Day 3: Power Struggle – REMEMBER THE TITANS

[Joan Butler]

The power struggle is created by Gary telling the coach the positions that the Black players can have. At this point Gary has the power. Then the coach shows everyone the power he has over Gary.

The drama is a White versus Black power struggle in the American South.

Gary’s mother is watching. She expects him to put this Black coach in his place even though he is a boy and the coach is a man.

Powerful men in the school or the school board are watching the coach. He must show his power to earn their respect.

Expressing their profiles:

Future —

At the beginning, both characters are living the future of having a great team based on their power and input.

At the end, the coach is living the future of having a great team based on his input and having the respect of the other men. Gary is living the future of playing on a team where the coach has all the power.

Wounds –

The coach has probably been bullied in the past. He knows exactly how to bully Gary. The coach uses humiliation, takes over Gary’s personal space, then makes him say what the coach wants him to say, not once but twice.

Gary is weak. He needs his friend’s support to talk to the coach. Gary’s mother appears to be stern. She has probably caused him pain and pushed him into giving orders to the coach.

These are great characters because they sum up the Black/White divide in this town and the Black struggle for respect in America as a whole.

[Lynn Vincentnathan]

Hi Joan,

How are you getting the lessons ahead of schedule? They’re blocked for me until a day or so later.

[Lynn Vincentnathan]

WATCH 1ST TIME FOR:

How is this power struggle created?

– What is it about these characters that demand this power struggle?

—– seems the white boy is a top player and racist, against the black coach and blacks on the team (wants to segregate offense v. defense players)

—– the black coach has his own dignity and authority position and will not let others trample on these

– How does each character’s audience influence and depend upon this power struggle?

—– the black coach as another black coach ? and black players from the other school, plus his audience is all the whites there. He cannot give into a white student under his authority or he’ll lose respect of the blacks AND the whites.

——- the white boy has his parents and white coaches there; he wants to impress them, but he can’t afford to get into trouble with the black coach or he’ll lose his position on the team ? He apparently expected the blacks, including the coach, to obey all the whites, even the students.

WATCH 2ND TIME FOR:

– What drama is this scene built around?

—– desegregation of two schools, racism

– How are they expressing their Profile (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) through their words and actions?

—– the white boy at first is cocky, sure he can boss the black coach, but demurs in shame. He’s living in his future of maintaining his position on the team and being a great player.

—– the black coach is cocky with the white coaches, seems he wants to create a future in which they do not mistreat him or keep him down… he plows through the white coaches with cocky quips. He makes a joke out of the white boy and friend and puts them in their place, establishing his authority over them.

– – – – –

I’m thinking of the distinction Archbishop Tutu made between authoritative and authoritarian. The black coach was more toward the authoritative side, the whites more authoritarian.

———————

What makes this character great from a writing perspective?

— Great role for Denzel Washington — he is walking into a reactionary, racist, resistant-to-change situation and has to establish his position and equal footing early on. Great dialogue and actions

[Robert Kerr]

Bob Kerr- POWER STRUGGLES – REMEMBER THE TITANS

1st Time Viewing:

The power struggle is created by three competing groups in the first efforts of school integration at a Virginia High School. The first struggle is between the white coaches> This is highlighted by a top administrator whispering to the former white head coach that all he has to do is bide his time and he will be head coach again. The second is the white All American and the new black head coach. The Third is the parents. There is no effort or desire to mingle with each other. Though the theme is integration clearly it is still more theory than reality.

There are two elements at work here. First the obvious racial issue. Second is the professionalism and dominate will of the black head coach. He makes a choice to public humiliate the white All American or to engage him in a soft voice audible to only them. Thus allowing the player to maintain some sense of agency and self respect.

The audience is clearly divided by the macro of national integration strife brought down to the micro level of a Virginia high school. The theory, embodied by the black head coach is his unwillingness to bend in the face of racism. He is going to fully integrate this team no matter what it takes. What has been forgotten by the white coaches and the white families is the overall goal is to win football games. Not to sustain some “Jim Crow” concept of white superiority.

What I learned is the larger social issues of the day, both past and present, are filled with great conflicts that bring inherent drama, conflict and transformation.

My breakthrough is the opportunity, between coach and athlete to get up close and personal in a way that is both intimate and unique. There are several places in my script where I have initially not dug deep down in a scene between coach and athlete to bring out the tension, drama and lived in future of character transformation.

2nd Time viewing:

The drams of racial integration in the south at a time when the country is struggling and fighting for civil rights.

Right Characters: The head coach is the only one who believes in his vision of integration and parity. The White All American is determined on maintaining the status quo . Obvious conflict.

