A Show of Good Faith - A Film Review of Linsanity

TC777JLIN168 · Aug 10, 2013

This is a very good read, excellently written, especially by ESPN standard. A truly thoughtful, poignant, well composed and eloquently laid out essay. At first, I was surprised then I looked at the author and I am not surprised anymore. I know, I know...probably, no, definitely, the wrong board to post, but it is about one of the Rockets at least for now. So bare with me and the post. And don't read on if you hate Lin or Lin fan posts. Consider yourself prewarned.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/61953/linsanity-a-show-of-good-faith

Linsanity: A show of good Faith
By Robert Silverman

Linsanity. Do you still think about it? And if so, why? Is it a curiosity, an impish footnote in NBA history or a landmark event that we’ll be telling our offspring about for years to come?

Filmmaker Evan Jackson Leong definitely belongs in the latter camp. His documentary “Linsanity” premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, opens in October in select cities and was screened this week in New York City. The Los Angeles Times wrote that it got a "rousing response, easily making it one of the most crowd-pleasing documentaries to play the festival this year.”

Leong has been interviewing Lin going back to his days at Palo Alto High School, well before the world took notice. He also has collected a vast treasure trove of Lin family home movies and yet-unseen high school and college camcordered game tapes to fully flesh out Lin's improbable path to the NBA.

From the moment that a mop-haired, grade school Jeremy pounds out the same tune at a piano recital three years running, you’re hooked. It’s easy to forget, in the midst of the never-ending punning and the crass denigrations of Lin’s Asian heritage, that he, personally, is such a captivating, charming person. So genuine and unassuming. It’s clear that the last thing in the world he ever wanted was the trappings of fame, fortune and celebrity, and that if he had his druthers, he’d play without anyone watching, existing solely in a realm where perfecting his chosen craft counts for more than the result of his labors.

Once the film rolls clips from the Feb. 4, 2012 game versus the Nets, the incredible, boisterous, implausible energy that drove Linsanity comes barreling back full force. Even if you can recall each game during the wondrous 8-1 stretch, the instant those oft-replayed highlights begin to roll, you’re right back in the thick of it, wholly swept up in the feverish giddiness of it all.

Look, there’s the couch belonging to teammate Landry Fields that a semi-homeless Lin slept on during the beginning of his stint in New York! Ohmigosh, Lin was hours away from being released in favor of the immortal Mike James before his 25-point eruption against the then-New Jersey Nets staved off the executioner’s blade. There’s the blue waggling tongue after a trey, the buzzer-beater on Valentine’s Day to topple the Raptors, Kobe’s feigned lack of recognition, the whirling dervish spin move to flatfoot Derek Fisher during a 38-point outing in a victory over the Lakers, the comeback versus the defending champion Mavericks, and on and on. Pure, unadulterated bliss.

But if you’re not a Knicks fan with a particularly nostalgic bent, the question remains: What is it that still resonates so deeply? Save for brief fits and spurts this past season, for all intents and purposes, Linsanity is a thing of the past. Why all the fuss over an average-to-middling point guard? Raymond Felton proved to be a capable replacement at a fraction of the cost. The Knicks had their best season since their dizzying run to the Finals in 1999. An objective assessment of the current state of Knick Knation would have to conclude that all worked out for the best.

Does it still matter?

Here’s why I think it does: Beyond the improbable set of circumstances that surrounded Lin’s rise to superstardom, the overriding theme that pervades the film is that Jeremy Lin’s magical ride would not have occurred if not for his devout faith in God.

The documentary “Linsanity” is peppered with sequences that delve further into its subject matter’s faith. During a sequence detailing his struggles during his junior year of high school, he described how the defining thing that allowed him to expand his game as a creator/distributor as opposed to a pure scorer was realizing that, “God gives and takes away. God took what I really cared about at that time, and showed me that I can’t accomplish what I want to without him, that nothing in this world will happen not according to his plan.”

