Matt Levenberg
Final Paper
“Film works on the meaning systems of culture, it is also produced by those meaning systems (Turner 178).” Graeme Turner offers several ways of analyzing the connections between film and culture, but one method which makes sense to use in my analysis of Boaz Yakin’s Remember the Titans (2000) was to delve into the historical context of the film and compare the film’s narrative meaning to the dominant ideology of the time. In order to analyze the relationship between film and society’s ideologies of the time, the critic must research and understand not only the historical context of the film, but also the conflicts which shape society during the time which the film takes place. I will argue that the dominant ideology of the time was that the races can and should be fully integrated; however Remember the Titans is not successful in conveying this message.
Understanding the historical context of this film is complicated when discussing Remember the Titans considering it is set in 1971, but it was produced in 2001. In order to fully understand the underlying themes of racism that occur in Remember the Titans, we first must realize the extent of racism present in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971, where the movie is set, and also in 2001, when the movie was released. Despite Yakin’s attempt at conveying the political belief that racism can be overcome, he fails to successfully convey this message throughout the film because Remember the Titans is shot in a society in which racism is always present, and the filming techniques constantly remind the audience of this. I will prove this by closely analyzing a clip from the movie, and also by providing descriptions of the historical context of both where the movie is set, and when the movie was produced.
In Alexandria in 1971, racism was expressed openly. The story takes place just three years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, a time in which racial tension was a major problem. The movie recognizes this by referencing Martin Luther King Jr. and also by referencing the Civil War. Though the movie takes place over a hundred years after the Battle of Gettysburg, Coach Boone (Denzel Washington) takes the team to a Gettysburg cemetery (Shown below). By including this scene in the movie, Yakin reminds the audience that this movie is not just feel-good story about an integrated football team, but a story that confronts the key racial conflicts in society. This coincides with society’s view at the time. Just two years before the integration of T.C. Williams (before the movie takes place), racial tension was so prominent at George Washington High School (Another Alexandria, VA high school), which was half black and half white, that football games were cancelled due to fights stemming from racial tension. These fights even escalated to a fire-bomb throwing near the school (Mathews). It was no secret that the integration of the schools was controversial, and several cynics believed it would never be successful.
Although it is not as obvious, racism also existed during the production cycle of this film. According to a study conducted at the University of West Florida in December 2001, just a year after the movie was released, all races agreed “racial hostility is still felt although not openly expressed (Biasco).” The findings also found that students have a “hidden reservoir of racial animosity and suspicion’ underneath a ‘veneer of anti-racist attitudes (Biasco).” Although the amount of explicit racism may have decreased between the story and the production cycle, unfortunately it is safe to say that racism still exists in today’s society. Because of this underlying racism, at the level of enunciation, Remember the Titans cannot show true unification and integration.
The theme of underlying racism also is evident in the clip that I will analyze shortly. Graeme Turner argues, “Realism is the dominant mode within Hollywood cinema (Turner 207).” Turner states that the primary reason filmmakers construct the film in such a realistic way is so that the spectator can recognize it and “draw analogies between the world of film and their own world.” A clear example of this occurs in the following scene, which takes place in a mess hall in Berry College, which is in Mount Berry, Georgia. Yakin filmed the entire camp sequence at Berry College. By shooting at a real college rather than on a set (The real Titans stayed at a college for their training camp), Yakin gives the film a verisimilitude; a realistic mood, which allows him to attempt to convey his message that racism can be overcome. In this clip, Coach Boone threatens the players by demanding that players of different races must integrate and get along or else they will have three-a-day practices. This speech is essentially Yakin stating society’s ideology that racism can and must be overcome; however, because the filmic techniques and the form still exhibit inherent racism, he is unsuccessful in conveying his message.
The five-shot clip that I will analyze begins at 6:16 and continues through 6:43.
