The 16th Man

I watched this one twice.

Not twice the way I had watched No Crossover or Without Bias before, prior to starting this project; twice last night prior to writing this entry.

The first time I watched it, things that were said hit me, touched me, moved me, and made me smile. I could remember the essentials of them, but I figured "Why not get them perfectly accurate?"

So I watched again, this time with a pen in one hand, the remote in the other, my finger hovering over the pause button so I could scribble down the powerful messages coming from this moving work.

The 16th Man is a story about the power of sport, but it's also a story about forgiveness, acceptance, and working to change the future instead of dwelling on the past.

The film tells the story of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, and how that event brought the country together, led by Nelson Mandela.

 This is a film that must be watched to understand the true scope of what happened; my words would never do justice to the violent history of the land, the heroic actions of Mandela upon his release from Robben Island, or the sentiments of the South African rugby team members who recount their experiences on camera.

What I can say is that this film gives me hope, and I think it can do the same for others. I think it can open eyes, open minds, and give perspective to the struggles we face, and how to work to overcome them.

The line that made me realize I was going to have to watch the film a second time and take notes came from Koos Botha, a white former conservative leader.

Following his election as President — which came four years after being released from 26 years of imprisonment on Robben Island — Mandela asked Botha to be a part of one of his delegations.

"I couldn't understand that this man was willing to accept me into his delegation," Botha said of Mandela, knowing that the newly elected President was surely aware of Botha's past political affiliations and activism.

All I could think to myself was, "The people who can't see themselves doing the same can never imagine that someone else could."

Mandela was. Mandela did.

He did with the help of the Springboks, South Africa's rugby side.

Their victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup brought the country together. Everyone was cheering for the same team, hoping for the same outcome, removed from the racial tensions and tumultuous history of the country in those moments.

As Kobus Wiese, one of the Springbok players featured in the film, said, "We can't change the past, but we can move on positively from here onwards."

That was the mentality that began rising in South African during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and it's a mentality and sentiment that everyone can embrace in one way or another.

These events inspired both a book — Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin — and a Hollywood film — Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood.

They also inspired a nation to change.

A couple side thoughts about The 16th Man:

1. The film is narrated by Morgan Freeman, who played Mandela in Invictus. I'm pretty sure he could narrate a day in my life and people would be captivated.

2. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has a couple appearances in the film and steals the show. The now 80-year-old is extremely entertaining.

3. Even though I have six books that I'm currently in the process/scheduled to read, I'm pretty sure I'm going to bump all of those in favor of reading both Carlin's book, and Mandela's autobiography.