While addressing a group of kids at his summer basketball camp after his first NBA season, Lin declares, “God loves me, and that he has the perfect plan for me. His plan will take me through a lots of ups and downs, but if I stay faithful to him that in the end he will work everything for my good. Now when I play basketball, I don’t play for anyone else, I only play for God. That’s the type of purpose that he gave me, and once he gave me that purpose, is when I found my peace, and once I got my peace, that’s when I got my joy.”

In the film’s climactic voiceover, to slow-motion replays of Lin working like a fiend to develop his game, we hear Jeremy say, “God did something supernatural to me ... Learning to fight to constantly live and play for God. And when I do that, I’ll walk on water.”

The film’s final credit line is, “And a very special thanks to God,” and its wordmark includes a lowercase ‘t,’ which looks remarkably like a crucifix.

There are people for whom phrases like these will ring absolutely true. There are others who won’t have a clue what he’s talking about.

In the name of full disclosure, I am definitely in the latter camp. I have nothing but respect for Lin’s faith. In fact, I envy it. But there is one realm in which our respective spiritual worldviews cross paths.

The reaction that many people had to Lin’s miraculous ascent was so intense, so filled with ecstatic joy, because fandom works in many ways similar to that of religious fealty. There is a set of traditions, values, heroes, villains and fables that are passed down by parent to child from generation to generation.

The war stories of terrible, gut-wrenching losses are told and retold with a measure of battle-scarred pride. We spend hours scouring articles, consuming unending streams of information, wagering of our emotional well-being on the outcome of a three-hour contest, and when faced with the horrifying fact that our team will fail (again), we do the same thing people have done since time immemorial: We pray, hoping beyond hope that our supplication might in some tiny way influence the actions on the court.

Lin was in a similar state of existential and spiritual despair. He knew he had the talent to succeed. He felt as if opportunities had been denied to him for reasons utterly beyond his control, but what kept him going even in his darkest moments ready to chuck the dreams he’d harbored since childhood into the bin, was an unquenchable belief that it was all part of a plan. God’s plan.

Amazingly, said plan did reveal itself, and in a miraculous fashion. At the defining moment of his life he seized the day. His faith was not only rewarded, it was vindicated in spectacular, glorious fashion. And for Knicks fans, who were absolutely at their wits’ end, after a decade marked by not only futility, but humiliation and mockery, ready to give up on yet another seemingly doomed squad, it’s entirely logical to see Lin as a savior-like figure who descended from the heavens (or at least the rafters of MSG).

Within the context of a valley of futility so deep and wide, it’s not surprising that Lin would inspire such a profound, overwhelmingly joyous reaction; that he could reaffirm the notion that there are such things as magic and beauty and maybe even the occasional otherworldly intervention in this world.

Of course, the film doesn’t detail what transpired after Linsanity ended. The injuries that cut his season short are omitted entirely as is any unpacking of the circumstances regarding the contract he signed with Houston. It’s understandable, from the filmmaker’s perspective, partly because it takes a long time to complete and edit a feature and partly because it’s a myth, of a sort. Ending the film with a more human, mundane coda is not how one recounts the heroic exploits of legends.

Maybe it’s absolutely foolhardy to think of Lin -- or any player or team -- in such terms. Maybe that degree of fanaticism is just plain bad for the soul. As a Knicks fan, I was absolutely devastated when Lin left New York. But leaving the theater, I wasn’t in the throes of some shirt-rending despair. I was smiling, laughing at myself at the folly of it all. You can love and experience loss and go back. There will be more stories, new loves, and new heroes. We’ll forget and remember and forget all over again. Linsanity is meaningless and totally meaningful.

And that’s OK.

Robert Silverman is a TrueHoop Network blogger and co-author of "We'll Always Have Linsanity."
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Ynnis888 · Aug 10, 2013

Very nice read. What a story. Man, those Linsanity days were crazy. The movie will be in the theaters soon....Oct is around the corner. I will definitely see the movie.

"It’s easy to forget, in the midst of the never-ending punning and the crass denigrations of Lin’s Asian heritage, that he, personally, is such a captivating, charming person. So genuine and unassuming."

So true.

Thanks for sharing.

