Chariots of Fire (1981)

"On your marks, get set, go!" Momentum builds up and your legs run. Your heart is pounding fast

and your sweats are dripping. Your sight is focused on the finishing line. You have no idea how close you are to your competitors as you know that it is fundamental in a race to never give your focus to them. You are approaching the finishing line and your body leans forward. Your arms raise and the cheers follow. Racing is a stressful game. The result of runners' great efforts and years of preparation depends on the several minutes or even the few seconds of a race. Thus, no runners can afford any mistake during a race. Chariots of Fire (1981) is a movie about two runners (Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell) who won gold medals during the 1924 Summer Olympics and the motivations that drive them to their championships.

Although both Abrahams and Liddell share the same goal to win the Olympic race, they have different purposes and these personal agendas serve as their extrinsic motivations. As a Jew, Abrahams sees winning the Olympic game as his weapon against antisemitism. This strong drive stems from his feeling of inferiority as a victim of prejudice, which is revealed between his conversations with Aubrey: “It's an ache, a helplessness and an anger. One feels humiliated. Sometimes I say to myself, 'Steady on, you're imagining all this.' Then I catch that look again. Catch it on the edge of a remark. Feel a cold reluctance in a handshake." For Abrahams, winning the race justifies his whole existence. He is very deterministic and is willing to sacrifice anything, including time spent with his girlfriend, to win the respect and recognition from the others.

On the other hand, Liddell races to honor God. "I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure." Liddell believes that his ability to run is God's gift to him and he wants to make use of this gifted talent to worship the name of God. As a Christian, sports are not allowed on the Sabbath. When Liddell realizes that the 100 meter race falls on the Sabbath, cognitive dissonance arises because to race on the Sabbath contradicts with his motivation for the race to honor God's name. Therefore, he decides to quit the race to resolve the dissonance and this becomes the testimony of his strong faith in God.

Both Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell have strong extrinsic motivations that push them through the hardships in winning the race. However, their motivations fall on the different levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Liddell finds his meaning of life, which is to praise the God. He realizes that his potential to run is God's gift to him. Self-actualization is seen in him. He puts God before everything. He is willing to sacrifice the fame and even the opportunity to spread the gospel that might have resulted from winning the 100 meter race because his ultimate purpose in life is to honor God and obey Him.

On the other hand, Abrahams' need to be accepted and respected by the others falls at a lower level of belongingness and love needs. He sees winning the race as a chance for him to be accepted as an Englishman. He wants the social approval from the others. This might explain his emotional flatness after he won the race because he has always fixated at his lower needs and unable to realize his higher potential as well as his meaning in life. As he tells: "Contentment. I'm 24 and I've never known it", he lacks the sense of fulfillment and he does not know what else can he achieve after the winning.

 

As Viktor Frankl suggested, we have the freedom to attribute meanings to our lives. Once we have found our meanings of lives, we can easily align our goals and run straight to the finishing line in many races of our lives. At the end of each race in our lives, no matter win or lose, we will always win the lesson that motivates and moves us towards our ultimate goal, which is the meaning of our lives. Run for a purpose!