Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Tragically Familiar: Benji


If Benji feels like a tour of familiar territory for ESPN Films' "30 for 30" franchise, there's a reason. Chronicling the short life and premature death of 1980s Chicago basketball prospect Ben Wilson, this documentary by Coodie (Simmons) and Chike (Ozah) is yet another tale of unrealized potential and dreams unfulfilled — a theme covered in basketball flicks Without Bias (on Len Bias) and Guru of Go (which while ostensibly about Paul Westhead is memorable for its inclusion of Hank Gathers), plus The Best There Never Was (on football player Marcus Dupree) and, to a lesser extent, Tim Richmond: To the Limit. Benji also fits right in with the "What if I told you ...?" theme of the "30 for 30" marketing campaign, bringing to light a sports story that's unforgettable for those who experienced it and yet all too easy for the rest of us to overlook (Into the Wind might be my favorite example of that subgenre, but you could argue that at least a quarter of the "30 for 30" series is in that vein). But if Benji doesn't do much to stand out, we shouldn't think less of it for fitting in. Last week's release, There's No Place Like Home, was, in its utter disastrousness, a reminder of this series' routine excellence. And at least from journalistic perspective, it's far less important for Benji to stand out amongst its peers than for the documentary to prove that Ben Wilson stood out amongst his.

Coodie and Chike make that case convincingly. As you'd expect, Benji is filled with the poetic remembrances from nationally recognized experts on Chicago basketball (including Scoop Jackson and Mike Wilbon), from local journalists who covered Wilson's prep years, from NBA players who played with him, against him or in the shadow of his legacy and from family, friends and childhood teammates (including R. Kelly). But in addition to those nostalgic testimonials, Benji has something else that we take for granted in this era of YouTube and the smartphone camera: video evidence. For a documentary about a kid who only played three years of high school basketball in the early 1980s, that was no sure thing. Thankfully, many of Wilson's state tournament games were televised, but Coodie and Chike don't stop there. They supplement the television coverage with footage of Wilson playing at a prospect camp, and with era-appropriate video of blacktop basketball games in Chicago's hoops-obsessed playgrounds. Wilson doesn't actually appear in the playground video (I don't think), but that's irrelevant: the footage makes it clear that to be a standout high school basketball player in Chicago, you needed to have serious game, and all the basketball footage of Wilson — save for his subpar, foul-plagued title game performance as a junior — allows us to see that with our own eyes. Indeed, as the talking-heads suggest, Wilson had low-post size with a guard's ball-handling ability; a soft jump shot; a knack for rebounding; and, in every move he made, unusual grace.

That's not to suggest that Benji doesn't have its share of myth-based hyperbole. Heck, some interviews are shot in a pool hall, an environment perfect for turning kernels of truth into tall tales. But while Wilson's basketball skills are virtually undeniable, Coodie and Chike caution the viewer not to swallow the legend whole, particularly when it comes to Wilson's death. (Spoiler warning.) Gunned down less than a block away from his high school on the eve of his senior season, Wilson was reported to be the victim of a curbside stickup — an account seemingly confirmed by the signed confessions of the two suspects. But Benji raises the possibility, and if you ask me convincingly suggests, that in truth the 6-foot-8 Wilson was shot because he bumped, taunted and then lunged toward a much shorter kid, Billy Moore, who had flashed his weapon and was prepared to use it. This alternate scenario is articulated by Moore himself, telling his story on camera for the first time, almost three decades later, and it's at least loosely corroborated by other circumstantial evidence brought to life in the documentary, which includes an animated reenactment of a previous incident in which Wilson demonstrated a potential for aggression when he hit a teacher who was trying to intervene in a confrontation Wilson was having with his girlfriend, Jetun Rush, with whom Wilson was quarreling moments before he was shot. There's no confusion over who fired the weapon or denial of the most serious crime. Moore admits to both, and says that his so-called accomplice, Omar Dixon, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. But Benji stands as a reminder that first impressions can be deceiving.

