Friday Night Lights Thesis

Friday Night Lights
The movie Friday Night Lights is based on a real life best seller Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and a Dream, by author H.G. Bissinger. The movie’s setting takes place at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas in 1988 when the tension between races was still strong in a few regions of the south. There is some focus in areas of the film that has to do with racial tension and the ongoing conflict between the student body and the city as a whole. Even though desegregation had taken effect by the time the book was written and the film was made, the schools at times were still racially divided. The movie showed how this football program exploited their black athletes. Of interest was the film maker’s decision to spotlight

the two main football players who are black. Boobie Miles and Ivory Christian even though there are many other players, coaches and families, these characters a not as prominently featured. The boys are as equally respected as their white equivalents on the football field, but the film goes on to illustrate how attitudes change when these two players walk out of the gridiron. The movie touches on many controversial subjects such as, racism, hypocrisy, and failure within the school system. Whereas the book is interpreted as being extremely socially-oriented, and centered primarily on racial issues and educational priorities.
At first glance, some of the scenes in the movie were actually filmed in the football stadium the Panthers play in yet, other home games appeared as if the director had chosen another Texas stadium to gain footage from. Because of this decision, the movie does not stay consistent to the backdrop of the production. Football is a monumental event in Texas. As noted continually in the film there is an intense fan base at the events. The tailgating activities, packed stadiums and sold out games are an all too familiar sight to those who live in Texas. These events drive the passion of those in attendance. This rabid attention to the game occurs at the high school level all the way to the professional NFL teams of Texas. Interestingly it has been documented that a local affiliate pre-empted a Major League Baseball playoff game when the Permian and Midland Lee game was played. “Permian’s powerful hold over its community was proven when its rivalry game with Midland Lee once preempted a Major League Baseball playoff game on the local NBC affiliate” (Smith). This does indeed go to prove the lengths in which Texas treasures football.
To declare that football is an enormous deal in Texas would be a serious trivialization. With Texas housing two NFL teams and add to that mix the college football stadiums which bring in enormous crowds cheering on teams like Texas A&M, Texas Tech and The University of Texas to name a few, it is no wonder high school football players are held to higher expectations. In this film the viewer has the opportunity to examine the rawest and most real football in Texas is indeed at the high school level. There is a plethora of high schools in Texas’ largest cities additionally the smallest towns all have, at the very least, one football team and all with extremely involved followers. This film demonstrates their supporter’s involvement in the local teams and documents their rabid follower’s gloating when the local team is the winner of the contest. Undoubtedly, once fall arrives, devotees gather on Friday nights at high school stadiums all through Texas to cheer on their team. Some of these stadiums, match in size to college level venues in other states. In many small Texas towns, the football stars are their celebrities. This is one of Texas' favorite past times supporting and obsessing over the game and the team and the film does an outstanding job of depicting this obsession. Smith is quoted as saying, “How big is high school football in Texas? There have been 14 games in the state’s history to draw more than 36,000 fans.” (Smith).
Interestingly, the movie depicts Permian as a large, high school in a small town when in reality Odessa is a comparatively large city. It also depicts the town as mostly white with a black population and no Hispanics. The lack of a Hispanic presence is quite odd due to the fact that Texas, is known to have a significant Hispanic population, especially in Odessa and the southern parts of Texas.
The filmmaker’s depiction of the topography of Texas was fairly accurate in the smaller areas of Texas, but again Odessa is not located in the rural area of Texas.

However, where small towns are concerned the film actually was spot on.
As for the principle characters of the movie the portrayal of Boobie showed a true declaration of the negative effect high school football can have its players. Boobie is not a proficient student however he does not worry about his grades because he will most likely get a football scholarship to a major college regardless of his poor performance where his education is concerned.
Linebacker Ivory Christian originally had different schooling ideals. He contemplates becoming a minister at a Baptist church after a dream he had. Ivory was a party boy and because of this dream he resolves to change his ways and turn his life towards God. Due to this change of heart he becomes indecisive about football and what it stands for and its place in the direction he has chosen for his life. This causes Ivory’s internal struggle between the two different values placed on life. This after-all is where football is an end all be all situation in the everyday life of high school boys and their

