page_title: Gracie (film)
section_title: Historical background
hierarchical_section_title: Gracie (film) / Historical background
caption_attribution_description: English: Match between United States and Canada in the en:FIFA Women's World Cup 2003
context_page_description: Gracie is a 2007 American sports drama film directed by Davis Guggenheim. It stars Carly Schroeder as Gracie Bowen, Dermot Mulroney as Bryan Bowen, Elisabeth Shue as Lindsay Bowen, Jesse Lee Soffer as Johnny Bowen, and Andrew Shue as Coach Owen Clark.
  Gracie takes place in New Jersey, United States in 1978, before 1972's Title IX had taken much effect in women's college sports and when organized women's soccer was still very rare in the United States. Gracie, the film's central protagonist, overcomes the loss of her brother by convincing her family and school to allow her to play varsity soccer on an all-boys team. The story is partially based on the childhood experiences of Elisabeth Shue, who was one of the producers in addition to being the wife of Davis Guggenheim, the director, as well as a cast member.
  The novelization of Gracie, written by Suzanne Weyn, was released in June 2007.
context_section_description: The premise of the film rests upon the conflicting expectations of two different American generations. As Gracie's parents were most likely both products of what is now referred to as the "Silent Generation" of children born during the Great Depression and World War II, they would have been raised to adhere to traditional gender roles. This would have included discouraging a girl from participating in "boys' sports" such as soccer, as opposed to "girls' sports" such as cheerleading or gymnastics. Gracie, on the other hand, came of age during the 1970s, when new and controversial ideas about gender were being introduced.
  Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, noted an additional generation gap between those in the film and those in the audience, many of whom grew up with the United States women's national soccer team (which played its first game in 1985) as a reality:
  Not so long ago – 1978, actually – girls were not treated equally with boys when it came to school sports ... what happens in Gracie must seem like a tale from the Dark Ages to today's young athletes, something akin to slaying a dragon or housekeeping for seven dwarfs. But think of it this way: In 1978, future gold medalist and World Cup star Mia Hamm was only 6 years old.
  Other critics have also noted the multiple generation gaps. Kevin Cahillane observes in the New York Times that, "this being 1978 (before Title IX turned a generation of girls from onlookers into athletes), her desire goes against the wishes of the coach, the principal, the other players and her heartbroken parents." In another article for the New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis further argues that, "[Gracie] is accustomed to having her abilities overlooked ... When tragedy strikes, and Grace channels her grief into a resolution to play on the all-male varsity team, even her best friend is horrified. As everyone knows, only lesbians play soccer."
  The film closes with the following remarks: "Thanks to Title IX and brave girls like Gracie, there are over 5 million girls who play soccer in America. Since 1991 the U.S. Women's National team has won Soccer's World Championships four times." (FIFA Women's World Cup Champions 1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019)
caption: 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup
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