Blind Spot Series: A League of Their Own

Whenever I would see A League of Their Own pop out in a list, it's usually associated with the film being primarily about sports. In a way, it is a sports film - women playing baseball during the throngs of war to keep the country's morale and interests up. However, it really isn't a sports film. Sport films are usually those where everything is concentrated on the said sport, and that the sport is the central axis of the plot. This isn't about women trying to overcome adversity against women in sports because while the film addresses the sexism about it, it doesn't show any step going for it. Rather, the sport played as a circumstantial point in where a vast array of characters connected.

The film can be broken into several arcs that just happened to involve sport. It mainly focuses on Dottie Hinson, a fantastic baseball player who was recruited alongside her sister Kit, to try out for one of the first female-led baseball teams in the country. She meets an array of women coming from different experiences - married women with children, women whose husbands were away at war (similar to hers), women who have had a rough life before being able to play, women who have personal adversities to overcome, and the like. Their team was coached by Jimmy Dugan, a once famous player himself until his accident, and his eventual descent into alcoholism. 

While the main plot involved the team playing baseball to get to the finals, it was never really about the sport. It was about displaying the issues that were prominent in society during that time. It mainly touches on the sexism in the sport - that women players weren't taken seriously, that they had to wear feminine uniforms instead of the comfortable pants that would make it easy for them to play, that the sport was turning them masculine. It even discusses the obligations required of these women while they were playing - getting married, having children, being ladies - as well as women having independence from the traditional ways expected of them. It also featured a scene where it attempted to touch on racism - the scene where a black woman was equally good as them in baseball, if she was given a chance - but that was that.

The film focused on Dottie Hinson, her relationship with Kit, and her budding friendship with Jimmy Dugan, who was having growth issues of his own. At first, he was reluctant to coach a group of female players, thinking them inferior to the sport, but eventually opens up to them. In a way, these women were also used as a catalyst for his character to grow. Given the time period this was set in, it does make sense especially if opinions about women were very different and stagnant.

Performance-wise, I think everyone did great. There wasn't a stand out performance, but everyone was great in their role. I really liked Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell's friendship in the film. Despite the film not focusing much on them, their presence, as well as the stories of the other women, helped mold the film to what it was.