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The Best Movies Shift Your Perspectives
by Kevin Gardner
When most people think of sports movies, the cliche underdog story comes to mind. These types of movies generally spend the first half showing you just how much of an underdog the team is, and the third quarter of the movie shows them rallying around each other and training hard. The fourth quarter of the film shows The Big Game, which usually starts strong for the team, grows steadily worse, and then the characters go out fighting and bring home the win with a last-minute play.
The best sports movies, however, shift this paradigm and can take yours along for the ride. One good example is the movie Friday Night Lights, which follows the 1988 Permian High School football team from Odessa, Texas. Instead of an underdog team fighting against the odds to ultimately win, this film portrays the stresses faced by the real teenagers the story is based on.
The Place
This fictionalized true story is set in Odessa, Texas, which these days is a thriving metropolitan center. Visitors can stay at the Marriott Odessa and visit a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, tour the Presidential Museum and Leadership Library or catch a game at the Ratliff Stadium, featured in the movie. The 1980s was a bust period for oil in the area, inspiring residents to count on the 1988 Permian High football team to bring fame and attention to the town. Though the team ultimately loses the 1988 finals, they go on to win the following year, and it can be argued that the 1994 book, 2004 movie and 2010 television series helped the team succeed in bringing attention and fame to the city.
The Movie
Through seemingly a movie about Coach Gaines' journey, played by Billy Bob Thornton, the film also highlights the struggles of several key players. Players are shown partying to handle the stress, breaking down under the weight on their shoulders and risking physical and mental health to bring a win to the team.
The team star is running back James Miles, nicknamed Boobie, who is given the ball at every opportunity. He depends on football for his future and struggles with reading, leading him to try to play with a torn ACL and lie to the coach about his injury. After another injury, Boobie is seen clearing out his locker and breaking down as he confronts not being able to play football again. His ultimate replacement on the team is third-string Chris Comer, who struggles to perform under pressure from the town and is partially blamed for the injury to Miles. Coach Gaines wanted to bench Miles for the last quarter of the game when he was ultimately injured, but Comer was not ready to take the field. Comer and Coach Gaines lead the 1989 team to a championship victory.
The team quarterback, Mike Winchell, is so used to passing the ball to Boobie that once he is sidelined, Winchell struggles to adjust his play style and lead the team. His on-field abilities are contrasted with the receiver, Don Billinsgly, who fumbles at a crucial moment and is seen being bullied on the field by his father. The elder Billinsgly is an abusive drunk still obsessed with the championship season he played in high school because it was the best thing that had happened to him. Though the movie's end reveals that he was successful despite not playing football after that season, Winchell feels pressured to win to make it after high school. This is a reason for the pressure he puts on Don and is a stress for the teenager.
Shifting your perspective on team sports means realizing that not every sports story is about the underdog who will rally and win every time. Some stories are about how much pressure is put on teams and coaches to win and how many players think that winning is their only option for the future.
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