Denzel Washington as Melvin Tolson Forest Whitaker as James Farmer Sr. Nate Parker as Henry Lowe Jurnee Smollett as Samantha Booke Denzel Whitaker as James Farmer Jr. Jermaine Williams as Hamilton Burgess
Directed by
Denzel Washington
Written by
Robert Eisele Jeffrey Porro
Drama, Family
Rated PG-13
126 minutes
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| Roger Ebert
December 24, 2007 | 1
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"The Great Debaters" is about an underdog debate team that wins a national championship, and some critics have complained that it follows the formula of all sports movies by leading up, through
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The school's English professor, Melvin Tolson (Denzel Washington), is a taskmaster who demands the highest standards from his debate team, and they're rewarded with a national championship. That's what the "sports movie" is about, but the movie is about so much more, and in ways that do not follow …show more content…
(Forest Whitaker), a precocious 14-year-old who is their researcher, and Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), the substitute, and the only female debater they've heard of. Tolson drills them, disciplines them, counsels them and leads them to a string of victories that culminates a victory over Harvard, the national champion.
We get a good sense of the nurturing black community that has produced these students, in particular James Farmer Sr. (Forest Whitaker), a preacher. (Young Denzel Whitaker, as his son, is no relation, and not named after Washington). James Jr. would go on to found the Congress of Racial Equality.
Tolson drives his team on long road trips to out-of-town debates, and one night traveling late, they have the defining emotional experience of the film: They happen upon a scene where a white mob has just lynched a black man and set his body afire. They barely escape with their own lives. And daily life for them is fraught with racist peril; especially for Tolson, who has been singled out by the local sheriff as a rabble-rouser. These experiences inform their debates as much as formal
As I waited to observe the audience as they filled the seats with pencil in hand, I was amazed by the amount of diversity I saw before me. By the time the lecture was ready to set foot, I observed that nearly the entire lecture hall was filled. I would say that the hall where our discussion was being held in could probably hold around 300 people. The majority of the audience was not students forced to write a paper on the Brown v. Board Commemoration events, but rather scholars who were on average in their mid-40s. It seemed as though everyone knew each other to some degree. At one point, I saw a woman walk in with her young son and they were greeted by one of the first presenters. Oftentimes, groups of 2 or 3 walked into the room and they would sit down in no particular section of the seating and proceed to talk moderately loudly and peacefully. There was a sense of joy and rejuvenation in the air. After making my final observations of the crowd, I noted that it was a predominantly white showing! Not something I would expect to see when attending a discussion on slavery. It was a spectacle for me to see a group of Asian Americans nodding in unison when points were made during the seminar relating to black and white race relations. I would say that African-Americans wer...
From what I ponder, I think the reason why we watched this movie was to encourage students to work hard on something they vehemently want to do. The tale of the movie displays a character who puts her time and effort to study difficult vocabularies, in order to attain her goal of winning the nationals in Washington. Therefore, through watching the movie, students can relatively connect to the situation in achieving their goals.
The students in the school are shied away and even denied opportunities for higher education by the teachers, “Many have been discouraged or prevented from pursuing academic or work goals” (Kivel 44). From not believing in the students to not wanting them to get further ahead in life, the teachers in this low budgeted, racist school are sacrificing the students future in the name of institutionalized racism. This causes the students to remain in the same social class for another generation, once again, starting the cycle of integrated racism in the schools and surrounding
The third chapter stands out in that they provide a framework for the current issue in college athletics. It provides reference to the duality that black athletes must face while at college. They are not only seen as another student-athlete, but also as a black individual. There are certain stereotypes attached to that given label, which make it hard for black athletes to connect with the rest ...
The men in the town had set up a meeting in a barber shop to have a discussion about basketball with the new Coach Norman the men told Norman they needed Jimmy to play in order to win. Norman Dale did not care about who was on the team, it mattered how the players were playing together. Coach Norman went to go visit Jimmy, Coach Norman tells Jimmy a story when he was younger, he would do anything to win a game whether he hurt someone or pushed away someone to win a game. During the movie his perspective about winning had changed. While the team was playing against another team during the game, it did not matter if they were losing it mattered that they were working together. Another example, from the movie Hoosiers was when a player named Ollie had gotten fouled on he had to make the last winning points. Ollie was discouraged, he would not make the winning shot, he gained confidence in himself, so he shot the first shot and made it Ollie was so surprised that he made the first shot, he still had to make the second shot there was a suspense to make the last shot and he did the team was so happy Ollie made the team
Society becomes so rationalized that one must push himself to the extreme in order to feel anything or accomplish anything. The more you fight in the fight club, the tougher and stronger you become. Getting into a fight tests who you are. No one helps you, so you are forced to see your weaknesses. The film celebrates self-destruction and the idea that being on the edge allows you to be beaten because nothing really matters in your life.
* Kramer, Martin, and stephen S. Weiner. Dialogues for diversity : community and ethnicity on campus. Phoenix, Ariz. : Oryx Press, 1994.
Remember the Titans is a film based on the true story of Coach Herman Boone, who tries to integrate a racially divided team. Throughout training camp and the season, Boone and Yoast 's black and white players learn to accept each other, to work together, and that football knows no race. As they learn from each other, Boone and Yoast also learn from them and in turn, the whole town learns from the team, the Titans. Thus, they are prepared to pursue the State Championship and to deal with and some adversity that threatens to effect their season.
The same consistent, expressive voice introduces Ms. Angelou's effective strategy of comparison and contrast. By comparing what the black schools don't have, such as 'lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis courts, nor climbing ivy,' reveals not only a clear illustration of what luxuries the white schools in the forties had but also how unjust the system was. The adults at the graduation focus on the differences that were previously left unspoken. The black principal's voice fades as he describes "the friendship of kindly people to those less fortunate then themselves" and the white commencement speaker implies that" the white kids would have a chance to become Galileo's.... and our boys would try to be Jesse Owenes..." The author's emotions vary from the first proclamation that "I was the person of the moment" to the agonizing thoughts that it "was awful to be a Negro and have no control over my life" to the moment of epiphany: "we are on top again."
Nemeroff, Teddy, and David Tukey. Diving in: A Handbook for Improving Race Relations on College Campuses Through the Process of Sustained Dialogue. Washington D.C.: Harold H. Saunders and the International Institute of Sustained Dialogue, 2001.
When we being the Washington Technology Debate Team four years ago the goal was to create a program to help to foster an environment in which all students can build early and honest relationships across the color line in the debate space. I took great pride in not just being a follower that was content with helping in missions to help beaked down the institutional racism and races rhetoric that justified racism as a necessary for the common good. I wanted to challenge the idea that talking about race – even just acknowledging race – was unacceptable, so we can create a debate space in which was open to all kinds of people
family living in the twentieth century. This conflict involves Troy trying to live his life through his sons, Lyans and Cory, while trying to keep them from making the same
Whalen, Charles and Barbara, The Longest Debate, Seven Locks Press, Washington D.C.:1985. Web. 3 July 2015.
Phillip, Mary-Christine. "Yesterday Once More: African-Americans Wonder If New Era Heralds," Black Issues in Higher Education. (July 1995).
... relationships of the black and white people, and how they learned to interact with each other in a time when this was not the way of life. It displays a team that puts a dent into a major problem in the United States at that time. Through leadership they were able to break through a common thought, and as I have said before it really is inspiring to watch. As Coach Boone said, “Make sure they always remember the night they played the Titans” (Moviequotes.com)”