Devotion: Integrity, Love, and Friendship

Have you ever stopped to consider who you really are?  When nobody else is looking - when friends and family are not present, who are you?  What guides your thoughts, actions, and decisions?  What influences have impacted your life to make you the person that stares back at you in the mirror.  Some of those influences and events may have caused you to react while other moments caressed and molded your thinking and doing.  Some of these things are stinging and hurtful while others are gentle and deepen our understanding of who we really are and what we aspire to be.  On November 23 Sony Pictures is set to release the movie Devotion which is set against the backdrop of 1950 America, the Cold War, and the beginning of the Korean Conflict.  The movie focuses on the story of Jesse Brown (played by Jonathan Majors), the United States Navy’s first African-American aviator to complete the basic flight training program and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross.


But here is the catch - this was no simple journey by Ensign Jesse Brown and this is no ordinary War movie!  While the movie captures the challenges of being a US Naval aviator - taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier, learning to fly the powerful Corsair, and then bringing that aircraft into battle against the new Soviet made Jet fighters - the movie really focuses on the journey of personal integrity and the formative influences, relationships, and events that made Jesse Brown who he was.  Like peeling back the layers of a life, Devotion  takes the audience on the difficult road traveled by Brown - a road fraught with racism, hateful and hurtful words, and suspicion in his abilities.  With each challenge and test of integrity thrown at him, the audience witnesses the deepening of his character and a commitment to be the best - the best husband, pilot, officer, and friend.


But this is segregated America.  The challenges Brown faced are profound.  And how does he handle it all?  Imagine keeping a journal of every hurtful and hateful word ever spoken to you and using that journal every time you are faced with a life challenge; or having peers being skeptical of your abilities because of the color of your skin. Devotion powerfully captures these moments and helps us see how Brown used them to be the very best version of himself.  But a journey like this can never be traveled alone.  Along Brown’s journey the audience is introduced to the unshakable bond of love with his wife Daisy (played by Christina Jackson) and the deep and abiding friendship with his commanding officer, Lieutenant Tom Hudner (played by Glen Powell).  These two relationships are critical to helping Brown process and rise above the challenges that are ever-present around him.


Devotion helps us see how the journey of Jesse Brown had a lasting and powerful impact on other sailors, his fellow pilots, Lieutenant Tom Hudner, and most importantly, on his wife and family.  What Jesse Brown saw staring back at him in the mirror was better than he ever knew and greater than many around him saw.  Devotion challenges us to look deeply into the mirror and imagine a better version of ourselves…to rise above our personal challenges in life…to be the very best we can be.  Devotion will challenge you to look in the mirror and imagine more - more for yourself and more for society.



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