Moral Issues In Remember The Titans

Good morning Mr Harrop and fellow peers. Today I will be analysing the moral issues and moral dilemmas in non-literary texts, so that we can understand and evaluate how test structures, language and visual features can be used to influence an audience response. An exemplar of many moral and ethical dilemmas is shown through popular sport inspiring movie, ‘Remember The Titans’ (Yakin, 2000) directed by Boaz Yakin. Yakins has a gift for dealing with controversial human issues, by facing the characters with racism, peer pressure and selfishness. Alongside the writer Gregory Allen Howard, they have utilized textual structures, language features and visual features to influence the audience's response.

The first issue that is focused on throughout the play would be the racial inequality in America in the 1950’s. Although there were many Americans who were fighting to end segregation and discrimination, nothing was legally done about it until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Troy Maxson being an African American man in his early fifties, grew up with the white man suppressing him. Troy was a Negro League star but when black men were finally allowed to play in the Major Leagues of baseball in 1947, Troy was too old to play. This left him very bitter towards life and the way he went on to raise his sons, which also ties into the generational clashes that will be discussed later on.

This paper will analyze the film Remember the Titans through a social psychological perspective using principles that are depicted throughout the film. This film takes place in Virginia during the segregation years. One African American coach is picked to be head coach at a school in the suburbs. His team is forced to play with another team that is all white males. Both coaches and players have to go through many difficult trials and tribulations. At first the teams show out and let eachother know that they don’t like each other but in the end become good friend in spite of the segregation. This paper will analyze this film through the social psychological principles of racism, conformity and

Remember The Titans was a movie that was set in a very hostile time in our country. We were in the middle of what I like to call a civil war. Although there were no battles or gunfights our country was torn in half. There was an issue dealing with race in the United States. The movie, Remember the Titans is based on actual events that occurred in the year 1971. Mainly on the integration of a school called TC Williams High School. When the school was integrated the old football coach, Coach Yoast, was let go and a black coach Herman Boone was hired on. The main plot of this movie is regarding the coaching change in the school and the 1971 football season the TC Williams Titans have.

In the movie Remember the Titans, the plot shows clear examples of race and ethnicity discrimination and Sexual orientation discrimination. One of the first scenes that show the issue of race and ethnicity discrimination is when the coach (Coach Boon) house is being vandalized by the “white players” when they throw rocks at his house. It is evident that the players don’t want the Coach or his Family in the neighborhood due to the colour of their skin. Another example is When Julius walks into the room and is completely ignored by a group of White girls when he says Hi to them, the nature of the movie suggests that if Julius has been of Lighter Skin, the girls would have reacted differently to him by saying Hi back. An example of Sexual Orientation discrimination in the movie is when they refer to a male player as Sunshine as he is homosexual, it is even more evident in the scene where the group of football players are uncomfortable around the character Ronnie as he is homosexual. The behaviours shown in the movie are learnt behaviours, the discrimination shown in the movie shows that white characters are acting on their judgment against the black characters with no substance behind their behaviours, and no real reason for them to be acting that way. It is clear that Discrimination is a

life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.

But there was a problem with the leadership in the film as the Titans were divided, into blacks and whites, so the captain of the team, Gerry, did not have the respect of the blacks because he was white. Gerry did not get along with the blacks at first especially Julius. At first, they would not acknowledge each other and they were considered enemies. Gerry was judgmental, racist and arrogant towards Julius, which made it hard for them to work together. Julius didn’t feel connected to the team because none of the white player were blocking for the black players. He stood his ground against Gerry and held him accountable for his 'lack' of

Remember the Titans, is a film that is about a predominantly white culture in an era that is predominantly white dominated over blacks. In the film, the school makes a very bold movement of combining both black colored students and white colored students so that they attend the same school. In addition, the school also demotes their successful white football coach to instead a black football coach, something that had never been done before.

The movie Woodlawn sets the mood for what segregation was like in 60’s and 70’s in America and especially in Alabama. It also connects a spiritual movement taking place in America as well. The effects of what the “Jesus Movement” and “De-segregation” had in Americas youth. Through the movie Woodlawn we see how Whites and Blacks alike are united first through a sport and then through the Love that is only through knowing Jesus Christ as their savior.

Remember the Titans is a classic football movie filled with many obstacles. These obstacles vary from racism to dealing with death. It’s based on a true story that took place in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. What makes this movie classic is how the players and coaches were able to overcome the issue of segregation and build relationships to form a championship team.

This entire movie is encased with ingroup bias and outgroups. A great example of this is a scene when the team is at their football camp. Louie goes to sit down at a table of all African Americans and Julius says, “What you doing man?” Louie answers “I’m eating lunch.” and Julius replies “I see you eating lunch. Why you eating over here? Why don’t you go on over there and eat with your people.” This shows Julius’ tendency to favor his own group over Louie who is perceived to be part of a group that is different than his group. Remember the Titans being set in a segregated time is all about the in-group and out-group.

or so many years our society has been thinking of forming new creative and innovative businesses, which would be more environmental and customer friendly. Nowadays a large number of different companies follow the social, ethical, as well as moral consequences when it comes to their decision making. One of the relatively new concepts involving economic and social concerns is Corporate Social Responsibility. Many of us apply this approach not only at work, but also in everyday life without even recognizing.

Like the play, much of the action takes place in Troy and Rose’s backyard, where Troy works to build the long-promised fence around Rose’s property, a fence meant to keep Rose’s family “in,” a symbolic protection of the freedom the family has come to enjoy. The thrust of the action follows Troy’s breakneck monologs, each describing the racism he’s had to overcome as a black man who has done time, played in the Negro baseball league, and then not made it into the still predominantly white pros. Yet, Troy’s inability to see that times are changing for “the negro” only lead to the movie's major conflicts; he cheats on his wife and father’s a daughter out of wedlock because he wants “a different understanding of [him]self” and wants to “get away from the pressures and problems” he has faced in his life (Wilson, pg. 1391, 1985). Simultaneously, he undermines his gifted sons (played by Russell Hornsby and Jovan Adepo), incapable of understanding the opportunities the post-Brown v. Board world affords them, opportunities never offered to him. In short, the narrative maintains Wilson’s pragmatic realism and confronts the diametrically opposed definitions facing black men and women in the world today.

In the film ‘Remember the Titans’ directed by Boaz Yakin, the main characters of the Titans are introduced as a group to us in a scene shot in the gymnasium. This scene is when the team first meets the other prospective team members and develop their relationships with each other. Yakin uses this scene to show the tension and intimidation between the two separate teams, especially focusing in on the two coaches (Boone and Yoast) while giving the audience an idea of where their relationship stands. He uses four techniques to create this; blocking, sound effects, camera angles and dialogue do this.

Troy does not see that times have changed from his times having more colored men playing baseball including football. What he is scared of the most is getting surpassed by Cory. The IUP journal of english studies expresses this by saying “He cannot stand the thought of Cory getting abused by the athletic industrial complex in the same way. But he also cannot stand the though of Cory succeeding where he failed--just because he happened to be born twenty years too early”(1).