By Jennifer Lin
“We can come together at [football] camp, but the reality of the world tears us apart,” so says a T.S. Williams High School football team member in Alexandria, Virginia, perfectly portraying the frustration and disappointment experienced during the period of racial integration in the U.S. during the 1970’s. Remember the Titans, based on a true story, explores the integration of a black and a white football team and how they struggle to become state champions. At first glance the film might seem one of those egotistic macho-man productions satisfying the fantasies of sports fanatics. But, just as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is much more than martial arts and spectacular special effects, Remember the Titans presents a story of the gradual reconciliation of an originally bigoted community. For Alexandria, the year 1971 brought a huge change to its conventions and social system—the combining of three high schools into one, including both all-white and all-black schools. And also, from now on, there could only be one football team. But centuries of habitual and lawful segregation had made people suspicious of others’ skin color, and no one wanted their lives to be “polluted” by those of another racial background. So when black head coach Herman Boone (played by Denzel Washington) was approved by the school board to take the place of white coach Bill Yoast (played by Will Patton), the local white population angrily revolted against the idea. Boone’s one passion in life is coaching football, is a man of great honor and strength. He immediately sees that the task at hand is not so much leading his team to the championship as teaching them how to overcome the prejudice in their hearts. In order to train his “kids” to respect a person of another race, he collaborates with Yoast to put them through a series of exhausting training programs at a football camp. The idea of the camp is that by making the boys practice to exhaustion, they will forget to notice the color of their teammates’ skin; the only thing they see is the fear of losing. The boys began to come together through constant teamwork and communication, climaxing in a heart-rending speech delivered by Boone on the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg, which was near the camp. Only through the acknowledgment that one’s teammates are also human beings, and the recognition that everyone has the same aspirations for success, can the whole team gradually come to terms with one another, giving birth to a new team aptly called the Titans. Although this display of personal and communal strength is a well-worn theme, director Boaz Yakin succeeds in involving the audience in the emotional ups and downs of the characters by bringing out individual stories and struggles. Equally important is the subtle growth of Yoast, who becomes a better man by struggling with his displacement and consequent humiliation, and eventually overcoming the frustration of having been “put under” a black man. The mutual fear and distrust that dissolves with time is also shown in the long-lasting friendship between the all-white team captain Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst) and black quarterback Julius Campbell (Wood Harris). No production can ever escape some criticism or other, and neither has the Titans. More than one major publication has declared it to be lacking in the brutal reality of racism during its worst period, yet it is more or less agreed that Yakin has made good sketches of all aspects of racism—its prejudices, confusions, and ambiguities. But the central idea of the movie is to convey the way people’s opinions alter and how hatred can be eliminated by cultivating trust, not to record a series of anti-integration marches and protests. As the team captain puts it, “I was afraid, and all I saw in [them] was what I was afraid of.” This illustrates how far-reaching fear is, and how it pervades all of society. Football is only a game, but in the film it transforms the fear of difference into the strength of understanding. #Volume 6 Issue 3 a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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