Remember the Titans, the Chinese translation of "The Glorious Years", this proud name really makes people feel a small universe for the first time. However, apart from the old-fashioned inspirational plot, the "brilliance" brought by this film is not a glimmer of American ideals, but a cruel reality.
1971, United States, Virginia. At the end of the Civil Rights Movement, the so-called physical segregation between races had been eliminated on the surface, but the psychological discrimination and rejection of the people were deeply rooted. It is in this environment that the conflict in the story takes place. Even though the new football head coach Herman holds the power of the team, he cannot escape the doubts of the former assistant coach and white players, let alone the black players he brought. A mixed-race high school football team, at least in the context of the times, was unprecedented. The atmosphere in the locker room was suffocating, and it seemed that any slight disturbance could become the trigger for these hot-blooded youths to fight each other. Coach Herman, the initiator of these hidden cold wars, is well aware of it. He must use his own strength to dispel everyone's doubts, and at the same time, he must also make the team truly unite.
So, how does Herman do this? Toughness, power, dictatorship. "A filial son grows out of a stick", and Herman is the practitioner of this ancient Chinese cultural view. However, in the United States, where the flag of democracy was flying, and in the 1970s when the resistance movement was in full swing, it is difficult to imagine how this feudal thinking could be adapted. But in fact, he did succeed and earned everyone's respect. As a result, the uneventful development route led to the film's plot twists and turns, but it still stumbled towards the idealized ending of American heroism.
However, is the so-called "black and white match" really as mysterious as shown in the film, and can settle dozens of passionate young people alone? It seems to be deliberately softened. Take a small clip in the film as an example: before the training drive, Coach Herman confronts the team captain Gerry alone. It’s hard to imagine a young, free-spirited, arrogant high school rugby “big shot” actually being docile and temperless in the face of a middle-aged coach who just arrived, has no support, and only uses power to suppress and resist ( In particular, the film also interspersed with the "dorm room group frame" for comparison). If placed in the social situation at that time, he would undoubtedly be regarded as a shameful scum of the middle class. But what is a little ridiculous is that it was this so-called "cowardly" captain who finally led the team to pass the battle, was seriously injured and became a spiritual leader? Even if the plot is deliberately fabricated by the screenwriter, there must be deep-seated reasons for it.
So, what was the force that made this initially discordant high school team unite? Regarding this point, we can find some inspiration from Gerry and other white players. On the surface, they make promises, but they are idle in slogans and lazy in action. What they see in them is only the hippie legacy of the Beat Generation; however, compared with the black freshmen who are not afraid of discrimination, united and unyielding, and sometimes sing, they are only reflected in their inner hearts. emptiness. Perhaps this explains why the white players are obviously oppressed by "defying the sky" and choose unbelievable obedience-because there is no such firmness in their hearts.
But when we see the shamed and slightly enlightened expressions of the team as they run to Gettysburg Cemetery in the morning; when we see everyone in the locker room singing emotionally black spiritual songs; when we see every Before the training game, when the team gathered around and shouted the victory declaration, what I saw was that the team continued to grow and thrive under an invisible but boundless force. It is a great faith, a spiritual conversion that belongs to a strong team, and a passionate hymn that belongs to the ideal of common struggle. It is faith that gives sustenance to these originally empty hearts; it is faith that enables the unity of different skin colors to achieve "glorious years" on the sports field.
If the story ends with such a glorious ending, it is undoubtedly ideal: outer perfection, inner empty birth. Fortunately, this inspirational film adapted from real events still selectively respects reality, which vaguely reflects the real deep value. The film takes a lot to show the dilemmas faced by black players "returning" to the school after the training camp: rejection of the opposite sex, rejection of bars, conflicts of skin color... One of the more intense white parades The activity more or less reflects the "Little Rock Incident", and seems to imply the gap between social reality and closed ideals. The film deliberately uses some too obvious details, such as the deliberate whistle of the competition referee, the mutual prejudice of the coach's children, the reputational temptation of the white assistant coach, etc., which is used to reflect the difficulties and embarrassment of the team's turnaround, but in fact, it is also from a The side reflects the cruelty of reality. Just imagine, this is just a racial conflict in a small city in a southern agricultural state in the 1970s when information was not very developed. If it is placed in today's world with many thoughts and explosions of information, why do we live in a variety of different ways? What kind of powerful universal belief can be found in the Platonic coexistence of equality? So it's not hard to explain why "racial integration" is always an enduring hot topic in American genre films? Perhaps it is because, "black and white matching", it is always just a legend.
However, the reason why this film has its inspirational significance is that it can give us the hope of pursuing perfection in a small range of moving while respecting the reality. As mediocrity and idiots, we are not only moved by coaches like Herman and those kind players, but also must be aware of the contradictions in the world buried behind the glory. Indeed, the reality is cruel, the ideal is too lofty. Don't ask Plato's gods to come down to earth, but only ask for the respect of those around you.
(The End.THX 4 Viewing!)
Original address: http://i.mtime.com/3436179/blog/5835735/
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