to continue playing in her memory. Kelley, Line’s best friend, stepped in to take over her all-important role as setter and, despite a disastrous start to the season, eventually something miraculous happened: the Trojans started winning again. Against all odds, the team clawed their way back to the state tournament, giving them the chance to honor their fallen friend in the best possible way: by playing for another championship victory, just as Line had hoped for. Based on a true story, The Miracle Season is a simultaneously heartwrenching and feel-good film that reminds us all to stand tall in the face of adversity and, above all else, never give up. It’s definitely a tearjearker (I saw the movie in theaters when it was first released in 2018, and there wasn’t a dry eye in sight!), so make sure you’ve got some tissues handy. But every time I watch this movie, my sadness is far outweighed by feelings of joy, triumph, and utter inspiration. Available on Hulu and to rent on other streaming services.
The Tuskegee Airmen: During WWII, the US Army launched a new program to recruit Black pilots to serve in combat, all of whom began their training at the air base in Tuskegee, Alabama. HBO’s The Tuskegee Airmen tells the story of the 99th Fighter Squadron, the first group of Black US fighter pilots to ship overseas and one of a handful that came through the Tuskegee program. While the 99th flew other missions as well, the film heavily features the 99th’s stint escorting bomber squadrons.
Given that this was the 1940s, the pilots had to overcome virulent racism in the then-segregated US military during training and deployments. White Army officials—embodied in the film by the true-to-life character of Major Sherman Joy—questioned whether the “Tuskegee experiment” was effective and should be allowed to continue, basing this concern on the racist idea that Black airmen were inferior to their white counterparts. To keep from losing their opportunity to serve, the 99th had to be perfect—and so they were. According to the film and popular lore, the 99th had a miraculous record, with zero bombers shot down under their watch. While a few scholars have recently cast doubt on that claim, it’s clear that even if the 99th lost some bombers, they were still a formidable air combat force. As the movie shows, bomber squadrons began asking specifically for the 99th—or cheered when they saw the red-painted tails of the Tuskegee pilots’ planes at their sides.
I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid, a dream curtailed by my terrible eyesight and tragically weak depth perception. Movies like The Tuskegee Airmen provide vicarious thrills through their beautifully shot air combat scenes, but it’s this film’s inspirational, real-life story that sets it apart from the others. Incidentally, George Lucas wrote and released another film on the Airmen called Red Tails, but I’d recommend The Tuskegee Airmen over it hands down, for its diverse group of screenwriters who undoubtedly contributed to the film’s nuanced characterization. Available on HBO Max and to rent on other streaming services.