Tried watching it last night. I really enjoy his story and reading about him and even the Dinner with Racers episode with Willy; but, I just couldn't get into this documentary for some reason. I'll give it another go on this plane ride in a few days.
What did Boris Said?
was he interviewed?
sorry: just had to ask
Aaron_King said:If you have not listened to it the Dinner With Racers episode with Willy T is a good one.
Wow, wild episode. That guy has some stories!
I watched it. At the risk of being too political and stepping where I shouldn’t, I’ll just say that I’ve never been ashamed of being white. Ever. A few times during that documentary however, I was.
Spoiler alert: there’s a surprise appearance by Caitlyn. I had no idea she (he) was an IMSA driver back in the day and almost came to blows with Ribbs at one point.
I watched the movie last night. I liked it a lot. I'm not sure I came away liking Willy a lot though. I respect the hell out of his driving talent and perseverance and I'm sure watching him race was entertaining as hell. I have vague recollections of him from back in the day, but didn't know nearly the full story.
I think Adam Carolla has found a perfect niche for himself producing these types of movies. Hopefully he makes more.
As someone too young to even know who Willy T is or what Trans Am was like in its heyday, this was entertaining as hell! I probably would have been a big Willy T fan (and Trans Am fan) back then. I think if his personality was any less "coarse" he would not have survived in the racing world due to the extreme disadvantages he had. He HAD to be a fighter to get to where he got at the time. Also loved how many times he crossed paths with other incredible figures of racing history. Just an awesome story all around.
Fell asleep about halfway through last night, but I really enjoyed what I saw, as did Mrs. poop.
looking forward to watching this in the next week or so, I loved his interview with dinner with racers and his couple of times on Marshall Pruett Podcast. I watched him race when I was really young and saw him race at Mid-ohio, Cleveland GP, and I believe at the Glen.
I really enjoyed the film. I do think that the musical scoring and editing was manipulated to put dramatic effect on the racial aspects more heavily. I've read and watched other interviews with Willy T. Ribbs and he never emphasized the racial bias that much. I'm very aware that it was prevalent at the time and that it still is a problem in certain areas.
I just wish they'd focused more on the man and the talent, and less on the "political" side...race is a divisive issue and heavily influences a person's attitude, drive, struggle, etc. but I don't think EVERYTHING has to be racial, especially when it comes to talent and the industry. I think in a lot of ways constantly pointing out that he was the "first" black driver wasn't helping his cause, and it was disingenuous...cue Joie Ray and Wendell Oliver Scott.
It's interesting that they only interviewed folks who had a positive take on Willy. Some contrasting views would've been nice, although I'm sure with the tone of the film they would've been portrayed as Disney-style villains.
Where I work, it was announced that a African-American astronaut would visit. WTF. Why is that even mentioned - he's an astronaut, period. I get bugged how it just keeps getting pointed out.
Then there's women and their boob jobs,"hey, what are you looking at?!" Yeah but you... Nevermind.
In reply to Gingerbeardman :
We really don't know who they approached to interview, (when's the last time you heard Jack Roush give an interview of any kind?) and with the age of the characters in the story (Willy himself is in his 60's, and most of his team owners are long dead) their recollections will have been dimmed and mellowed by time. I think they got a good mix of people who were there at the time and could tell the facts as they saw them, which is about all you can expect.
As far as the "political" side, well IMHO that was really the story. We like to think that people are judged on their merits and talent, but you have to be awfully naive to believe that "politics" doesn't play a role. And when race is involved, it's often the "politics" that trancend everything. He wasn't the "first" black driver, but he did have many firsts, mainly because until lately there has been only one black driver competing on the national stage in a generation, so in that respect it wasn't disingenuous. The movie made the point that even if you are a once in a generation talent, even though you prove yourself to be as good or better tham your contemporaries, you will face obstacles because of your economic and racial heritage in this country. And in Willy's case, it was mainly because of his race, as he did not grow up a poor ghetto kid from the projects. As I said before, he was no Jackie Robinson. But, in the 80's and 90's, did he really have to be?
In reply to kb58 :
Understood, i'm African-American and it bugs me too. Astronauts are astronauts, at least I always thought so. Can't help you with the boob jobs, i'm too busy trying not to stare too.. 
That kind of thing bugs my wife as well, she personally doesn't particularly like the term African American, she says "My family is from Alabama".
If you're not wealthy then getting somewhere in motor sports requires serious networking/schmoozing. I could never picture Willy T schmoozing. Again I think his forceful personality had more to do with things than any other factor.
As an aside if you want to learn more about the early history of black / African American racing drivers look up the Gold And Glory Sweepstakes; it was a series for black drivers in the 20s and 30s.
kb58 said:Where I work, it was announced that a African-American astronaut would visit. WTF. Why is that even mentioned - he's an astronaut, period. I get bugged how it just keeps getting pointed out.
Then there's women and their boob jobs,"hey, what are you looking at?!" Yeah but you... Nevermind.
And he probably goes through life thinking “...I bet they think I was picked just because I’m black...”. Yeah. I wonder too why they have to keep pointing it out.
Gingerbeardman said:I really enjoyed the film. I do think that the musical scoring and editing was manipulated to put dramatic effect on the racial aspects more heavily. I've read and watched other interviews with Willy T. Ribbs and he never emphasized the racial bias that much. I'm very aware that it was prevalent at the time and that it still is a problem in certain areas.
