Remember the Titans

- Plot and Structure Analysis

Like novels, films are about storytelling. Although there are

many ways a film-maker can capture and hold an audience’s

attention, the most effective and common way is by simply telling

a good story.

TASK:

Complete the ‘Remember the Titans’ plot summary cloze activity. Use the words at the bottom of the page to fill in the gaps. This is an individual activity.

Read through the plot summary again once you have finished filling in the gaps.

We will mark it as a class.

1. Is there one plot or more than one plot in RTT?

There is one basic plot (and a few sub-plots)– the 1971 football season and the integration of the black and white schools and Boone’s desire to create a winning team. It is centred on two parallel stories: the relationship between Coach Boone and Coach Yoast, and that between Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell.

2. If there is more than one plot, what are some of the sub-plots of the story?

Related plot strands:

Yoast’s own personal development and the Hall of Fame Sheryl Yoast’s relationship with Boone Gerry’s relationship with Emma Sheryl’s relationship with Nicky

There are other members of the Titans that also have specific story strands. Who are they?

Louie Lastik, Ronnie ‘Sunshine’, Alan and Petey, Ronnie and Rev

From whose point of view (POV) is the story told? Is that consistent throughout, or are there other points of view that are shown?

Who is the narrator of ‘Remember the Titans’?

Sheryl Yoast is the narrator of the film.

Sheryl Yoast provides that voice over for the film, and we see a lot of the action through her eyes. Otherwise, we have an ‘eye-of-god’ POV. We see things from the POV of both coaches and several of the players.

Conflicts drive the plot…Conflict: an active disagreement between people with opposing

opinions or principles.

Desegregation has forced the black school and the white school to integrate, which has meant that two football teams of different races now need to join together as one.

Coach Yoast, a successful white coach has been replaced with Coach Boone, a lesser-known black coach. This is a cause of great conflict among the white players, the parents and between the two coaches themselves. The white community’s hostility towards African-Americans is also made clear early on in the film.

In your table groups, brainstorm any other conflicts that you can think of that occur in ‘Remember the Titans.’ Write down your ideas on your groups A3 piece of paper.

Some of them are very small, while others are much bigger.

What other conflicts develop in ‘RTT’?The ‘race issue’ becomes personal:

Julius and Gerry, Blue and Alan, Ray and Rev (Ray will not block for Rev)

Ronnie vs Petey/Gerry – is ‘Sunshine’ gay?

Sheryl vs Nicky – small conflict

Mrs Bertier and Emma vs Gerry – over his relationship with Julius

Coach Yoast must choose between his white supporters and Boone and the team – it could cost him the Hall of Fame.

The ‘race issue’ becomes personal:

Julius and Gerry, Blue and Alan, Ray and Rev (Ray will not block for Rev)

Ronnie vs Petey/Gerry – is ‘Sunshine’ gay?

Sheryl vs Nicky – small conflict

Mrs Bertier and Emma vs Gerry – over his relationship with Julius

Coach Yoast must choose between his white supporters and Boone and the team – it could cost him the Hall of Fame.

How are these conflicts resolved in ‘RTT’?

Mrs Bertier accepts Julius as Gerry’s friend. Emma shakes Julius’ hand; Mrs B accepts a hug from Julius, and later holds Julius’ hand at the funeral.

Ronnie’s sexuality becomes a non-issue – no one on the team cares.

Sheryl and Nicky become ‘friends’, though they still have very different ideas of what is fun!

The team becomes ‘one.’ Ray is cut from the team. Gerry and Julius become ‘brothers.’

Yoast willingly chooses the team over his supporters. He knows he will give up the Hall of Fame if he fights for the team, but he does this anyway.

Structure…The film’s opens with a funeral, but the audience is not told whose funeral it is. We see on the screen ‘Alexandria, Virgina 1981.’ Sheryl Yoast then begins her voice over, and she gives a very brief overview of the situation in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971.

“In Virginia, high school football is a way of life; it's bigger than Christmas day. My daddy coached in Alexandria. He worked so hard my momma left him, but I stayed with coach. He needed me on that field. Up until 1971 in Alexandria, there was no race mixing. Then the school board forced us to integrate. They combined the white school and the black school into one called T. C. Williams High School. That summer, a black teenager was killed by a white storeowner, and the city was on the verge of exploding.”

We then see ‘July, 1971’ come up on the screen. The story has now skipped back 10 years to 1971 and we are watching what is essentially a flashblack. The rest of the story plays out in order of events, and then at the end of the movie we are pushed ahead 10 years again, and we learn whose funeral it is. Through another voice over we learn what has happened in the intervening years.

“The Titans danced their way into history – 13-0 - the perfect season. State champions and first runner-up for the national championship. Second-best high school team in the country. Gerry Bertier won a gold medal for the shotput in the wheelchair games. Daddy coached him. Five years later, Gerry died. And that's what brought us back here today. Gerry is gone, but this spirit lives on. People say that it can't work, black and white. Well, here we make it work every day. We have our disagreements, of course. But before we reach for hate, always, always we remember the Titans.”