HIM (2025): The Chained "Saviour"

Salamat Ibrahim
Sep 30
5 min read

SPOILER WARNING

“I’m HIM.” “The GOAT.” These titles are heralded all across social media, sports scenes, and celebrity interviews. The ultimate sign of greatness. That somebody has made it. But what even is “it,” and does achieving it require the forfeiture of one’s identity?

Justin Tipping poses these questions in his newest film HIM (2025), which follows Cameron Cade’s own journey to become the next “HIM.” Cameron starts off as the Golden Boy of D1 football, playing as the star quarterback on his university team. When draft season rolls around, his lifelong dream of joining the Saints begins to fade due to a traumatic brain injury he sustained over the summer. Eventually, the Saints offer him a what appears to be a once-in-a-lifetime proposition: 1 week with Isiah White, their previous star quarterback, and Cade’s idol, to see if he has what it takes. Success in the retreat effectively guarantees him a spot on the team. Reeling from his almost failure, Cameron immediately agrees, and what begins as a fruitful mentorship slowly unravels into a nightmare that mirrors slavery, one with new chains. Once at the retreat with Isiah, those around him make it clear that his autonomy, body, and even his family are expendable for the fulfillment of becoming “HIM.” A prepackaged, palatable saviour for the masses, and a mascot sold by those in power.

Childhood Grooming

Cameron’s ensnarement by sports and the elites who control it doesn’t begin at the retreat with Isiah, but rather at home with his dad. In the beginning of the film, we see his father continuously forcing him to watch a reel of Isiah White’s brutal injury on the field, moving his head towards the screen even as Cameron averts his vision, whispering to him: “This is what real men do.” This conflation of sacrifice and manhood is instilled in Cam at a young age. And his father embodies this both metaphorically and literally, as it is later revealed in the film that he consented to being used as a ritualistic sacrifice to secure Cam’s spot as a quarterback for the Saints.

In the same scene, His Father repeatedly asks Cam: “Who are you?” to which Cam always yells “I’m HIM.” The declaration acts less as the claim of greatness it's meant to be, but more so a confession to his captivity, to the idea of sacrificing himself, as Isiah did, for the game. Cam doesn’t get to envision any other future, he is groomed, unknowingly by his father and those he made deals with, to consider only one option. We see this in how countless young Black boys are funnelled towards sports as their family's “only way out,” a phenomenon dubbed "save the family syndrome," (Cooper et al.). This dream is hardly sustainable and often ends abruptly, a fate Cam himself almost faces when he receives his brain injury, nearly discarded by the very system who offered him escape. This cycle also mimics that of slavery. Slaves would birth children into bondage, to then be discarded when considered no longer useful, and for the cycle to continue with future generations. The elimination of choice is present in both situations, only sports offers those it captivates the illusion of choice.

The Modern Day Auction Block

Almost immediately, HIM (2025) refuses to shine away from this comparison of sports to slavery. One of the most striking comparisons comes when Cameron is ordered to strip naked for a physical examination in front of many others. He expresses confusion at first, but eventually complies despite the humiliation he feels. He stands on a platform, exposed, and is reduced to data points and physical attributes as Isiah and the physical inspector make remarks regarding his physicality. The scene is a deliberate callback to slave auctions where Black men and women were appraised like livestock (Johnson). It also embodies the humiliation often inflicted upon slaves by those in power, sometimes committed through sexual acts, like stripping, meant to emasculate (Perkins and Kruer). Today’s sports drafts are akin to auction blocks: members are scrutinized by scouts and owners for their statistics, both physically and sports-wise, and sold to the highest bidder, often without their knowledge, only finding out during the draft itself. HIM (2025) reminds us that behind the fame and glory, lies a process that continues to commodify Black bodies for the profit of those in positions of power.

Chains: Choice and Captivity

The film continues to emphasize this idea of sports as modern day slavery through Cameron’s interactions, specifically those at parties. In the beginning of the film, he attends a party filled almost entirely with his Black peers. He’s wearing casual clothes, dancing and having fun. We also see him choosing his own substances to consume. In that same scene, he’s sat down and offered chains, and he initially listens to the pitch before refusing and walking away. Later in the film, he attends a party hosted by owners of the Saints team. Now, Cameron, the only person of colour at the table, wears an all-white suit, starkly contrasting the white men around him dressed in black. He’s marked as different, singled out, but not only in terms of race, but morality as well as is exemplified by his clothing. He takes a drink that has been pre-poured, and instantly it’s evident that he’s been drugged. Inebriated and with his autonomy stripped away, a chain snaps around his neck, violently jerking him back, like a collar.

These moments at their core are extremely similar, Cameron is invited to a party, drinks, and is offered chains. But the small differences that underlie them capture the movement from choice to captivity. Cameron is provided a choice in the beginning, and chooses to reject the chains. As he falls deeper into the system, the chains reappear, no longer offered, but forced. Chains, and the diamonds encrusted in them in our modern environment symbolize success, yet in this scene they echo the shackles of slavery, and Cameron’s unknowing agreement to carry the legacy of “HIM.” A legacy of bondage disguised as salvation, and one that Cam, unlike many others, found it within himself to walk away from due to family and his need for community. The very aspects of his life he'd been told to abandon to become "HIM"

What Are We Celebrating?

HIM (2025) is not the story about one fictional quarterback, but rather of the pipeline that young Black boys have been faced with for generations. One that can only be broken through connection, and community. The hazings, the humiliation, and chains. These features are inherent in slavery, both classic and modern. The difference being that sports promises freedom, all while demanding complete sacrifice. We chant “HIM,” and “GOAT,” without seeing the chains around their necks. HIM (2025) forces us to stop chanting and cheering, and instead ask who benefits from the system, and who is sacrificed to keep it running. And ultimately ask ourselves what it is we're truly celebrating.

Citations

Cooper, Joseph, et al. National Black Sport Participation and Physical Activity Report (NBSP 2 AR). 2024, www.umb.edu/media/umassboston/editor-uploads/new-balance-innovative-leadership-in-sport/National-Black-Sport-Participation-Physical-Activity-Report.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com. Accessed 30 Sept. 2025.
Johnson, Walter. Soul by Soul : Life inside the Antebellum Slave Market. Harvard University Press, 2009.
Perkins, Dedrick, and Matthew Kruer. 50 SHADES of SLAVERY Sexual Assault of Black Male Slaves in Antebellum America. 2017, shareok.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a3aa1282-e59d-40db-93f8-2654a76eb7c9/content. Accessed 30 Sept. 2025.

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