Traits:

Black Head Coach: Visionary, compassionate, leader and determined

White All American: Racist arrogant, selfish and egotistical

Secret: The black coach has earned the right to be head coach. Gary doesn’t believe the black players can contribute to winning.

Wound: Coach has been denied upward mobility because of his race. Gary is afraid of losing his status.

Future: These two individuals will be a force to reckon with in building a fierce football team that is integrated.

[Ann Marie]

These characters are great from a writing perspective because the writer has pitched the All American against his coach, with both characters having both similar and opposing traits – the Coach (self-assuredness, colour-blind, wit, focus) and the student (self-assuredness colour-privileged, racist, a mummy’s boy/bully, focus), when pitted together, create a scene that goes from tense power demand from the student to sheepish retreat in a few exchanges. The coach not only exerts his authority on the student, but shows the whole audience who’s in charge, including the student’s parents, using wit (jerry lewis) a commanding metaphor (who is your daddy?) and an order (straighten your tie) The insight I gained here is that when you know your characters, giving each traits that are opposing (racist privilege vs authority and wit), you can create a scene that is entertaining, insightful and has the exact opposite to the expectation first set up in the scene. The wit and self confidence diffuses the racist tension – and creates a very colourful into the future scenario on the bus/playing field. We the audience are excited to see how this all plays out, great writing, great character studies.

Insight/Breakthrough – examine the character traits of each of my characters I am putting against each other, duplicate /oppose some, create a scene where one character has an expectation of the result and completely turn it on it’s head by the other characters’ entertaining / creative put downs. It’s a great outcome for a power struggle. And this may seem obvious, but I also realised there is no point in having a power struggle between two characters in the story unless that power struggle is directly related to the core of the story – which was interesting to discover and helped me focus on two characters where there was a power struggle, it gave me the insight to really focus on what the struggle is really about…which is what the story is about….- possibly as a result of Joan’s description of the drama above, thanks Joan 🙂

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Ann Marie.

[Mi Lock]

The conflict starts when the captain of the white team (Gary) comes to the coach (Denzel) to tell him they don’t need “his people in defense, they’re all set” which means they don’t want to play with “black” people. Denzel will use the presence of an audience and will make an announcement to first get their attention. He will then remind Gary who the boss is and whose team it is. Gary feels humiliated, he can only lower his head and obey. Dean who was also in the white team only listened and we can feel he got the message from the coach.

The coach has to seal his dominance from the top of the journey to avoid any discrimination towards the black players. He can’t take the risk of having any kind of trouble in this new team.

The way he does it (calmly but still putting pressure on Gary) shows his superiority and how smart he is.

[Liz JANZEN]

What makes the Coach character great in this scene…

Denzel Washington’s character (the Coach) first of all quickly thwarts the opposition presented by the three white coaches with a few deftly-worded lines that leave them at a loss for words and unable to argue with him.

Next he is confronted with opposition to his game plan by players Gary and Dean. Again, using deft (and fast) talk he gets ahead of them, taking control of the situation by expanding his audience to address everyone in earshot in the parking lot, thereby stepping up his humiliation of the two using the Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin analogy to make fools of them. By doing this he goes over the top (publicly humiliating sidekick Dean in addition to Gary) in order to obtain Gary’s total acquiescence to the situation (Gary will NOT be making player decisions, only the Coach will).

Insights:

1) The Coach is a silver-tongued genius who thinks fast on his feet, able to outfox his opponents by taking advantage of whatever comes to hand, i.e. seizing the opportunity to capitalize, on the spot, on Gary’s and Dean’s names with the Gary/Jerry bit.

2) The Coach can read personalities: somehow he discerned that the father/son dynamic would be the perfect metaphor to use in deflating Gary’s ego, turning him into a child.

3) The Coach uses nothing but wordplay to get his desired effect in this very physical world of football.

Breakthroughs:

1) Think about who is in the room with the characters in a power struggle scene to see how those other characters’ reactions might be used to augment the drama (or the comedy) in the scene.

2) Think of unexpected tactics that could be used by one (or both) of the characters in a power struggle that could surprise or delight an audience, e.g. a quiet, calm, measured take down when a more aggressive argument is anticipated.

[Judith Watson]

Wk2 – L3 – Power Struggle – Remember the Titans

What is learned is I need to make my two opposing characters more distinct in what they want, their agendas.

The struggle created in this movie was the strong beliefs each side had against the other. Beliefs that were being challenged by having the school integration. The character of Densel had to prove he was boss and wouldn’t stand for any opposition and he put the white boys down who were challenging his authority. He was the only one who clapped for what he had done which showed how far he needed to go – the future of will he succeed here or not.