Knickskiller · Aug 10, 2013

can't wait for it to come to Singapore

TC777JLIN168 · Aug 10, 2013

Ynnis888 said: ↑

Very nice read. What a story. Man, those Linsanity days were crazy. The movie will be in the theaters soon....Oct is around the corner. I will definitely see the movie.

"It’s easy to forget, in the midst of the never-ending punning and the crass denigrations of Lin’s Asian heritage, that he, personally, is such a captivating, charming person. So genuine and unassuming."

So true.

Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Ynnis. Glad you like it too.

When I think back to those glorious Linsanity days, what I remember the most and what the memory still stirs in me, is a sense of pure joy, of witnessing a magical moment of improbability. The experience was and is so otherworldly. It is exactly what Rob Silverman so accurately dissected in his review. Now I haven't seen the Linsanity film yet. But I will definitely look for theaters that will be showing the film come October 4th. I also can not wait for my own, Lin signed DVD, to hold and cherish.

Below are excerpts that I like the most from Rob.

It’s clear that the last thing in the world he ever wanted was the trappings of fame, fortune and celebrity, and that if he had his druthers, he’d play without anyone watching, existing solely in a realm where perfecting his chosen craft counts for more than the result of his labors.
Click to expand...

And he still has it, that focus on refining his chosen craft, and doing for the audience of ONE.

What is it that still resonates so deeply? Save for brief fits and spurts this past season, for all intents and purposes, Linsanity is a thing of the past. Why all the fuss over an average-to-middling point guard?
Click to expand...

Except, Jeremy was anything but average during Linsanity. Truly a miracle run.

And here comes the best part, truly impressive insight from a non believer.

Does it still matter?

Here’s why I think it does: Beyond the improbable set of circumstances that surrounded Lin’s rise to superstardom, the overriding theme that pervades the film is that Jeremy Lin’s magical ride would not have occurred if not for his devout faith in God.
Click to expand...

And here comes the part where Rob delves into the faith of those who are fans of anything.

The reaction that many people had to Lin’s miraculous ascent was so intense,...because fandom works in many ways similar to that of religious fealty. There is a set of traditions, values, heroes, villains and fables that are passed down by parent to child from generation to generation.

The war stories of terrible, gut-wrenching losses are told and retold with a measure of battle-scarred pride. We spend hours scouring articles, consuming unending streams of information, wagering of our emotional well-being on the outcome of a three-hour contest, and when faced with the horrifying fact that our team will fail (again), we do the same thing people have done since time immemorial: We pray, hoping beyond hope that our supplication might in some tiny way influence the actions on the court.

Within the context of a valley of futility so deep and wide, it’s not surprising that Lin would inspire such a profound, overwhelmingly joyous reaction; that he could reaffirm the notion that there are such things as magic and beauty and maybe even the occasional otherworldly intervention in this world.
Click to expand...

We have had people ridiculing people who are fans of a player versus a team. In essence, it's the same emotional need that drives us all.

TC777JLIN168 · Aug 10, 2013

Knickskiller said: ↑

can't wait for it to come to Singapore
Click to expand...

Hope so too. So you live in Singapore? I've been to Singapore many times. What a beautiful city country.

LandryFields · Aug 10, 2013

I just want this film to release on DVD. It would be the first movie that I actually purchased in years, but I will do it. Just release on DVD please!!!!
-plea from a Canadian

tinman · Aug 10, 2013

TC777JLIN168 said: ↑

This is a very good read, excellently written, especially by ESPN standard. A truly thoughtful, poignant, well composed and eloquently laid out essay. At first, I was surprised then I looked at the author and I am not surprised anymore. I know, I know...probably, no, definitely, the wrong board to post, but it is about one of the Rockets at least for now. So bare with me and the post. And don't read on if you hate Lin or Lin fan posts. Consider yourself prewarned.
Click to expand...

No.

