Jennifer Graves

Summer School Health Class

June 6, 2008
Remember the Titans Essay

Have you ever watched a movie where there was not a conflict at some point that

needed to be solved? The answer should be no because within every movie there is

always some kind of conflict that must be solved. In “Remember the Titans” there are at

least a series of ten or more conflicts, whether they are physical, mental, interpersonal, or

even just random violence. These conflicts affect the movie itself and because of that

cannot be just left open but must be resolved at some point or in some way; along with

that they also are either solved in a good way or a very bad way. “Remember the Titans”

is the story about a school in North Carolina, where up until 1971, was all white and was

segregated against the blacks. This of course causes most of the conflicts because of the

white not liking the black and vice versa. As the story continues there are problems that

arise but each one of them is solved in a very unique way whether it is the football

players, coaches, or everyone personally that solve it.

As the movie begins in the time of 1971, there are groups of whites on one side

and blacks on another side, having an interpersonal conflict about the school becoming

integrated. A white boy gets an attack of random violence and he is killed, causing a

group of white football players, deciding split second, create an assailant against a group

of black people; thinking that if some blacks decide to do random violence on a white

person that it is ok for them to create an act of aggravated assault on the blacks. The boys

run off to go do their deed when all of a sudden Coach Yoast follows them in his pick up

truck to stop them, stating to them that they do want to get into the truck because they
should know that it is not right to go off and attack people; this was a very well planned

manner that the conflict was in fact solved. Coach Yoast does the magnificent job of

keeping those boys from going off and escalating the violence already going on in the

streets. Coach Yoast doesn’t stop just there in showing such great character but goes on

and does more.

Coach Boone comes along and unfortunately he is taking the job of Coach Yoast.

He has an internal conflict on taking Coach Yoast’s job, but unfortunately that is just the

way is has to be in order for him to be black and get a job in the town. He knows he has

to solve this problem so Coach Boone goes over to see Coach Yoast to apologize and

explain that he would back down from the job if it wasn’t that this is the only job that he

can get and help his family, since he has two little girls. Coach Boone goes on to explain

how before he had lost a job to a white man who was not as qualified for the job as he

was, so he knows where Coach Yoast is coming from. Coach Yoast is not at all bothered

by it, so Coach Boone in order to feel that his internal conflict has completely had its

conflict resolution, asks for him to be his assistant Coach. This of course has some strings

attached because Coach Yoast does not want to just leave his old Assistant Coach in the

out so both Coach Boone and Coach Yoast decide that one will take defense and one will

take offense, both with their own different Coach and Assistant Coach, but when the team

would be recognized in the paper then it would only be Coach Boone and Coach Yoast;

finally creating a good conflict resolution for both Coach Boone and Coach Yoast. This

was a solved in a good manner because both sides understood the other in a good enough

manner and both Coaches didn’t have to change how they will accomplish things too

much.
 As football camp comes rolling around, many of the whites still separate

themselves from the blacks and vice versa. Coach Boone steps in to be a mediator and to

have many of the kids converse with each other so they can learn tolerance with each

other, causing less want for homicide. This causes any other conflicts to not escalate and

then everyone is heard out on what they want to say or have to say. Gary learns this with

one of the black players, who points out to Gary, that one of the other white players is not

working very hard but that Gary is indeed just getting on the black players. As many of

the players learn, the other color is not as bad as they are set out to be; causing many of

their internal conflicts of whether a black should hate a white or vice versa should even

happen. Not only do the players learn this, but so does Coach Yoast after Coach Boone

confronts him about how it is not right to just favor the black players, like Petey, just

because he doesn’t want to hurt the black kids', Petey’s, feelings. This conflict is solved

in a very good manner, both sides got their say in things, causing a therapeutic feel and

letting everyone know that they are all humans and that color means nothing, that is, until

they make it back to the real world where everyone else does think that color matters.

The team starts to slack off once they are back in the real world where color does

matter. Big Ju and Louie act as mediators for peer mediation because of the team starting

to slack off and branch off from each other, causing them to become racist once again.

This helps the team in a major way because they all start becoming one big football

family all over again and there is once again, a connection. Probably through a lot of

negotiation through all of the players they finally found something that they could all do

that was acceptable. As a result, before every single game the whole team does a dance

and sing that, although looks funny and stupid, helps them connect for every game.
 Though most of the events through the movie had to do with some kind of

conflict, there were some things that didn’t really have anything to do with a conflict as

much as a struggle or just the trust with someone else. Huey tells one of the Coaches that

he is only in football because he has bad grades so he might as well do something fun

during high school because his grades are not good enough to make it to college. The

Coach keeps this confidentiality and never tells a soul even at the end when Huey comes

back up to tell him that he made a C+ so he can go to college now. He does go to college

and the Coach not telling anyone lets no one but Huey and the Coach knowing that Huey

was close to not going. This is a positive way to be solved because it lets Huey know that

he can confide in people and that he doesn’t have to just keep stuff bottled up inside

himself.

Through the entire movie, it was not just the football players and Coaches that

had some conflicts, but also some of the relatives or other people. Gary’s mother had an

internal conflict about accepting Julius into her home, she doesn’t understand how her

white son could hang out and have a friend that is black. Even Gary’s girlfriend has an

internal conflict with accepting Julius as another individual. Just before Gary has his

accident then his mother accepts Julius, but it takes his girlfriend, Emma Hoyt, from the

beginning of the school year to the state finals for her to accept Julius. The whole city in

Virginia even begins to accept the blacks for who they are and not as criminals but as

people. Throughout all of these examples, the people changed because they began to see

what was more important: hating people for no reason or showing themselves as a great

person and just accepting them; these were all great examples of great manners that the

conflicts would be solved.

 Not in every conflict was it solved in a good manner, but a bad manner instead.

Petey just begins to talk to girl about how Sunshine is not at all hot and is having a nice

friendly argument about how Petey thinks that Sunshine is not at all hot but she does

think that California guys, like Sunshine, are hot. All of a sudden though the boyfriend of

the girl jumps out and gets mad at Petey for talking to the guys girlfriend because the

girlfriend is in fact white and Petey is in fact black. A big fist fight breaks out but that is

not how the conflict is solved for the guy but instead he throws a brick into Coach

Boone’s house, causing all sorts of problems. The manner in which the boy solved his

conflict was not at all very good but was extremely bad and dangerous.

“Remember the Titans” didn’t once start off a conflict without ending it or at least

leaving it to the person’s understandings to how the conflict was solved. As for the

interpersonal conflicts of the people at the beginning of the movie, it can be left to the

watchers mind to know that that was solved finally after all those years; all the watcher

has to do is just look around and see that everything was solved. There was only about

five conflicts overall that were discussed, but they were by far the most important in

explaining the physical, mental, interpersonal, and random violence of the movie. The

way they were also solved covered both the good and the bad ways in which some were

solved; both in time and in learning. That just goes to prove all of the conflicts that a

certain kind and way that they can all be done.