Shot one is a close up clean single of Coach Boone. He is framed from below to make his figure seem physically large, intimidating and powerful. The background is very mundane, but it contains a cafeteria wall and a window. During this shot, Coach Boone begins his speech. He says that each player will have to get to know a teammate of another race. He is looking back at the camera into concrete off-screen space during the entire shot. Since the setting has already been established in a previous shot, the audience knows the subject, his audience, which is the entire team. It is also important to note the dramatic score that begins to build up during this shot. This non-diagetic score serves to emphasize the importance and drama of the content and meaning of the speech. Coach Boone’s speech to integrate his team serves as a microcosm of society’s movement to integrate society and schools.
Shot two cuts to Boone’s audience, his team. This functions as the reverse-shot, or answer to shot one. There are 20 players within this shot spread throughout three separate tables. The distribution of these players is the most important part of the mise-en-scene. In the background of this shot, there is one table with five black players and no white players. In the right side of the background there is another table with five white players and no black players. Lastly, there is a table with ten white players in the foreground of the shot. The players are all sitting at different tables, which emphasizes segregation on the team, and serves as a metaphor for the segregation within society. Although the white players’ table in the foreground may be just a few feet from the black players’ table in the midground, because of a shallow depth of field, it seems that they are very far from each other, and the white players are the only players in focus during this shot. Not only do the white players greatly outnumber the black players in this shot, but because they are closer and in focus, they are the only characters with whom the audience can identify with in this shot because the audience cannot clearly see the black players’ facial expressions. We can see the uneasy expressions on the white players faces which allows us to identify with them. In the far background of this shot there is a cafeteria wall with windows. It is also clear that during this shot the light shining in through the windows only reflects off the white players, not the black players. This further draws the audience’s attention to the white players, forcing the audience to identify with only the white players. The mundane backgrounds in these shots direct the audience’s attention to watch the players and listen to the powerful words of Coach Boone instead of being distracted by something insignificant in the shot. Throughout this shot, Boone is still speaking and due to a sound bridge the score continues to build. All the players are looking off-screen back at the camera into concrete off-screen space to continue the shot-reverse shot sequence.
Shot three is similar to shot one. It is the same close-up of Coach Boone, shot from below to emphasize his power. The main difference between this shot and shot one is that he turns his head in the middle of speaking. The audience is unsure of who he is looking at now because Yakin has not matched Boone’s new eyeline.
Shot four is the answer to shot three. The audience sees that Boone was looking at a table of black players, specifically Julius Campbell (Wood Harris), Blue Stanton (Earl Poitier), and Petey Jones (Donald Faison). This shot is a medium shot, and for the first time in this sequence we can see the facial expressions of black players and thus this is the first time that we can identify with them. The black players have similar facial expressions to those of the white players from shot two, which can be characterized as uneasy or nervous. The players are all looking back at the camera into concrete off-screen space, where the audience knows that Coach Boone is standing, orating. The spectator again sees a mundane background featuring the walls and windows of the cafeteria.
Shot five is a parallel to shot four replacing the three black players with three white players, in particular Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst), Ray Budds (Burgess Jenkins), and Alan Bosley (Ryan Gosling). All three characters are in focus, and the audience again sees nervous expressions on the players’ faces. This shot is the first shot which features a new background; however, it is still out of focus and does not feature anything meaningful of exciting. Again, Yakin’s use of dull, unexciting backgrounds is to make sure that the audience focuses on what is truly meaningful in these shots: Boone’s voice, and the players’ visages.
It is important to realize that the white players and black players are given unequal screen time. We identify with the black players in just one shot during this sequence, whereas we identify with the white players in two shots. It is also significant that black and white players do not share the screen together with the exception of one shot, and during this shot they are separated, and only the white players are in focus. This is a common film technique throughout the movie. This shot-reverse shot sequence does not permit the whites and blacks to share screen space. Yakin does this to group together the black players’ reactions and the white players’ reactions to certain situations, but by shooting each group separately he is further segregating the team, which goes against his point, the message of Boone’s speech that desegregation is the goal and it is achievable.
