Movies - TV
Jonathan Majors On The Extreme Relevance Of Jesse Brown's Story In Devotion
By RYAN SCOTT
J.D. Dillard’s newest movie, “Devotion,” tells the harrowing true story of two elite U.S. Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War and shines a light on Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), the first Black aviator to complete the U.S. Navy’s basic flight training program. When asked about the significance of Brown’s story today, Majors described it as an ever-relevant hero’s journey.
The actor said, “It’s extremely relevant. I mean, what do heroes do? They give us a light at the end of the tunnel. They give us hope. They give a blueprint on how to get through our own trials and tribulations and shortcomings, and in this case, members of the African diaspora, in this country and abroad, are constantly and consistently having to deal with systematic roadblocks.”
Majors added, “With Jesse Brown, we see a man, a Black man, a member of the African diaspora, deal with these roadblocks. And he metabolizes that pain and that racism and bigotry, and it essentially fuels him in a way.” Brown had to endure many obstacles to break ground the way he did, with Majors seeing this “as a testament to one’s own drive and to one’s own hopes.”