Things The Movie Air Got Wrong And Things It Got Right

Growing up, I was taught that honesty is the best policy, and over the years, I’ve realized that there’s no getting around this. So, in the spirit of applying what I’ve learned, I must admit that when I first saw the initial movie promotional material for Air, I didn’t think much of it. Looking back, I don’t know what could have made me think that way, considering that a brilliant actor named Viola Davis was on that poster. What about Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Tucker and Jason Bateman? Helmed by Affleck, whose track record in that department is solid, Amazon Studios’ Air movie became a massive success worldwide and an enjoyable experience for me.

As a child of the Jordan era, Air was a special movie for me to watch. It brought back many fond memories about a man I idolized and looked up to, but it also awakened me to many behind-the-scenes details I wasn’t aware of about Michael Jordan’s ascension story, especially the people who made his success possible and how they had their own doubts and fears about the decisions they were making.

As with any movie or creative work inspired by events, Air had to do a real balancing act between presenting hard facts and taking creative liberties to tell a dramatically engaging tale. And with a story as important as MJ’s, that would have been a tough row to hoe. In this article, let’s look at the three main things – among many – it got wrong and the core narrative that it got right. Before we get there, let’s talk stories and disclaimers.

The Air Movie

Air chronicles the real-life events surrounding sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro’s bold and determined attempt to secure a young Michael Jordan as a Nike spokesperson in the mid-1980s. Set against a struggling Nike basketball division, the film delves into the challenges and triumphs of Vaccaro’s unconventional strategy. It captures the daring gamble Nike took in pursuing the as-yet unproven talent, the firm and unwavering support of Jordan’s family – in particular his mom, Deloris – and the subsequent birth of the iconic Air Jordan brand, which went on to have a massive impact on both the sporting world and broader popular culture.

RELATED: Air Review – Matt Damon & Ben Affleck Score With Nike Jordan Film

The Power of a Good Disclaimer

Creative license is a powerful thing, and as I said, it’s mostly done to keep a story exciting and dramatically intense. Sometimes, people knowledgeable about a story – particularly one as high-profile and consequential as Michael Jordan’s – may look at every detail of a film like Air with a fine-tooth comb to highlight what the producers and directors didn’t get right. It’s understandable: nobody wants inaccuracies spreading and taking root. Thankfully, that’s what disclaimers are for. One is the ‘views and opinions’ disclaimer you’ll see after the credits roll at the end of Air; the second (which I found quite funny) came from the director, Ben Affleck. Speaking candidly at the film’s premiere at the SXSW Film and TV Festival in Austin, he said, “This is not a documentary… This is not meant to be the absolute, perfect history of who did what and who said what… For those of you out there who happen to know that this happened at 3 a.m., and so-and-so said that… you’re right.” Though those sound like shots fired, he makes an important point: at their heart, movies are about entertaining people and moving them emotionally.

Now, we come to the aspects of the Air movie where some significant liberties were taken.

Was Vaccaro The Guy?

If the film is to be believed, Sonny Vaccaro is the man who made things happen, such as getting Michael Jordan to sign with Nike. Much of the movie’s narrative is built around Vaccaro’s overwhelming belief in MJ, leading to Nike’s success in their conquest. In real life, that has been disputed on several fronts. That’s not to say the major players in the deal don’t recognize and appreciate Vaccaro’s significant contribution, but it would seem that he wasn’t the main guy. What’s even more interesting here is that Jordan credits someone else with persuading him to go to Nike, and that wasn’t Vaccaro: “Sonny likes to take the credit… but it wasn’t Sonny, it was George Raveling.”

Raveling is played by Marlon Wayans and is shown in the movie as the one whom Vaccaro asked to speak to Jordan about giving Nike a shot. If it’s true that it was Raveling and not Vaccaro who whispered in Jordan’s ear, no wonder purists would have issues with this as one of the film’s main inaccuracies. 

A number of other embellishments have also been noted about Vaccaro, such as that he put everything on the line for the deal to work or that he lived close to the Nike headquarters. This was fictionalized, and understandably so.

Dear Mama

When Ben Affleck approached Michael Jordan to get his blessing to make the Air movie, it was reported that the director asked him whom he wanted to play the role of Deloris Jordan, and MJ was very clear about it. He wanted Viola Davis.

As audiences know, Deloris Jordan is a central figure in the negotiations that led to the Nike signing, and by playing hardball with Phil Knight and others representing the company, she almost single-handedly would have been the one – from the Jordan side – who ensured that the family walked away happy. According to Screen Rant, while Deloris was knowledgeable about business and had a significant role in the deal getting done, a lot of attention was put on her to take it away from His Airness. “Michael Jordan isn’t in Air because Affleck didn’t want to focus on the athlete, and he didn’t think audiences would believe anybody in the role. Making Deloris a prominent figure expertly distracted audiences from trying to get a glimpse of the basketball player”. Of all the historical inaccuracies highlighted in the film, this one is a fair use of creative license because the core truth – that Deloris Jordan was a central support for her son – still holds.

Not Here To Speak For Themselves

Two critical people in Vaccaro’s quest to sign Jordan to Nike in the movie are Rob Strasser, the marketing strategist, and Peter Moore, the famed designer of the iconic Air Jordan 1. However, contrary to what the film communicates, it was Rob who had a leading role in terms of the actual campaign. And by the way, he wasn’t the quiet, chill individual we saw played by Jason Bateman; he was “brash, loud and opinionated“.

 Strasser championed the innovative concept of a signature shoe line, which, at the time, was a novel approach. Collaborating with Moore, they presented a compelling vision to Jordan’s agent, emphasizing the financial gains that could be made and the opportunity to work together to develop Jordan’s image alongside a promising sportswear company. Through their partnership, Strasser’s insightful perspective and Moore’s creative spark laid the groundwork for the collaboration that made Nike and Michael Jordan internationally known.

Of all the factual inaccuracies in the film, this one might be the toughest to swallow because Strasser and Moore are no longer around to speak up for themselves. A friend of Moore’s, Ric Long, lamented this in a piece by the Oregonian: “What worries me is that the historic success of the Jordan footwear came because Rob and Peter made it happen,” he said. “With Rob and Peter gone, Sonny told the story he wanted. It’s great theater, but the truth gets a little murky.”

Air Is A Compelling Movie Story

The factual errors and ‘creative liberties’ list doesn’t end here with Air. The three I listed here struck me most because they represent the range of changes producers can make when working with a narrative based on actual life events. Either you’re completely misrepresenting what happened, and the people who were involved in how things played out in real life step in and object, or you have changes that are pretty close to what happened, but there’s a strong storytelling motivation for making a slight tweak; and finally, the complexity of telling stories where some or all the players have passed on and have no say in how their stories are told.

Despite those weaknesses, Air gets the main things right: first, it engages its audience emotionally, and second, it brings home the point that because of the deal Michael Jordan signed with Nike, sneaker culture reached new levels that are still impacting the world today. For these reasons alone, it still deserves its place as one of the best films of the past few years.

Read more about things the Air movie got right and wrong on sneakerfortress.com.

What do you think? Are you willing to give the things the Air movie gets wrong a pass? Also, if you’re looking to purchase awesome Air Jordan sneakers, check out 23jumpmanstreet.com or our sister site sneakerfortress.com.