Ray McElrathbey’s been through something only a few on this planet will ever undergo: A life worth Disnefying. In 2006, as a redshirt freshman football player at Clemson University, McElrathbey took in his little brother, Fahmarr, so he wouldn’t go into foster care. For weeks, McElrathbey hid Fahmarr in his stuffy dorm room, pocketing college-cafeteria food to bring upstairs to him. Eventually, Clemson found out McElrathbey was raising a teenager in, again, a dorm room, leading to a battle with the NCAA that surprisingly ended well—he was granted a waiver that allowed him to start a trust fund in Fahmarr’s name. In Safety, out this Friday on Disney+, director Reginald Hudlin fictionalizes McElrathbey’s year raising his brother. Which means that McElrathbey’s life has been… Disneyfied. If you grew up on Disney’s secret-sauced sports classics such as Miracle, Field of Dreams, and Remember the Titans, then you already know what that means. When Disney takes on sports, the result is usually a brilliant blend of absurdism, one-liners, good and bad, gross hyperbole, and genuine, tear-inducing inspiration. The formula is at its best in Safety. McElrathbey’s shitty-dorm-room roommate is a Long Islander offering his fictional counterpart plates of pasta and screaming mangia! Ringtone? Outkast, “Hey Ya!” Coaches wailing C’MON RAY in the way that only football coaches in football movies do. We won’t spoil it, but yes, there is a scene where the entire team piles into one room, the passionate plea is made, passionately, you’ll listen to those Rudy strings, and… Click below to read the full story from Esquire
Read More