'Catching Hell' is a tough one for me to review. It is about a subject very near and dear to my heart. I have a passion for Cubs baseball that is insatiable. My heart was broken when the Cubs lost the NLCS in 2003. If a lynch mob were formed right then and there to get Bartman and crucify him, I'm not proud to admit it but I'd probably say go for it. It takes a little more than a masochistic edge to be a Cub fan. There's a lot of misery and heartache that has to be endured but there is a promise of a just reward. I am convinced that when the Cubs win the World Series it will be one of the most cathartic and joyous occasions in the history of sports. Make no mistake catharsis is a huge part of being a Cub fan. In 2003 we were robbed of our catharsis and we needed an external scapegoat. Unfortunately for Steve Bartman it became him.
This isn't a documentary about baseball. It's a documentary about being human. There is a brilliant moment in the beginning of the documentary where Director Alex Gibney describes the aspects of being a fan better than I have ever heard before. Being a fan is putting yourself as the 26th man on your baseball team on an emotional and almost spiritual level. Baseball is an escape from the drudgery's of life and when your team wins you win with it. When you lose however you take the scars with the team. The weight though of the scars weighing down on Cubs and Red Sox fans is enormous. This is the culture the media fed Bartman to. I think the media above anyone else becomes the real villain in this fable. Was it right for Cubs fans to blame Bartman? I don't' know if we ever really did. He became a face to the pains and frustrations and inadequacies of what the Cubs culture meant. Do I understand the anger? Yes. I feel angry myself. I don't think the Bartman wound will ever heal as long as the Cubs continue their title drought. There's a moment at the end where Gibney simulates Alou making that fateful catch. It was like him reopening the 2003 wound in this Cubs fans chest. It isn't' rational but it exists.
This isn't a documentary about baseball. It's a documentary about being human. There is a brilliant moment in the beginning of the documentary where Director Alex Gibney describes the aspects of being a fan better than I have ever heard before. Being a fan is putting yourself as the 26th man on your baseball team on an emotional and almost spiritual level. Baseball is an escape from the drudgery's of life and when your team wins you win with it. When you lose however you take the scars with the team. The weight though of the scars weighing down on Cubs and Red Sox fans is enormous. This is the culture the media fed Bartman to. I think the media above anyone else becomes the real villain in this fable. Was it right for Cubs fans to blame Bartman? I don't' know if we ever really did. He became a face to the pains and frustrations and inadequacies of what the Cubs culture meant. Do I understand the anger? Yes. I feel angry myself. I don't think the Bartman wound will ever heal as long as the Cubs continue their title drought. There's a moment at the end where Gibney simulates Alou making that fateful catch. It was like him reopening the 2003 wound in this Cubs fans chest. It isn't' rational but it exists.