families.
The movie highlights the misplaced priorities of athletics and portrays education taking a back seat to sports in this film’s case football. Financially, it appears more money is spent on the athletics than the entire educational process. The movie shows teachers make less money than the coaches. A perfect example of this situation involves a story carried by KGNC-FM Amarillo’s Country 97.9. In it the story states, “[T]he Odessa Permian coach, back when he signed a two year contract in 2013, was promised around a $110,000 salary, with a $7,500 vehicle allowance. Since then he’s won district one and taken his team to the playoffs twice. Chances are he’s been given a raise since then”. (Texas High School Football) Contrast this figure with the median annual teacher’s salary in Odessa, Texas. “The median annual Teacher High School salary in Odessa, TX is $40,623, as of September 30, 2016, with a range usually between $32,187-$47,716 not including bonus and benefit information and other factors that impact base pay. (Teacher High School Salaries) The coaches are under the control of the boosters who could care less about education as long as their team in winning games.
When researching the two towns portrayed in this movie finds them to be very similar actually in their dislike of each other. The author of the book traced the root of the hate experienced in the cities to the second oil boom of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. People were making money left and right in both Midland and Odessa. There were stories of welders who could barely read making as much as $90,000 a year. Stories abounded of businessmen buying Lear jets and building colossal homes for no other reason than the fact that they could. The oil executives thought they were in control of everything and didn't realize it was all circumstantial. Once the oil embargo ended, the boom was over. The First National Bank of Midland collapsed in October 1983. Reinhold is quoted as saying, “Never in American history had such a large bank failed in such a small city...” (Reinhold). Digging a little deeper there is a major difference between the two cities depicted in the movie. My follow up uncovered Odessans, at the time, viewed Midland as rich snobs and Midlanders view Odessa as a city of rednecks, and drunks.
In 2016 an article in Forbes Magazine titled “10 Cities That Give You The Best Bank For Your Buck” listed Midland near the top of the list of the best areas in Texas to live thereby providing proof for the city’s inhabitants views. “One of the reasons Texas is so prevalent on the list is that different industries have major presences there, says Careercast content editor Kyle Kensing. Those industries bring jobs and salaries to a lot of people. “Obviously energy is huge,” says Kensing, “especially in Midland.” (Strauss). A year earlier, Texas Monthly “The FBI’s List of Most Dangerous Cities in Texas”, named Odessa as the top spot for “violent crime [at the] of 806 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants is the highest in Texas followed by a very wide margin” (Solomon). This once again points to how the city’s inhabitants viewed each other.
Although the film might be a little sensationalized so as to keep the audience attention.

It portrays Odessa, Texas as a small city that has no economy and nothing else for its residents to do but, obsess about high school football. In his review of the movie, Roger Ebert states “Certainly there are countless of citizens in that Texas town who live happy and productive lives... football. We just don’t meet any of them in the movie” (Ebert). This is correct, the movie is not about them, it is about the role of the team and how the team and coaches carry the burden of their city’s relevance on their shoulders and ultimately answering to the boosters. The town pays the football coach twice as much as the teachers. The males of the cities only chance to get out of the go nowhere town is to get a football scholarship to a faraway college. The players are under pressure to win so the town can succeed at something and be proud of it. These boys have the town’s reputation on their

backs.
This film accurately shows the sense of friendship, brotherhood and belonging that is felt when a person feels part of something whether it is a team, club or community. The cinematography was outstanding. The film footage of the town’s bleak surroundings and empty Texas plains certainly puts the viewer in the midst of the film and helps them to feel those same feelings as the players may have. By utilizing their athleticism the boys are each searching for their way to get out of town and football is portrayed as the way to do it where education alone is not even considered a viable option. New York Times reviewer A.O. Scott concludes in his review, "Friday Night Lights" is uplifting and troubling, partly because it is more honest than most sports movies about the high cost and short life span of high school football glory. Perhaps the most moving part of this film comes at the end, after the big game, when we learn that the real-life members of the 1988 Permian team, who had been heroes, martyrs and scapegoats in adolescence, grew up to be land surveyors, construction workers and insurance salesmen” (Scott).