The Fire Inside tells the story of Claressa Shields, the greatest female boxer of all time (yeah – I said it and you will too after seeing this film). At an early screening for the film, I found myself instantly drawn in. Claressa grew up in Flint, Michigan, where she faced many challenges, but one thing she could count on was finding that safe space at a local boxing gym. Despite being the only girl there, she never let that stop her.
What I found to be beautiful about the storytelling in this film is that it emphasized the connection between Claressa (played by Ryan Destiny - Grown-ish and Star) and her coach, Jason Crutchfield (played by Brian Tyree Henry - If Beale Street Could Talk). He saw something in her, a fire inside (pun intended) that doesn’t come around that often. Seeing her potential, he took it upon himself to nurture her natural talent and by 2011, when Claressa was only in high school, helped her qualify for the 2012 Olympic trials.
Barry Jenkins (writer - Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) says “This is both as honest a story, and as patriotic a story, about the American dream as you could possibly make.” Not only that, Jenkins wanted to accurately portray the connection between Claressa and Jason. Similar to Claressa, he grew up without a father and his coaches “were kind of [...] father figures” to him. This was evident when you saw how Jason motivated Claressa to be the best boxer she could be, and how Claressa is more at ease during a match when she knows Jason is there backing her up.
This isn’t much of a spoiler, but at the 2012 Olympics in London, Claressa won the gold medal. You’d think with achieving this great victory, and at such a young age, there would be endorsement offers overflowing with companies fighting for the chance to work with Claressa, but no. Even at the pinnacle of success, Claressa learned quickly about the inequality she’d face as a female athlete.
Throughout her career, Shields remained true to herself– being self-assured the entire time stating “I came into professional boxing being myself, and not allowing anyone to change me. But I had conversations with my team where they said, ‘Can you be more like this, or like that? Can you not be like this or like that?’ And [...] I think the hardest part of things was having to look at the people on my team, look them in the eye and tell them, ‘I’m going to do this my way.’”
This feeling of empowerment is showcased beautifully in the film as well and I must say Ryan gives the performance of her lifetime with this one. On playing the teenage and young adult Claressa in the film, Ryan notes that “Shields is such an inspiring person. I felt the importance of the film, and portraying her [...] it’s something that I do not take lightly at all. I know this is such an important and unique story for us to tell.” Ryan’s ability to make the audience feel the frustration of achieving the highest placement in the Olympics and then going back to regular life as if nothing has happened should be studied. I found myself wanting to join the fight alongside her.
As I’ve previously mentioned, Claressa is very self-assured and has always advocated for herself. Which is why it comes as no surprise to learn that during her Olympic journey (going for the Gold again at the 2014 Olympics Games), she was successful in her pursuit against the Olympic board to increase stipend afforded to female athletes to compete with male athletes. A fact that I was glad to see make it into the film.
There were some parts of the film I wish they’d expand on (e.g. how a fall out with Claressa and her mother was resolved) but I’ll chalk it up to a time constraint. Despite that, The Fire Inside is a must-see film that will leave you walking out of the theater truly inspired. Catch it in theaters Christmas Day.
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