AND WHEN YOU LOSE HOPE IN THE WORLD AROUND YOU : "REMEMBER THE TITANS"

I’m going to be a little bit partial here. I’m going to go out on a limb. There really is nothing like a Disney film, is there? I reckon this goes not only for the cartoons we all – well, almost all – know and love so well. They’re good at selecting pick me up, feel good movies of a more grown up kind too. Now, it may seem to the untrained eye that a feel-good movie is a easy thing to knock together. If you think about it, the biggest criticism these films get is that they are a little too simplistic in their approaches and solutions. This is precisely the trap inherent in making a film like this. Sure, you want a solution, you want things to be alright in the end, but hey, you want it to be realistic too if you want people to “actually” get a kick out of the film. So what better thing to do than to base yourself in real life? Oh don’t shake your head at me like that. I’m as much a “realist” as the next person. And true, life is never just “black or white”. But occasionally you know, things work out spectacularly well. As it did in the case of the Titans.

Of course for our generation this seems both antiquated and foolish, but back in the day racial segregation was a part of life. And people, as you may well know, are not that partial to their day to day lives just “changed” like that. This is what happened when a small town in suburban Virginia  in 1971 when the local highschool is forced by law to racially integrate. Mayhem rules supreme at the very thought, but nowhere as much as in the highschool football team. Not only must the team now be “mixed race”, but the team has a new coach. And Coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) is not only replacing the beloved former coach, coach Yoast (Will Patton) but he is also, well, black. Coach Boone is determined to show everyone he is more than capable of being a good coach to his team but even if he somehow manages to get his players to integrate and become a true team, will they be able to resist peer pressure and sustain that team spirit throughout the year? Will Coach Boone be able to withstand the constant pressure on him personally and make his fledgling Titans truly great?

It is truly bizarre to think that people as recent as in 1971 were thrown into an uproar at the very idea of a racially integrated school. It is even more incomprehensible that people who actually still think the same thing exist today. But it is a comfort to know that for the most part, most of us have left this kind of shallow prejudice well and truly behind us. I mean, of course this is basically a sports movie and a buddy movie combined. It is a well-made “mainstream” film and some might add “and nothing more”. But I would disagree. The film has done well to borrow from real life as unlike a lot of films of its genre the finale is far from being a glowing, all round positive. But then again, not everything in life glows – or is positive. On the other hand this doesn’t stop the good overcoming “generally” either.

The other good thing about it is that the characters are also presented warts and all. Coach Boone is far from “the perfect coach”, and there are times even a child can (and vociferously does) point out his mistakes and shortcomings. The film, at this point, does what we all should strictly speaking do. Concentrates on the good and not the bad. Moves forward to create something good and new. Cue fuzzy warm feelings inside – no wonder this is so many people’s favourite film…