We all have our differences. Be it race or religion, political views or economic stature, or whether or not we think Hilary Swank is attractive, we are different people.
GAHHH!… don’t look directly at her!
Despite those differences, we can all agree that the movie Cool Runnings is an incredibly inspirational film.
That it is based on a true story makes it all the more inspirational.
Wait, what? All the characters in the film were fictional?
Well, still, the premise of the story is what matters. The idea of three, world-class Jamaican sprinters and their wise-cracking, egg-kissing friend falling just short of making the Olympics, only to turn to a sport to a winter sport in an effort to achieve their dreams is incredibly moving.
Huh? None of the bobsledders in real life were Jamaican sprinters, but were recruited from the military instead?
….. So what! It says based on a true story. It’s not a documentary! Besides, even if they weren’t sprinters, they still faced such a dramatic uphill climb to reach their goals. They had no money, they practiced in a push cart and they got to Calgary on what appears to be the day before the Olympics started! It’s amazing that they were able to overcome all of that!
Come again? They were funded by two Americans with a ton of money and arrived in Calgary to practice with a real bobsled on a real bobsled track months before eventually heading to Austria to compete in a few minor events to get their bearings and returning for the Olympics?
Yeah, and I bet there weren’t any real montages either, jerk.
Who cares! You are just like that creepy East German guy and everyone else, hating on the poor Jamaicans!
Oh, come on! No one hated them?! The bobsled community loved the fact that the Jamaicans were trying to qualify? They were graciously welcomed and were even given a sled by a competing team in order to help them qualify?
Ugh. Okay, so based on a true story just means that there used to not be a Jamaican bobsled team and now there is. It doesn’t dampen our enthusiasm for the movie and it certainly doesn’t lessen the moral of the story. It does, however, lessen the value of the phrase “based on a true story.”
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