Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story

Is a sad movie that reminds us how bad it was/still is racism (injustice) but had me with tears of joy at the end, knowing that Wllly never give up.

Extremity well produced documentary with an outstanding narrative, that brings hope by showing us that not all white guys in Motorsports are evil... because indeed, it is a cut throat field where the good bud white guys network always seems to win...

Well done, well done Adama Carolla!

PS: people that blames his attitude had never been treated differently for no apparent reason, or ask themselves why I have to try harder than my counter parts? A victim of society, Willy was in fight mode at all time and on top having to prove he had something to offer to the teams as the other drivers (caucasian), and since is Motorsports, Willy had to prove that he was better than them, because that's why we rave!

Pretty good motor sport doco. I'm a NZer and don't know much about US motorsport, so it was interesting to see historical Nascar, Trans Am, Atlantic Championship, IMSA and Indie car racing and more.

All in all enjoyable, but you do start to get a strong sense that Willy T had a big ego and enjoyed boasting, something people rarely find endearing regardless of skin colour. While there was doubtless racism going on, you get the sense that the race card is being played too often to explain this or that problem. There's always two sides to the story and this, for better or worse, is definitely a one sided story by a proud racer. It would have been interesting to hear the full story from those that stood accused.

One thing that stood out is the supposed intentional crashing of Willy T by Pruett in IMSA. The footage looked like Pruett had the inside line and Willy T turned in on him. The camera angle didn't do Willy T any favours for his side of the story. To hear that Willy T then hit the guy while he sat inside a car next to a woman just wasn't cool, but Willy T is portrayed as the victim in all of it.

To recap, decently interesting for people into racing. However critical watchers will note that this is definitely a very one sided story.

Who knew Adam Carolla had such chops!? This documentary--another in Adam's growing line of racing-inspired documentaries, is not only an inspirational and emotionally gripping account of a truly great black race car driver, but is also an interesting case study within the long saga of American racing. I can only imagine the amount of legwork and research Carolla and his team did. Amazing end product. DO NOT MISS this excellent documentary, and let's hope this is the start of a long series of eye-popping docs from Carolla's Chassy Media. BRAVO!

Production: Very good production. Edited well for the amount of information it gives, at times too much information. Also, very smooth transitions, easy to follow story. 9/10.

On Screen: The passion and rawness of Willy T. Ribbs makes this documentary. Also, the other people, professional drivers and experts, give context to the story of Willy T. Ribbs. At times, some of the information given wasn't necessary to the main story. For example, it shows the articles and stories about Bill Cosby's criminal charges which is redundant and took away from Willy T Ribbs's story. Lastly if you don't know the language of auto racing or cars, then at times, you can get lost because of how technical they get. 8/10.

Content/Impact: Willy T Ribbs's story is a phenomenal story about the first black man to drive the Indianapolis 500. His resolve and the racism that he overcomes, is an inspiration for black people, and POC, who experience racism, that we can overcome and still be great. 10/10.

Overall: Excellent story about an extraordinary black man who excelled in his profession, faced adversity, and despite racism, succeeded. Stories like this needs to be told more often. Overall I'll give it a 9/10.

I didn't know anything about Willy T. Ribbs before watching this and very little about American motorsport (oval tracks to an Englishman are generally scoffed at), but by the time I reached the last 20mins of this documentary I was rooting for that man like I have never rooted for anyone before. Willy isn't a household name with multiple world championships to his name (although in a colour-blind world he might well have been), but his story/career is one of the most inspiring in any sport. Whether motor racing is your thing or not this is well worth watching.