F1 THE MOVIE (The Overdue Review)
Hey TurboNerdz, how have you been? I made a discovery from the last post that you guys enjoy the stories way more than the car stuff, lol. The third anniversary post had little or nothing to do with actual cars and yet it garnered my most views so far. Since y'all enjoy and are here for the stories, I am going to be taking the lifestyle approach henceforth. I will be giving you a mix of the medical and automotive life. On that note, welcome back to my YouTube channel guys 😂, before I dive into the automotive gist for today, I'll give a brief of what has been going on in my life as a final year medical student.
How's Medical School Been?
For starters, I am currently in Abeokuta for my psychiatric posting at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital Aro, Abeokuta and it has been a 'crazy' experience, all pun intended 😅. Jokes aside, the posting kicked off being hilarious while listening to the outlandish stories of patients, but as time went on, I began to feel bad for most of them. As they say, 'no be only those wey dey waka naked for road dey craze'. Some of these individuals look and appear normal like you and I, but something went wrong somewhere and now they are psych patients. 😪
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| The perfect number plate for my power bike hit me while looking down at Abeokuta |
The Automotive Scene in Abeokuta
As for automotive scene in Abeokuta, I have noticed there are quite a number of basic but cool cars on their streets. However, the drivers and riders in Abeokuta are rough! I have driven in Benin City which is known for rough driving, but Abeokuta is something else! I also noticed that the trucks don't slow down, especially at the Iyalode T-junction where Food Co is located. The cab/bike men are also stubborn, because instead of giving way to these trucks, they compete for space. In my head, I am like God abeg o, them no born us plenty for house! On a serious note, the FRSC needs to do something about the driving culture in Abeokuta.
Asides the rough driving, Abeokuta is a relatively chill and safe place. Lest I forget, the roads in certain parts of the town are in beautiful and mint condition. I passed a three lane double carriage way some days ago while going to visit a friend, the ride was so smooth the cab man drove me past my stopping point 😂. I kept thinking to myself, what a beautiful stretch of road to unleash some horsepower on a bike. So, this is a hint to my riders in Lagos, a joy ride down to Abeokuta is not a bad idea at all, wink wink. 😉
F1 The Movie: Reviewed With a Psychiatric Lens
I added the tag 'overdue review' because this post is coming three months late. The above message was sent in on the 10th of July and I am just delivering. Mabinu David Folarin of Quantum Exposure for my extremely delayed review. By the way, he is an amazing photographer, so do well to check out his page. There's really no need going over why this is coming late, it is already clearly stated in the text. I only got to watch the movie a few weeks ago and straight up, it was amazing. Best movie of the year in my own opinion. I'd honestly give it an 9/10. Just as some of my lecturers would say, the one remaining mark is for God, lol. On a serious note, the movie was good! I mean, it was co-produced by my GOAT, Sir Lewis Hamilton, so I didn't expect anything less.
There are already a lot of great reviews of the F1 Movie online, so I thought to myself, what can I do different. I then decided to approach it from a psychological aspect, using the little knowledge I have garnered so far. I will do a general overview of the movie and then elaborate on two interesting psychological themes I picked up. Emphasis will be on the two main characters, Sonny Hayes played by Brad Pitt and Joshua Pierce played by Damson Idris. I will also make use of their real names to avoid any confusion. Let's dive right in!
General Overview of the Movie
As I mentioned earlier, 9/10 movie. The production was properly and carefully done, it felt so realistic that I thought I had fulfilled my dream of driving a formula 1 car. Both Brad Pitt and Damson Idris had to learn to drive a formula 1 car which is a crazy and rare privilege, so jealous of them 🥹. Idris recently said that normal driving now feels boring, lol how wouldn't it? The drive scenes, pitt stops, team communication and general pace of the movie were all too realistic for a fictional movie.
