Final Film Analysis: Remember The Titans, By Gregory Allen Howard

Mariah Bautista

Per: 6 AP Lit

06/1/15

Final Film Analysis Paper

Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” People need to learn that they should work together otherwise nothing will get achieved. In the film Remember the Titans by Gregory Allen Howard, based on a true story, a high school in Virginia is forced to accept black students into their school. Denzel Washington plays the role of a coach known as Coach Herman Boone who replaced the highly successful Coach Bill Yoast of the white school. These two coaches have to learn how to trust and depend on one another to unite and have a successful football team. Herman Boone tried to get a high school football team to come together and put aside the students differences. The lesson that applies

to the improvement of society from Remember the Titans is that success takes sacrifice and people should not judge based on color.

Coach Boone is a black man who disciplines the high school students on the football team to come together. In the beginning of the film one of the black students whose name was Jerry ‘Rev’ Harris thought Coach Boone was going to be “cool” since he was the same skin color as them (Yakin, 2000). Boone proved to all of the students that he wants to be taken seriously. Coach Boone also has to work with another coach Bill Yoast, who is white. They both don’t agree with each other at first but then they learn to come together in the end. One of the most important scenes in this film was when Coach Herman Boone took the whole football team to go on a run (Yakin, 2000). He told them about what happened during the war. When he talked about the war in Gettysburg he told the boys that Fifty thousand men died fighting over racism. Boone told the boys that if they didn’t come together soon that they will all end up like the men who fought in the war. This scene in particular was important because if he had not told them about that story,

the students would not have come together and learn to become good leaders. The boys really learned how to treat one another with respect and they were all treated equal. The team had already become winners because they did not let their hatred towards one another let it get to them; they put it aside. Another lesson that was very important to this film was when the Captain of the football team which was a white man named Gary was talking to the Julius (Yakin, 2000). The lesson that was very important in this moment was when Julius said that he was only going to worry about himself. When Julius said that the Gary realized that all the arguing needed to stop. Julius said that his actions were a reflection of the Gary’s actions. (Yakin, 2000). The football team would not become a team if all they did was fight. The lesson that was important to society was when coach Boone made all the students room together; white and black to get to know each other. The team was not pleased to hear this but they did it anyways. When this happened it ended up breaking into a fight between Gary and Julius.
Based on the lessons from this film I know how to not treat people with that kind of disrespect based on their physical appearances. I do not want to repeat history where black people have certain limitations as to where whites can basically do anything they want. This film really impacted my life and I will not let people who still feel this way treat black people like a disgrace. People who feel like they need to judge others by how they look or dress, are just people who really need to find themselves. Most people who are cruel to others are just following how they see their peers act out. I will not be that follower; I will stand up for what I believe in. I will impact society by not letting people just walk all over those who are too scared to say anything; I will be their voice. I will show people that there is more to life than bringing someone else down. Being a part of a team will make anyone grow as a person because it will show them that they should not be self-centered and learn how to work as a team. Even though I have never been judged by the color of my skin, I have still been judged by the way I look. I wouldn’t wish this upon anybody to be judged by just being themselves, so that is why I will stand up for myself and others; change how society treats others based on the color of their skin.
The growth of the individuals on the football team truly had improved society because of how they put aside their differences and showed the rest of society how important it is to work together. The boys on the team proved to society that working together is what really makes a person a winner. They helped show society that no matter what race a person is, they should be allowed the right to have the same opportunities as the whites. The lesson in the film has affected my life to show that even though people look different with their physical appearances, it should only matter with who they are as a person and their character. The lesson that I learned after watching this film will directly affect my life and my impact on society by becoming a good person to everyone. I know that nobody should not judge a person by their looks and I’ve learned that being a part of something such as a team or just being with friends, that having friends and family by my side is what really matters.