Welcome to Systemic Sacrifice

And the Lord said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar. – Numbers 7:11

Dedication can be an ugly thing. 

You give yourself – over and over and over – to a process that you have little to no guarantee will tangibly reward you. But as your mind screams stop and you lean into your determination, you feel yourself change. There is a deeper meaning underneath all the noise, ache, and distractions.

Why This Film Hits Hard

HIM felt written specifically for me, and a smattering of the others I know who are both football and horror fans. When I saw the trailer, I hesitated; would this lean into selling your soul to succeed, or would it address chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)? Luckily, we got both of those and a deeper reflection on what it means to sacrifice. 

Justin Tipping deftly utilizes Tyriq Withers as Cam Cade to dissect our American obsession with grit and the gridiron. We see his father set the stage: Cam will be nothing less than an icon. A father who serves in the military– the ultimate ideal of sacrificing yourself for a system. A father who, even when his son has shown vulnerability in admitting that maybe football isn’t his highest calling, cannot separate his idea of success for his son from what would be best for his son. What pushes a capitalistic agenda harder than the promise that you just need one more rep, one more hour of work, one more something to get you to your best self? 

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? – Mark 8:36

America Has a Problem

In America, we put our athletes in an especially complicated position. Be superhuman. Be the peak. But be humble. Give your all, but don’t expect too much in return. You should just be happy you’re here. In exchange for brutalization of their bodies, we offer athletes pedestalization in its purest form: celebrity, but not humanity. 

The violence in HIM devolves to a slapstick-esque ending, but I think that’s a perfect mirror for our reality. Football is silly at times. It is, more often, horrifying. While most fans can name a particularly gross injury they witnessed, it’s repeatedly noted by doctors that the most damaging injuries are the invisible ones. Traumatic brain injuries, like the one shown during Cam’s first day of training with Marlon Wayans’ Isaiah, shock us into remembering how intense the sport can be. CTE is the Michael Meyers of these internal injuries; it lurks, festers, and eventually lashes out. 

Cam’s choice at the end of HIM sealed the film’s success in messaging for me. If you haven’t seen it, skip ahead a few sentences. If we trust that this isn’t brain damage-induced hallucination, we witness someone breaking the shackles of a lie he’s been sold. Cam has taken the past six days of torment and decided he would rather have his soul– his humanity – than their visions of success. Having fought his idol and won, he no longer needs the approval of said idol or the system that created him. He no longer relies on them for his source of strength. He can see exactly what the tradeoff is: reliance on others’ approval and applause for a fleeting taste of divinity. 

And the chief captain answered, “With a great sum obtained I this freedom”. And Paul said, “…I was free born.” – Acts 22:28

It’s Complicated

I have so many other thoughts I wanted to include in this month’s column, but I’ll keep my wrap-up somewhat simple for now.

There is not a game that goes by that I don’t acknowledge my own conflicted feelings with professional sports. We discussed them at length on our episode of Bloody Broads covering this film. Intertwine those emotions with the Western Christianity and workaholism inherent in today’s American identity, and you have a conversation I hope we continue to have in the horror sphere and beyond.