As you may already know McFarland, USA is based on a true story…It’s not everyday, you get to meet the people behind the inspiration. It was so awesome to get to meet and talk to Coach Jim White & the Diaz brothers.
When it came to portraying the life, the picking life that the Diaz brothers grew up in the movie did a good job at highlighting the way it really is.
We were about seven or eight years old when all that began. Um, and so for us, it was a way of life. Even some of us, after graduating college, like Danny, the day after he graduated from the university with the diploma, he was in the fields working, because that was, in our family, what was expected. Until he got hired and, and got his job. So, for us it was normal.
– DAMACIO DIAZ
So far not much has changed in McFarland since the movie was filmed…It’s grown a little in the last few years, but not much has changed. There’s just not much to do, so without sports their kids would be lost, because it’s either education & sports or the streets.
Right now our community is, uh, excited, uh, obviously with the movie and rightfully so. Uh, the — all the notoriety that they’re getting and, and what this, uh, man over here, Mr. White, our coach, has, has brought to not just, uh, our, our program but to our community. – DANNY DIAZ
While they see not much change in this busy little town, Jim White states that there has been a major change…The town is no longer the “Heartbeat of Agriculture”… Now they are a runner running through the field, a figure — silhouette of a runner.
And underneath — and this was given out to the high school and a high school girl came up with this logo — Tradition, Unity, and Excellence. So, that’s a big change. – JIM WHITE
While the boys don’t “train” anymore, David Diaz still runs competitively, and coaches while his brothers still run with their kids to keep in shape. The hills you see them train on in the movie don’t really do them justice, they were much worse…they are not rolling hills, they are steep.
You might be surprised the coming to life of the story of McFarland has taken about 15 years…They signed with several companies before Disney picked it up. Jim was excited because he didn’t want it to have sex, cursing or cigarretts..so they were very happy that Disney was taking it on. Even after the initial excitement, they had to nix the first script and higher a better writer, who wrote the one you will see on Friday.
When it came to making the movie, the Diaz brothers didn’t have much say in how it was portrayed, they were interviewed and told their stories, but that was pretty much it. But as you know from my interview with Kevin Costner, Jim White had much more influence on the story.
Q: I notice a lot of you became teachers. Did Coach White encourage you in being to like you use any of his style when you’re teaching or coaching?
He was a, a very inspirational part. You know, we, we are a God-fearing folks, so we were, we were teaching in Sunday school, you know, u– on Sundays. And we, we were part of the Royal Rangers. He wasn’t the only reason why we got into the education, but he was one of the two or three maybe. My parents definitely, pushed us to go to education, you know, go that route and not the route that, the wide road most people go to is other than college. Now college is very, very encouraged, but back in the day I wouldn’t say that a fifth of the folks in high school ended up, especially, uh, folks of our color and our culture, maybe started school, but hardly any of us finished. So, it was a big, big deal for us. – David Diaz
Playing sports in school was encouraged by their oldest brother David Diaz, it helped to teach them discipline and build character as well as teaching them the aspect of winning and losing. It was something to get them out of their environment and for some of them see the country and even the world competing. They all went to college and competed, and earned their degrees.
Listening to the Diaz brothers still can Jim White, Coach White, just shows how much respect they still have for him. I was thrilled to be able to hear them talk about their lives growing up and the portrayal of it on the big screen.
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McFARLAND, USA is rated PG and opens in theaters everywhere on February 20th!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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