在这部电影里，其实我最关注的是青年人的成长，尤其是在面对严重的种族歧视时、在困难的社会环境下，黑人青年怎样有尊严、有思想地活着。我想这也是这部电影的主题并且是导演企图向我们展示的理念。
首先，不论是什么肤色的年轻人，关于他们的教育，是具有普适性的。在电影中我认为有不少对我有启发意义的话语。其中Dr. James Farmer Sr.在片头有这样一段话“When I was a child, I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away all childish things.”所以当Farmer一家开车出行不小心撞死白人农夫的一头猪时，白人要求他们赔偿远远高于猪的价值的25美元时，小James义愤填膺，而老James却为保护全家答应了他们的众多无理要求。小James对父亲的行为感到不解并未他们的遭遇感到屈辱，为此他耿耿于怀。然而若不是因为老James的委曲求全，或许Farmer一家就要命丧白人的枪眼之下了。当Mel Tolson被警局拘留后，老James运用强大的证据和自己渊博的知识将Mel Tolson保释出来的时候，小James明白了父亲所谓的man和child的区别并深深地为父亲所折服。
在片中还有一段感人至深的片段，Mr. Tolson让四名辩论队队员口含坚果大声说出了一段话：Who's the judge? The judge is God. Why is he God? Because he decides who wins or loses, not my opponent. Who is your opponent? He doesn't exist. Why does he not exist? He's merely a dissenting voice to the truth I speak.他坐在小舟中，让学生在河岸上大声背诵，小舟越来越远，学生的声音必须越来越大。这不仅仅是训练学生的嘴上功夫，更是告诉他们真理就要大声的大胆的喊出来！诸多的内容我认为不仅仅是针对于黑人，所有的年轻人都应当学会像大人一样思考，学会坚守真理。
其次，对被歧视的黑人青年，要教会他们怎样面对这些不平等甚至是残暴的待遇，要教会他们怎样去维护作为个人和种族一员的尊严并勇于争取属于他们的权利。The team saw a man strung up by his neck and set on fire in the night. They drove through a lynch mob, pressed their faces against the floorboard. We saw the fear in their eyes... and worse... the shame. 残酷的现实让这些刚刚尝到胜利果实的年轻人为之震撼，不平等一如既往地存在。他们发出呐喊“What was this Negro's crime that he should be hung, without trial, in a dark forest filled with fog? Was he a thief? Was he a killer? Or just a Negro?” Dr. James Farmer Sr.还说了这样一句话：We do what we have to do, so we could do what want to do.所以沉默地忍受屈辱是他们不得不做的，而他们也定会在沉默后爆发，做他们想做的，the time for justice, the time for freedom, and the time for equality is always, is always, right now! 当他们战胜哈佛大学队举起了胜利的奖杯时，我们看到的已经不仅仅是一场比赛的胜利，甚至不是黑人的自我突破，更是黑人走向独立自由和平等的希望！