This serves as a smooth transition to my next point. I believe that film critics Jean-Luc Comolli and Jean Narboni would classify this film as a “type d” film, supporting my claim that Remember the Titans is ineffective in conveying its political message. Comolli and Narboni believe that every movie is political, whether it is explicitly or implicitly political is a key question (Comolli). Though Roger Ebert argues in his review of the movie that the movie is “more about football than race relations (Ebert),” I would argue that Remember the Titans is obviously explicitly political because it focuses on the theme of integration and takes place in the South during a time of a tremendous amount of racial tension. The entire first half of the movie focuses on racial tensions within the team, and the filmic techniques emphasize this. Yakin’s use of shot-reverse shot to group together the white players and the black players often. Even after the team begins to integrate, the surrounding town does not. Because there is racial tension or divides present in almost every scene in the film, I would argue that Ebert is wrong in his statement. The amount of screentime allotted to football games and practices is very minute compared to amount of screentime spent on racial themes or conflicts in the town. Therefore, I feel that Remember the Titans is explicitly political.
The next element in Comolli and Narboni’s analysis is whether the film goes with society’s dominant ideology on both the level of narrative and form. Remember the Titans clearly wants to propel the belief that true unification and integration can be achieved on a level of narrative, as demonstrated by Coach Boone’s speech; however; through its use of conventional Hollywood cinematic techniques, such as shot-reverse shot and continuity editing, it emphasizes the racial divide rather than showing that the races are equal. There is clearly disconnect between this film’s political content and its form.
Just because Comolli and Narboni would argue that this film is ineffective in conveying its message that racism can be overcome does not make it fact. Generalization is not good in film analyses, and there may not be a black and white answer (no pun intended). “The text is a battleground for competing and often contradictory positions (Turner 198).” While one spectator or critic may interpret a film’s message one way, another viewer may interpret it slightly differently. The same is true for a film’s political meaning and its effectiveness. During my presentation to the class on my shot-by-shot analysis, I faced several questions from peers, fellow film critics, who have seen the movie and said that upon first glance they felt the movie was inspirational and effective in its message. One possible view of this film is that the team could serve as a microcosm for society; however, film critic James Berardinelli argues that the “team’s new found racial harmony does not necessarily reflect that of the outside world, which regards the racially integrated team with mistrust, and, at times, disdain (Berardinelli).” Berardinelli’s claim supports my thesis because this cynicism in society, which he brings up, is one of the ways how the film embeds racism. I believe that if Boaz Yakin would have had more freedom in directing the film (hence if it were not based on a true story), he could have made the town of Alexandria much more integrated thus less racist. Had Yakin successfully been able to create a fully integrated society where the Titans played, he could have achieved his goal of both overcoming racism on the narrative level and the filmic level. That being said, each person is entitled to his/her own position, whether it be competing or contradictory to mine.
Although film is subjective, open the the viewer’s interpretation, after using several analytical techniques, researching the historical context of the film, and closely analyzing clips from the film, I strongly believe that there is too much political disconnect between this film’s narrative content (that integration is possible) and its form (the two races will never be equal) for this film to effectively convey its ideological message.
Works Cited
Berardinelli, James. "Remember the Titans." Reelviews 1 Jan 2000: n. pag. Web. 2 Dec 2009.
Biasco, Frank. "College Students' Attitudes Towards Racial Discrimination." College Student Journal 35.4 (2001): 523-29. Web. 2 Dec 2009.
Comolli, Jean-Luc, and Jean Narboni. "Cinema/Ideology/Criticism." Film Theory & Criticism. 7th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
Ebert, Roger. "Remember the Titans." Chicago Sun-Times 1 Jan 2000, Print.
Mathews, Jay. "Sports Camp Tests School Integration." Washington Post 24 Aug 1971: C1. Print.
Turner, Graeme. Film as Social Practice IV. 4th. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006. Print.