Still, there probably will always be an element of mystery to Wilson's death. Rush, who might be the most impartial witness to the event, refused to be interviewed for the documentary, as did Dixon. But the particulars of the incident don't matter much, especially in the context of this film. What counts is that gun violence, exacerbated in this case by some problematic emergency protocol that has since been reformed (ensuring that gunshot victims are taken to the nearest functioning trauma center, and not just to the nearest hospital), robbed us of an athlete who seemed destined for greatness far beyond Chicago. That's compelling in itself; perhaps Wilson was on his way to being the rival that Michael Jordan never quite had. But if you allow yourself to see Benji as something other than a sports documentary, it's hard not to notice that the gunman and his guilty-of-being-there accomplice had their lives significantly altered, too. They are not, of course, equal victims. Not even close. And it's possible that if it wasn't Ben Wilson on that sidewalk that day, it would have been some other Chicago kid on some other sidewalk on some other day. Maybe violence was in Moore's future. But watching Moore speak, and seeing what he's become, it's tempting to wonder if his future might have been brighter, too, if only he could have escaped Chicago. That you've heard this story before, with different characters, doesn't make it any less tragic.


Benji premieres tonight on ESPN at 8 pm ET, and will rerun frequently thereafter. The Cooler hopes to review each new film in the "30 for 30" series upon its release.
See the Volume 1 and Volume 2 archive.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVED the Benji document. As an avid basketball fan, I feel cheated out of what would've become of the late Ben Wilson. He certainly appeared to have it all : skills, great attitude, good student, good looks. I feel the pain too. I do not, however, pardon the shooter. He stole his aunt's gun, he skipped school to "handle" another situation that was resolved before he made it to the Simeon. He then wanted to go and smoke marijuana instead of going back to school. He was looking for trouble that day. He made a series of bad decisions that day. A shove or a push and trash talk is no reason to lose your life. Billy Moore snuffed out a spark, a light, and a dream...not to mention someone 's son and father. I am glad prison reformed him, but I don't think that he was living a life of dreams waiting to fufilled. Thank God for The life of Ben Wilson.

Anonymous said...

We need more from jetun rush...what about benjis son...is that evwn his kid..why did she declime interview? Did they try to interview his son? Was benjis family close to brandon? So many unanswered questions

Tee Cee said...

In my humble opinion, Jetun Rush doesn't owe anything to anyone.

It's now widely known that the only reason that Ben Wilson was on the street the fateful day his life was taken is due to being with Jetun--and people placed Ben Wilson on a messianic level, as a saviour. So how many ignorant people do you think would have blamed her for his death, who would have taken their anger and frustration out on her. She had a son to care for who wasn't even a year old yet; why stay and end up making him not only a fatherless child, but an orphan?

People don't want to know what happened to Jetun Rush for her benefit; they want to satisfy their curiosity, see if she has grieved enough or 'paid' enough for their satisfaction. Sad...

Anonymous said...

This documentary leaves you with so many unanswered questions. Its quite obvious that according to the film Benji was a kid who had a gift to play ball, good student academically, and a lot of pple named him a "Messiah". He was loved by many and there was a lot of expectation from him to succeed. If you put the pieces together he was rebellious, prideful and short-tempered. Everyone involved from the Moore, Dixon, Benji, Jetan all were scarred and this is something that no child should have to experience. This is happening far too often with our youth and there dying before way too young. We can speculate and assume Jetan is a horrible person, Moore and Dixon are murders, but they were all children that were going through emotional, mental and trying times in there lives that would change them forever. Even though Benji died everyone who was there suffered in there own way and no child should have to experience such tramatic events such as this.

Anonymous said...

I think Rush and Dixon were messin around. That is why he said to shoot him.

Anonymous said...

The 2 that did not tell their stories were messin around. That is their kid. And that is why he said to shoot him.

Anonymous said...

I just listened to this documentary last night. I was very touched. My sadness stems from the fact that thousands of miles apart, he was born on March 18, 1967 and 12 days later I was born on March 30, 1967. One wonders as already mentioned, what would have become of him....his life was cut short, really, and very sad indeed.