Why is he named Yul Brenner? This is one of many things in Cool Runnings that simply goes unexplained. Its announcement is met with raised eyebrows and shrugs from the other characters, and as a kid it flew over my head, but now it’s a detail I greet happily with my best WTF face. Maybe it’s a nickname he was given that he didn’t understand, like his photo of Buckingham Palace. Maybe it’s a disavowal of the name given to him by his parents, who are absent in the entire story. Then there’s the name Sanka Coffie. It’s like a name you’d see Sylvester Stallone give one of his characters. Here, it seems as though their names emphasize the various embellishments added to this story. Then there’s Sanka’s lucky egg. Is it a real egg? Why does it show no cracks despite their sled flipping over? So many unanswered questions.
I’ll admit it’s impossible for me to put myself in the seat of an objective observer given that Cool Runnings was one of my favorite movies growing up. And I can’t argue against someone who insists that I’m just going to great lengths to justify nostalgia. So much of taste is driven by nostalgia anyway. I’d be curious to see what a person whose life had not been touched by the Jamaican Bobsled Team in the 90s would think of this movie today. I’m still willing to argue its merits against any possible cold-hearted detractors that may exist. Come at Cool Runnings and we will respond with a cool “No problem, mon.”
