When I watch Remember The Titans, I often think what a lesson this film can be to society today in teaching racial harmony and looking beyond the skin colour of a man. The film shows us to look into the soul and character of a man. As you watch the film, you see an eventual celebration of unity and the creation of a village spirit in the city of Alexandria, Virginia.
I think you, the reader, and I both know that life is not that simple and it may not have been as easy as the film suggests for barriers to be broken in the 1970s. One could even argue that the film does not show the full extent of the racism that occurred in Alexandria at that time, but do you know what? Maybe it didn't need to.
Truly it's up to us as humans to acknowledge that this is something that has happened in our history and is still a part of our society. We know that barriers can be broken, but that's a choice. How many want those barriers to be broken for the betterment of society?
Yet, Remember The Titans is still a film that should be celebrated as it shows us the powerful strength of friendship and brotherhood in what was a fractured reality. There are the two captains Julius Campbell (played by Wood Harris) and Gerry Bertier (played by Ryan Hurst) who lead the way in bridging the racial divide between the black and white players on the football team. The blossoming friendship between the two characters sets the tone for the rest of the team to bond without judgement and see beyond each other’s colour.
What makes the friendship stand out even more is that when these two characters are first meet, we see that they are stubborn, hard headed, ultra-competitive and in a way quite selfish. Julius and Gerry needed each other more than they realise to see the flaws that were crippling their team.
Then there are the coaches. First up, Herman Boone (played by Denzel Washington). We see that he is a no-nonsense coach; who was determined that the players were going to gel together no matter what the outside world was saying. There is one particular scene in which he calls out one of the players, a line-backer called Petey Jones, who called a game of American football ‘Fun’. Man you’ve got to love Hollywood. “You think football is fun?” was the brash response of Coach Boone (Sir Alex Ferguson and Bob Saban would be proud eh?). Even I was scared for those players. You would think that the word fun is taboo, judging by Coach Boone’s reaction.
On the other side we have Coach Yoast (played by Will Patton), the good cop to Boone's Bad cop persona. This was going to be his year; he was pitted to be in the Hall of Fame. This is the ultimate award for any coach, to stake their name in football history. Unfortunately, the year got off to a very bad start for Yoast, as he was passed over for the Head Coach role that he had been working so hard for. You know who got the job? Yes, you guessed it, Coach Herman Boone.
In spite of that, we see that both of these coaches have to put their pride aside in order to realise they're not the Superman of their roles and that they need each other in order to get through hard games. I'm sensing a pattern here. What's that saying again? Two heads are better than one? That's the one.
I have to say that Denzel Washington played the role excellently and in typical Disney fashion, this was very well done as an ensemble. There were so many major characters and they all had a major part to play. Kudos to Disney. Of course, it's not a Disney film without there being difficult moments that needed to be endured. I won't spoil that part for you, if you haven't already watched it please don't hesitate.
I would love to know your thoughts on this film, leave a comment down below if you can and share if you liked it.
Till next time.
P.S.,
Left Side!
Strong Side!
Picture Reference: Explore Georgia https://www.exploregeorgia.org/things-to-do/list/remember-the-titans-film-tour
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