The synopsis of this film I retrieved from The Internet Movie Database. “In the farm of Oregon Dottie Henson and Kit Keller are working on the farm. Sisters that do love each other, except when it comes to baseball. Kit wants to play in the league but is upset to hear that it is Dottie who is chosen to play for the AAPGL. (All American Pro Girls League) Dottie refuses to play unless Kit can come along. AAPGL was only made because of the World War II and all of the man were in the war. Along the way to the stadium they meet Marla Hooch who is a great hitter, but to most people not the prettiest girl. When they are going to try out they meet Doris and Mae because Doris threw a baseball at Dottie who caught it impressing Doris. They girls find out their new manager is Jimmy Dugan. Jimmy Dugan drinks a lot and is the worst manager until Dottie get through to him and he becomes a better person. Miss Cuthbert makes sure the rules are followed, no boys, no drinking or smoking until Mae poisons her meal. The girls go to party and Marla who had been overlooked a lot is noticed by a guy named Nelson. Dottie's husband Bob is in the army and when news comes that a man in the army has been killed it turns out to be Betty Spaghetti. After awhile, Kit feels that once again like at home she is behind Dottie's shadow. Dottie notices it to and asks to be transferred to another team. Of course Mr. Lovitz doesn't want the best player to be transferred so he has Kit transferred to Racine. Kit feels that Dottie did this on purpose. Kit plays for the Racine while Dottie plays for Rockford. In the final scene Dottie is crashed into by Kit and she drops the ball, letting Racine win, making Kit have her own stardom instead of being in Dottie's shadow. The girls have a reunion and they remember the fun they had together.”
The message this movie was that women can do what men can do, play baseball. The women in this movie are amazing baseball players; however, it takes a while for the men who are coming to these games to realize that. Also, since these women were not proper women. The owner of the team sent them to a school that teaches the women the how to act and behave like women. This part of the movie was somewhat upsetting because these women were baseball players and the men were trying to make them behave womanly. There is a quote in the movie that Tom Hanks says “There's no crying! There's no crying in baseball.” Tom Hanks says this because one woman made a mistake in the field and Tom Hanks starts yelling at her, she begins to cry. This point in the movie make women look weak but in the end, these women are strong.
The movie represented these girls as being strong women. They were able to deal with what was even thrown at them. They were strong when a woman received a letter that her husband has died in the war and the banded together to make the team stronger.
I do not know if this movie is a feminist movie. These women came together to play a game they loved. However, the men did treat them differently. The man who ran the league wanted these women to wear skirts instead of pant and the men only come to look at the women and not to watch the game. The men did not care who won or lost.
These women did start making the game more interesting to watch. However, they did use their bodies and their womanly ways to make the game interesting. They would catch fly balls with their hats and do the splits when catching a ball.
We can say this movie was a feminist movie. This movie involved women who participated in a movement that supported women doing what liked to do. Since this movie was set during World War II, women were going back to work and one thing was women were playing sports.
My personal opinion of this movie is that it is a great movie. When ever this movie is on television, I end up watching the whole movie. I am a baseball fan and I played softball when I was younger. When this movie first came out, I remember saying that I was going to be the first girl to go into the major leagues. I believe this movie inspire women to go for their dreams, even if their dreams are male dominated. This movie is a must see.
Resources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104694/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_League_of_Their_Own#Quotes
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