Like many people, I’ve always been a big fan of underdog stories: those tales in which someone has been counted out or virtually destroyed, yet manages to muster the inner strength to forge ahead, overcoming whatever obstacles stand in the way.
So, it will come as no surprise that one of my favorite underdog heroes has always been Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He is a man who faced tremendous odds and through sheer force of will (and a brilliant intellect), overcame the roadblocks set in his path.
The film consists of a wide range of video clips and photographs—both old and recent, as well as a number of fascinating interviews. It goes back to Thomas’s hardscrabble origins in Pin Point, Georgia, as well as his relationship with his grandfather—a strict disciplinarian who instilled a ferocious work ethic and moral backbone in his grandson.
One of the challenges that he faced wasn’t from without, but from within. During a turbulent period in Thomas’s life, he reflected on his life—wondering why he was living and what he was willing to die for. In that quantum of self-reflection and inner stillness, he made the decision to become a champion of freedom, liberty, and justice in America (he’s a staunch advocate of both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights). That fateful decision eventually took Thomas all the way to the Supreme Court.
However, it was a hard road to take, with many pitfalls. Of course, the left used some of the tactics from their playbook in order to try and derail Thomas. He was accused of sexual harassment by lawyer Anita Hill in 1991 and his name was dragged through the mud by the mockingbird press for an inordinately long period of time. The ordeal not only greatly diminished his reputation at the time, but also hurt his family.
Then Senator Joe Biden, long-known for his questionable racial antics, also grilled Thomas and tried to tarnish his character, among other things. Thomas later recounted how he’d fallen victim to what he called a “high-tech lynching.”
Indeed, he stated at the time: “And from my standpoint as a black American, as far as I’m concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate, rather than hung from a tree.”
It’s no wonder that by the time Thomas reached his now historic swearing-in to the Supreme Court, he looked completely spent. But despite being exhausted by the many attacks leveled against him, like the champion he was, he overcame the final hurdles and defeated his foes once and for all.
As with many powerful conservative men, the left has used this tactic numerous times before—more recently with Brett Kavanaugh, now an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Both men faced dubious sexual misconduct charges (oddly, right before being confirmed) and overcame them.
Speaking of dubious, I admit that I was a little skeptical as to whether this nearly two-hour biographical documentary would be able to do Clarence Thomas justice (no pun intended), let alone keep me engaged. Fortunately, once director Pack puts his foot on the gas at the beginning of the film, he doesn’t let up until its climactic ending sequence.
This is a rousing, engrossing, well-paced film that shows to what depths leftists will stoop in order to try and destroy many of the strong, smart, and patriotic men of the United States. It also makes one realize how little has changed with regard to these smear tactics. If anything, the left is even more extreme, as we’ve seen in recent times.
Thankfully, the film also includes a wealth of feel-good moments and personal triumphs in Thomas’s life story, which virtually extinguish the darkness that once surrounded him.
The underdog story of Clarence Thomas is a distinctly American one, and one that most people can relate to. In the end, this is a great film about a great man.