I just wish they'd focused more on the man and the talent, and less on the "political" side...race is a divisive issue and heavily influences a person's attitude, drive, struggle, etc. but I don't think EVERYTHING has to be racial, especially when it comes to talent and the industry. I think in a lot of ways constantly pointing out that he was the "first" black driver wasn't helping his cause, and it was disingenuous...cue Joie Ray and Wendell Oliver Scott.
It's interesting that they only interviewed folks who had a positive take on Willy. Some contrasting views would've been nice, although I'm sure with the tone of the film they would've been portrayed as Disney-style villains.
I think you should go back and re-watch the interviews with David Hobbs. I don't think he has a very positive take on Willy T. Ribbs. He looked like he was chewing glass even talking about it.
I really enjoiyed the film.
Humpy Wheeler didn't seem too happy about getting death threats either. I wonder what Don King did to get Willy T. that first Indy deal?
Just watched it. Excellent.
I grew up watching TA and the Imsa races and clearly remember the Willy T days. Have to let my dad know to watch it, he will definitely enjoy it.
In reply to 06HHR :
It bugged my mom too and she would stop us or the story teller and ask; why do we need to know the color of their skin or nationality to hear this story? What difference does it make?
I pick up on this often and too wonder why we need to know. It's irrelevant but it still goes on.
Tom1200 said:That kind of thing bugs my wife as well, she personally doesn't particularly like the term African American, she says "My family is from Alabama".
If you're not wealthy then getting somewhere in motor sports requires serious networking/schmoozing. I could never picture Willy T schmoozing. Again I think his forceful personality had more to do with things than any other factor.
As an aside if you want to learn more about the early history of black / African American racing drivers look up the Gold And Glory Sweepstakes; it was a series for black drivers in the 20s and 30s.
There's a bit of a double-standard with your middle sentence...had he "schmoozed" would he have been the dancing monkey that all racers have to be, or would he have been the Negro stoopin' and bowin'? I don't believe ANYBODY, regardless of skin color, socio-economic background, creed or religion should have to suck-up or groom folks just because they might have some money.
As for the Gold and Glory Sweepstakes, thank you for that! Just from the bit I've found so far, it's a fascinating bit of history!
NGTD said:
I think you should go back and re-watch the interviews with David Hobbs. I don't think he has a very positive take on Willy T. Ribbs. He looked like he was chewing glass even talking about it.I really enjoiyed the film.
Yes, but he was gentlemanly in the unique way that Brits can be and Americans cannot.
Notice they didn't track down the crew chief who sabotaged his ride during his first Indy campaign. I don't think even the most bigoted individuals are dumb enough to walk into that bear-trap.
06HHR said:In reply to Gingerbeardman :
We really don't know who they approached to interview, (when's the last time you heard Jack Roush give an interview of any kind?) and with the age of the characters in the story (Willy himself is in his 60's, and most of his team owners are long dead) their recollections will have been dimmed and mellowed by time. I think they got a good mix of people who were there at the time and could tell the facts as they saw them, which is about all you can expect.
As far as the "political" side, well IMHO that was really the story. We like to think that people are judged on their merits and talent, but you have to be awfully naive to believe that "politics" doesn't play a role. And when race is involved, it's often the "politics" that trancend everything. He wasn't the "first" black driver, but he did have many firsts, mainly because until lately there has been only one black driver competing on the national stage in a generation, so in that respect it wasn't disingenuous. The movie made the point that even if you are a once in a generation talent, even though you prove yourself to be as good or better tham your contemporaries, you will face obstacles because of your economic and racial heritage in this country. And in Willy's case, it was mainly because of his race, as he did not grow up a poor ghetto kid from the projects. As I said before, he was no Jackie Robinson. But, in the 80's and 90's, did he really have to be?
I actually agree with you. My point is that based on previous tv interviews and a Sports Illustrated interview, he didn't seem that political about race. Part of that may very well be politics-at-play...but then that goes against the notion that he didn't know how to play the game.
I just find it unfortunate that during this time of political rife and racial divide they had to over-emphasize the institutional racism. There were a lot of veiled remarks about the "good ol' boys" and "75% of the infield were flying Confederate flags"...from a selected cadre of drivers and team members about a sport that is second only to God and just ahead of basketball in the south.
Sour grapes or virtue signaling?
I can tell you that Carolla is NOT the type of person to over sensationalize racial issues in the editing. In fact I am sure there are people out there who consider him racist because he doesn't ovoid topics that others might consider dangerous in a PC kind of way.
Having been to NASCAR races at Talladega & Charlotte as a kid in the 80's, I can attest to the fact that it was abundantly clear that black folks were NOT_WELCOME. I don't feel like that was somehow overemphasized in the movie.
I think the thing that stopped Willie from being more successful was the lack of corporate sponsorship. He simply couldn't bring money to the table for the team and despite his talent, that was that.
Unfortunately that's a lot of really good racers too, no money, no drive time...
06HHR said:Humpy Wheeler didn't seem too happy about getting death threats either. I wonder what Don King did to get Willy T. that first Indy deal?
In the DWR podcast, Willy T had an interesting story about Bill Cosby funding his Indy effort.
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