The new film "Woodlawn" hit the theatres on October 16th, and tells an extraordinary real life story of how a football coach's motivational speeches based on faith in Jesus Christ erased the racial tensions plaguing a high school team in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1970s. Those were the days after integration, when undercover hatred between the races was on the boil, and it was not very different in schools. In such an environment, where there was hardly any unity between the players, a saga of beautiful reconciliation unfolded, championed by the chaplain Hank Erwin played by Sean Astin [from Rudy's]. Woodlawn recounts how Christian fellowship brought together both black and white students of the high school football team at the peak of opposition …show more content…
to the desegregation. The film is truly based on the life of Tony Nathan, played by Caleb Castille. Nathan went on to play for the University of Alabama and NFL. He was among the university's first black football players. Nic Bishop plays Coach Tandy Geralds, who doesn't approve of the players' faith in Jesus at first, but comes to welcome it himself later, while University of Alabama coaching hero Paul "Bear" Bryant is played by Jon Voight of "Ray Donovan" fame.
Hank starts a "Jesus Movement" in the town, a term was used in the 1960s to 70s to describe the nationwide revival involving young men and women who stood against the hippie movement of the day. The movie is co-directed by Andrew and Jon Erwin, the brothers whose father is the key character- chaplain Hank in the film. Producer of this real-life epic is actor Kevin Downes, who has starred in Christian films such as Courageous, and Mom's Night Out. "Woodlawn is a really special story that the Erwin brothers [directors] grew up with. Their dad actually is one of the key components in the film. [He is the] character Hank. He's a sports chaplain that ends up at this racially torn, last to integrate high school in Birmingham, Alabama, and preaches a message that was just really timely that this team needed to hear," Downes was quoted as saying by the Christian …show more content…
Post. "They were ready to hear it and made a decision to change because they were sick and tired of the fighting and the hate, and they wanted to unify as a team and learn how to love each other.
And all of a sudden they started winning football games. It led to the largest high school football game ever played in the history of the state of Alabama. Over 42,000 people. It came together all in the name of one theme and that was 'One Way.' So they gave all the credit to God whether win or lose because there was only One Way," he added. Daagye Hendricks, a member of Birmingham Board of Education, said at a theatre filled with mostly black students, "Think about life, think about society, think about the changes in the world.. Because what you'll see is that a lot of things that happened back in the day really haven't changed much, and it's gonna be you guys and your leadership that's gonna make the change going forward." Downes said he believes that the movie's message has a great significance in these times too, when the recent riots in Charleston and Baltimore still have racial
undertones. "'Woodlawn' is sharing a true story that actually happened to [current generations] that is showing that we can come together, we can heal, there is a way out of this and there's one way out of it. And that's Jesus Christ," he continued. The movie opens with the scene where the coach asks them: "Aren't you sick of it? Does this kind of thing happen so much that it just feels normal? What would you say if I told you, 100 percent, it doesn't have to be this way? What would you be prepared to do if there was a better way? If there was an answer?"
During the Talladega 500, Cal Naughton Jr., Ricky Bobby's former best friend, pulled ahead of Ricky, allowing him to slingshot around his car and pass Jean Girard. Though Cal and Girard were teammates at Dennit Racing, Cal disregarded this and jeopardized his team's success to aid Ricky in the movie Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This moment was crucial to Ricky, he having fallen from grace, going from NASCAR's top driver to being let go by Dennit Racing. The love Cal exhibited was a selfless form of love that was centered entirely around Ricky's happiness, not his own. Because of this selflessness, Cal compromised his own agenda, winning for Dennit, and disregarded personal consequence in hopes that Ricky would win the race. If you truly love someone as Cal loved Ricky, you must sometimes compromise your own interests for their benefit.
Both were interested in the life Melton McLaurin was living. However, Jerry took a special interest in the social life; while, Miss Carter was more interested in his academic career. Their interest, caused a strong and deep bond with the two. They taught him an abundance of life 's lessons. Such as , being an honorable man and to respect others. Many of which , were instilled by his grandfather. But, the realization that segregation was an issue that some couldn 't get over was when Melton returned home from college and saw Jerry and was referred to as a “ mister.” McLaurin had respected them much more then any other black person in Wade, and to hear this respect he was given he was left in a
The film Welcome to Leith was directed by Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker. This film was based on a small town in North Dakota where everyone knew everyone. It was less of a town and more of a family, until Craig Cobb moved in. Craig Cobb was a white supremacists and neo-Nazi. His plan was to take over the town and make it his own. I believe everyone should be treated the same, and it shouldn’t matter what they believe or how they look. This film also shows how police can and should do more about protecting citizens.
