A Rememberable Movie

Rating: Null/10 (21 February 2019)

In Remember the Titans, Herman Boone is offered a head coaching position to coach the TC Williams High School football team to help unite the African American and white players. However, Boone is threatened with losing his head coaching job to white assistant coach, Bill Yoast, if he loses a single game during the season. Remember the Titans does a great job of displaying the problems of segregation in decades prior by effectively analyzing the different characters, using various camera angles, and utilizing skilled actors.
Throughout the movie, Remember the Titans deeply explains the relationships between the main characters and their individual personalities. For example, the two coaches, Herman Boone and Bill Yoast, are very selfless characters who prioritize others over themselves. Initially, Herman Boone was going to decline the head coaching job, but after realizing the positive impact that it would have on the black community as a whole, he decides to take the job. On the other hand, during one of the games, Bill Yoast realizes that the game is rigged by the referees. As soon as he makes notice of it, Yoast threatens to report the scandal if the referees don't call the game fairly from that point. Since the team ends up winning, Yoast loses his eligibility to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but he does it to give his players the best opportunity to win the game. At the same time, the movie closely analyzes the relationship between Julius Campbell, the African American team captain, and Gerry Bertier, the white team captain. This relationship is a symbol for the relationship between the white people and African Americans during this time period in general. Initially, the two star players did not get along with each other, but eventually they create an unbreakable bond. After Gerry gets paralyzed from a car accident during a team celebration, Julius and the rest of the team visits him in the hospital. Julius has a talk with Gerry in his room about how far the team has come from the beginning of the season and the "brotherhood" that they have created. Through the analysis of the four main characters, Remember the Titans is able to effectively showcase how far America has come in regards to segregation. Compared to years prior in which there were no integrated schools at all, the black and white students were now amicable with one another for the most part.
By using various angle shots in different times, Remember the Titans reinforces the concept of a team as well as the ongoing segregation. For example, towards the beginning of the movie when the camera shows Herman Boone along with the rest of the coaches, it uses a close shot featuring Boone in the center. This is important to emphasize the fact that Boone is the leader of the coaching staff and has the upmost authority. Also, in the scene where the team is just outside the bus, a long shot is taken from the area where the large white crowd is facing Herman Boone. This is used to help indicate the large white population that is against the smaller black community. The long shot displays that Herman Boone is essentially fighting the entire white population alone without the help of anyone. Occurring towards the beginning of the movie, this is crucial to show that ending segregation was a bleak option in this point in time. However towards the middle of the movie when the team has a meeting inside the gym, a long shot is used to capture the whole team gathering in the center of the gym. Displaying all the white and African American players, this shot is essential to emphasize that the team has united despite the two distinct ethnicities. In comparison to the previous example of showing that integration was a bleak option, this moment proves that ending segregation is slowly becoming in reach. The close shots and long shots are incorporated throughout the movie in various times to help emphasize certain moments or characters. These camera angles ultimately help to portray the ongoing segregation during this time period.
In Remember the Titans, the two main actors are Denzel Washington who plays Herman Boone and Will Patton who plays Bill Yoast. These two actors perfectly suit there role within the movie as they each have their own unique talents in regards to acting. Denzel Washington is a very eloquent speaker who thrives in delivering moving speeches that tend to impact the audience. As the head coach of a football team that is battling the problems that come with integration, Washington is tasked with giving many inspirational speeches to his players in hopes of uniting them. On the other hand, Will Patton comes off as a very soothing person who tends to comfort other people. As Herman Boone's assistant coach, Patton must step aside and follow the lead of the head coach. Known as a strict, demanding coach, Boone expects a lot out of his players. Thus, Will Patton is often the person who consoles all the black players. Patton's ability to effectively do this played a large role in the movie to help show how far equality has come throughout time. Having the privilege to have two very talented, well-suited actors, Remember the Titans was able to successfully convey the concept of equality and teamwork.
Overall, I thought that Remember the Titans was a great inspirational movie that included an interesting plot. Since I enjoy both watching and playing football, I thought that the concept of a football team facing the hardships of integration was a really interesting idea to emphasize the tough times of the past. Remember the Titans is a great movie for everyone to watch but more specifically for the black community as well as football fans.