There are not many Formula 1 related movies and the few that exist like Rush and Senna are basically biopics. Since the movies were based on real ex-formula 1 drivers, writing and production may have been quite chill. But having to write a Formula 1 story from scratch and not make it cliche, that's the real stuff. I initially thought the movie was going to be loosely based on Lewis Hamilton's rise and domination in F1, but it ended up being something different and I loved it.
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The movie continuously gave a first person view which to me was exhilarating. Felt like I was the driver, swinging my head from side to side, feeling imaginary G-forces 😁. That was definitely the goal of the movie and it worked perfectly because both car and non-car people alike were hooked from start up until the checkered flag. The team dynamics and strategies were also apt, following the actual F1 rules and guidance. I can go on and on gushing over the movie and explaining how perfect it was, but one blogpost wouldn't be enough. Ultimately, the producers did their homework and delivered. Kudos!!!
The Psychological Aspect
1. EGO
The movie Kicks off showcasing Damson Idris whip the F1 car around the track setting decent lap times, but not doing exceptionally well. At that point he has no rival and thinks he is the boss. Brad Pitt who is like three times his age then shows up and gives him a proper palpitation. Idris is initially portrayed as a cocky black boy and he sees Pitt as a rival rather than a mentor. Idris thinks Pitt is trying to steal his spotlight which he was obviously more concerned about than making podium and saving the team. The theme of unhealthy ego was well portrayed and clearly visualized when they crashed into each other in their first race for the season. This was seen in how elated Idris was over the crash, more like better they both DNF than him loosing to grandpa Pitt.
Another portrayal of negative ego is when Idris crashes and almost loses his life just because he didn’t listen to Pitts instructions. Idris had just gained a lot of speed from the slipstream given to him by Pitt and was instructed to be patient and not overtake. But Idris letting his ego get the better of him, ignored Pitts warning and went for the gap, but the corner came faster than expected. At over 200mph, the car went in the air like a jet, landed and burst into flames. Luckily, Idris survived the career ending crash and that was his turning point to ease on his ego. He eventually admitted his fault, apologized and began listening to Pitt which ultimately led to them finishing first and popping champagne on the podium.
2. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Simply put, PTSD is a mental health condition that is caused by an extremely stressful or terrifying event. At the start of the movie, we see that Pitt is very reluctant to take on the F1 seat. We are talking about one of the most revered seats in motorsports. P.S - only twenty men at a time are given a seat in Formula 1. He gave a million reasons why he didn't want the seat, but later on we were made aware of his fatal crash as a young driver.
Fun fact, the image used above is a real crash scene of former F1 driver Martin Donnelly at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix. Donnelly crashed into a guard rail at about 160mph which ripped his car in half leaving him in the middle of the track lifeless. Donnelly survived the crash but the injuries to his right leg ultimately ended his F1 career. So imagine having such an experience, I would also run from racing F1 again. The closest feeling I have personally had to PTSD was when a biker ran into my car as I was turning off the road. For about a month after that accident, I would occasionally wince while getting off the road, fearing that someone might run into the side of my car.
Pitt's PTSD manifested in the last race of the season when he began to have flash backs of his crash while on the track. Because of this, he was driving slower than normal and lost his position. He was eventually able to get himself and won the race, but it wasn't easy. This reminds you that not everyone is like Niki Lauda who literally got roasted along with his car, only to show up six weeks later with unhealed burns to race. The crazy thing is that he still dominated F1 until his retirement. If you want the full story of Niki Lauda, watch the RUSH movie I mentioned earlier and thank me later. In essence, people are built different, so know your tipping point and ask for help if you are suffering from PTSD.
One blogpost is not enough to do justice to such a great movie, but I do not want to overstretch it. If you haven't watched the movie yet, I will advice you do so and give me a feedback, let's nerd out. The comments section is also very open for discussion. The movie was good and until something better is released, I won't stop talking about it. Until next time, I remain your host Frogman and always remember to Turbo that engine!
P.S - 08140266662 is the number to call if you are in the market for any cars! Peace out ✌🏾
Comments
I enjoyed the movie too. An 8/10 from me though
Thanks for reading and this insightful comment 😌