“Cracked” looks back at that great sixties coming-of-age film ‘The Sandlot’ and asks if it isn’t just a walk down memory lane, but also an allegory about racism. Maybe you already knew – but for some of us the film worked on a subconscious level, for others it may have whizzed past as a zany comedy and warm childhood nostalgia film. Dennis Leary as a wholesome sixties dad? Please!
I think the folks at Cracked may be onto something, and this movie is considerably deeper than I’d suspected. The Sandlot kids are integrated, while the organized team, with uniforms are all white – and thoroughly unlikable. The narrator asks if bullies ride around in uniforms looking for a bunch of plucky kids to harass. The answer is ‘yes.’ Women from The Club who wear tennis dresses to run errands, prove the trait does not fade in adulthood.
The symbolism is impressive. ‘The Beast’ and the terrifying old man in the junkyard are all fictional characters handed down to the kids from their elders, who don’t know that in reality, James Earl Jones (a former professional Negro League player) lives in that junkyard with his dog! The dog has a heavy job if ‘Cracked’ is correct. The dog symbolizes white America’s feelings about baseball integration. What happens when the boys finally meet the man and his dog changes their lives forever. Do you think Cracked is reading too much into the film, or have some of us been more blind than the character James Earl Jones plays, not to have seen the obvious symbolism long ago?!