Crooklyn is a movie about a Black family in the heart of Brooklyn battling several outside factors to raise their children properly and have a functional family. Like any child, the family’s five children are malleable, being molded by their environment. It is the parent’s job to ensure that their children have the proper morals and values instilled in them. The family may not be rich, but they are more fortunate that other families on their block, which makes the other children envy Troy, who is the main character. The theme of the film goes back to the old proverb, saying, “It takes a village to raise a child”. This is relevant to the film because there are several factors that influence the behavior of a child, such as family upbringing,
The beliefs and values held by many of the characters change over the course of the film as a result of Coach Boone and Coach Yoast’s work. It is clear that their belief in racial equality and love for football helped a team, and ultimately a town, begin to come to terms with the issue of race in America’s schools.
Johnica Garrett: In order to better ourselves, we must recognize and identify the problems within our community. Once this is done, we must be willing to work on these areas. We must implement programs that encourage unity within our communities. There are rifts amongst all groups of people, but the key is to not let these divisions be apparent to your enemy. An example of this is the unity America is portraying to the rest of the world right now. Despite the many problems we have within our country, our government realizes that we must at least appear to be united in the eyes of enemy. The black community needs to grasp the importance of strategy and competition. We must try twice as hard as anyone else in school and work to prove that we are at least their equals.
... that the film opens with. While the story may be slightly dramatic and pieces of the story “coincidentally” seem to fall into exactly the wrong place at the wrong time causing the tragedies in the film to happen, the events in this film are entirely capable of being a reality. Racism and prejudice continue to be prevalent issues in our society, but like Anthony, we can learn to overcome anything that holds us back from putting unity into practice and making our world a better place for everyone.
The movie Crash educates the viewers on the effects of racism, and the negativity it places in our society. The interpersonal communication that was played out throughout the movie, made me more conscientiously aware, of how I interact with different ethnicities, so as not to offend
The film observes and analyzes the origins and consequences of more than one-hundred years of bigotry upon the ex-slaved society in the U.S. Even though so many years have passed since the end of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction and the civil rights movement, some of the choice terms prejudiced still engraved in the U.S society. When I see such images on the movie screen, it is still hard, even f...
This movie is a wonderful production starting from 1960 and ending in 1969 covering all the different things that occurred during this unbelievable decade. The movie takes place in many different areas starring two main families; a very suburban, white family who were excepting of blacks, and a very positive black family trying to push black rights in Mississippi. The movie portrayed many historical events while also including the families and how the two were intertwined. These families were very different, yet so much alike, they both portrayed what to me the whole ‘message’ of the movie was. Although everyone was so different they all faced such drastic decisions and issues that affected everyone in so many different ways. It wasn’t like one person’s pain was easier to handle than another is that’s like saying Vietnam was harder on those men than on the men that stood for black rights or vice versa, everyone faced these equally hard issues. So it seemed everyone was very emotionally involved. In fact our whole country was very involved in president elections and campaigns against the war, it seemed everyone really cared.
...e boys to work together Boone overcome his challenge of being accepted by the team through uniting them and made it clear to the viewer that school integrations and a mixed color community could work.
One of the biggest issues depicted in the film is the struggle of minority groups and their experience concerning racial prejudice and stereotyping in America. Examples of racism and prejudice are present from the very beginning of the movie when Officer Ryan pulls over black couple, Cameron and Christine for no apparent reason other than the color of their skin. Officer Ryan forces the couple to get out of the car
... supremacist gang, to rioting in an Asian owned grocery store, to finally brutally murdering someone. We observe as family ties become increasingly strained in every way, the viewer can easily conclude that Derek’s racism as well as his eventual influence on his younger brother ultimately contributed to their own downfall. As controversial as this movie maybe for the offensive language and brutal violence, it is a movie that deserves to be seen, and even discussed. It really provides insight into some factors within society that cannot be contained by the law or even deterred by even the harshest punishments. Even though American society is becoming more modernized as time goes by in terms of tolerance, racism will unfortunately always be prevalent in society and inevitably it will also lead some individuals to violently express their distorted mentalities.
...wn comes under siege as racism rages within the community. The Klu Klux Klan is also featured in the film, a group that symbolizes hate. The eerie looking hoods in the film are a reminder of America’s dark past, and of current racist groups still present in society. Many of the characters in the film are stuck in old values and teachings, misplacing their hate towards the coloured. The film “Mississippi Burning” supports the hypothesis as it deals with society still living in the past and acting narrow-mindedly towards its fellow human beings.
Not only does this movie deal with the issues of society, but it points to biblical scriptures that help lead us in the right direction. The biggest lesson that this film taught me was that if I put my complete faith in God, then no matter what happens, he will provide, watch over, and take care of me. I learned that expressing belief in God is not enough. I have to live everyday believing and trusting him and I have to show my trust and faith through my actions and my words.