1. it's the right board to post it on
2. you are not the first person to post about the movie on the board, but you are the first person to have a backhanded insult to the board
3. These are the other posts about Linsanity the movie

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=235360
Video: Jeremy Lin at the SXSW 'Linsanity' premiere

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=232256
Linsanity the Movie

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=234714
Jeremy Lin, Red Carpet in Austin, TEXAS (UPDATED with pics/video)

4. In the other threads, you have actual people on the board who saw the movie or posted about other reviews, your post is nothing special that doesnt' belong in the other Linsanity movie threads

TC777JLIN168 · Aug 10, 2013

LandryFields said: ↑

I just want this film to release on DVD. It would be the first movie that I actually purchased in years, but I will do it. Just release on DVD please!!!!
-plea from a Canadian
Click to expand...

100% with you on this! Hope the DVD will be available sometime soon.

hikanoo49 · Aug 10, 2013

thanks for the update. will check it out

Tom Bombadillo · Aug 10, 2013

Painful to read... Cringe worthy...

tinman · Aug 10, 2013

knote32 said: ↑

Painful to read... Cringe worthy...
Click to expand...

yeah it's not really a film review, it doesn't even Lin singing karoake or doing laundry. for people who saw the film, little stuff like that was interesting, not the rehash of basketball highlights.

bbjai · Aug 10, 2013

knote32 said: ↑

Painful to read... Cringe worthy...
Click to expand...

Really? As in the original article? I find the faith part of Jeremy Lin quite interesting. His a genuine Christian and faith is obviously quite important to him

dharocks · Aug 10, 2013

TC777JLIN168 said: ↑

This is a very good read, excellently written, especially by ESPN standard. A truly thoughtful, poignant, well composed and eloquently laid out essay.
Click to expand...

YES, IT WAS MOST SCRUMTRULESCENT.

Haymitch · Aug 10, 2013

TC777JLIN168 said: ↑

When I think back to that glorious Tony Eusebio hit streak, what I remember the most and what the memory still stirs in me, is a sense of pure joy, of witnessing a magical moment of improbability. The experience was and is so otherworldly.
Click to expand...

Well said.

And thanks for the new thread. It would have made no sense to put this in the large thread that is regularly updated when anything new comes out about this movie.

tminusrex · Aug 10, 2013

I think the faith angle is just hurting Lin. When he was about to lose his job then he played with some balls but now he's not taking things serious enough. He doesn't look like a man anymore who's carrying a huge weight on his shoulders.

tinman · Aug 10, 2013

tminusrex said: ↑

I think the faith angle is just hurting Lin. When he was about to lose his job then he played with some balls but now he's not taking things serious enough. He doesn't look like a man anymore who's carrying a huge weight on his shoulders.
Click to expand...

the documentary says otherwise, that's how he became a better player, he realized his plays for only one person.

Roxnostalgia · Aug 11, 2013

Wait...there's a MOVIE about Jeremy Lin????

Mind blown. Maybe we do have a shot at landing a superstar in Houston!

TC777JLIN168 · Aug 11, 2013

Haymitch said: ↑

Well said.

And thanks for the new thread. It would have made no sense to put this in the large thread that is regularly updated when anything new comes out about this movie.
Click to expand...

I would have no problem if the mods of the board want to merge this into the other Linsanity thread.

Before posting this as a new thread, i tried to look for that thread and went all the way to page 5 but didn't see it.

I opened the thread stating my case to warn people like you. Yet you just can't help yourself, could you?

Haymitch · Aug 11, 2013

TC777JLIN168 said: ↑

I opened the thread stating my case to warn people like you. Yet you just can't help yourself, could you?
Click to expand...

You did not. You said this is the wrong board. It's not. You're wrong. Lin is a Rocket, so it belongs in the GARM.

You can go back farther than 5 pages and put this in its logical place. It isn't hard. Unless you're using dial-up, it would have only taken a few seconds.

tinman · Aug 11, 2013

Haymitch said: ↑

You did not. You said this is the wrong board. It's not. You're wrong. Lin is a Rocket, so it belongs in the GARM.

You can go back farther than 5 pages and put this in its logical place. It isn't hard. Unless you're using dial-up, it would have only taken a few seconds.
Click to expand...

He didn't post it there because he wants to take a shot at rockets fans on a rockets site with this average review. Maybe he'll submit this espn review to the Pulitzer prize

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