The drama is based on the clash between white people and black people and how they come to understand each other by getting to know each other.

The Densel character is tough, smart, and Coach is gentle, open minded. Densel wound is the way he has been treated as a black man. The future in this movie is how both men and the players will learn to respect one another and become friends.

[Patrick Malone]

Week 2 Day 3: Power Struggle – REMEMBER THE TITANS

1st Viewing:

• How is this power struggle created?

It is created when the white captain tells the black coach that he is the only All American on the team. He proceeds to tell the coach only a few black players will play on the offence and that only his white teammates will play on defense.

• What is it about these characters that demand this power struggle?

Gary the white player feels superior to blacks, including the black coach. He wants to put him and the black players in their place which is that they really are not needed on the team. He tries to bully the coach.

The coach obviously has experience dealing with racial discrimination and intimidation. He knows how to respond. As the coach and as a man he must show his strength and leadership to gain the authority and respect of the white players.

• How does each character’s audience influence and depend upon this power struggle?

Gary presumes he has the support of the white coaches and his mother and thus is confident in confronting the black coach.

The coach must show his strength to prove his authority to Gary and the white coaches, team and the mother.

2nd viewing:

• What drama is this scene built around?

It is built around Gary bullying the coach by telling him who gets to play, and the coach countering by humiliating the boy in front of all. He makes the boy admit that he, the coach, is in charge, that this is his team, not Gary’s.

• How are they expressing their Profile (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) through their words and actions?

– right character: the coach and Gary have opposing views on who runs the team

– traits: coach: intelligent, confident, powerful, reasonable

Gary: racist, bully, coward, misplaced superiority

– wound: coach – probably discriminated against in past

Gary – burdened with expectations to excel by parents and coaches

– future: probable conflict between the two; possible that Gary grows to respect the coach.

[Elizabeth Koenig]

What I learned: to remember to think culturally—in this case not just from a race perspective but also the culture of football, and specifically football in the South with the generational sensibilities of the ‘70’s.

How is this power struggle created? By immediate assertive/aggressive power-plays by Coach Boone and player Gerry Bertier—with more subtle tension between Boone and the white coaching team, led by Bill Yoast.

Coach Boone struts rapidly and in-command onto scene: “Good morning, good morning, good morning, coaches. How are you,” as he hands them a playbook, “Just wanted to let you know what the offense is doing,” and responds to their concern that the handbook is “skinny” by comparing it to Novocain that “always works.” Then he’s immediately confronted by white team Captain Gerry Bertier who introduces himself as “the only All American you got on the team” and issues a highly directive ultimatum: “If you want any of us to play for you, you reserve half the open positions for Hammond players, half the offense, half the special teams. We don’t need any of you for defense; we’re already set.”

What is it about these characters that demand this power struggle?

Boone is assertive/aggressive, confident, but Yoast is more established and ‘winning’—so while demure, we know that Yoast has guts.

Bertier is “All American”—skilled, cocky and potent, the leader of a winningest team. Boone commands, but also needs, him. Bertier does not respect Boone, but is forced, by age and position to behave as if he does. The backdrop is societal tensions between black and white, rivaling schools, and the age-old conflict between teens and adults that all involve power, position, and how individual people experience and understand their world.

How does each character’s audience influence and depend upon this power struggle? Teens embody Bertier and want him (as themselves) to be respected and valued, even as they’re instructed and still cared for (a bit) by adults. While teens necessarily resist and assert their own power, they want support—so they root for Bertier’s success to be born of his own efforts, but within community, and with the guidance of a few trustworthy adults. People who are older may relate more to the coaches and parents, with their “big world” problems (i.e. race issues) and the challenges of ‘handling the kids’ as they also work and, themselves, continue to grow—a process often precipitated by and/or catalyzed with the energy of youth.

The drama this scene is built around: football teams from previously segregated (black and white) schools boarding a bus to travel together to their opening training camp as the first integrated high school football team in the American South.

Expressing their Profile Traits through words and action: Bertier and Boone as above show:

Bertier: Confidence/cockiness; athletically talented; assertive/aggressive; prejudiced

Boone: Assertive/aggressive (offense as a defense—covering his wound of racial discrimination experiences); talented coach; confident; family man

[Donna Stockwell]

The new coach is happy, optimistic and confident.

He gets shot down by other white coaches for the size of the manual for the plays, but has confident come-back of its success.
He is greeted by fellow black making a bond.
He gets shot down by white captain of the team about his status and how he wants to work the team, but twists his words (beginning with his name), and tells him how to grow up — new family arrangements with the team and himself, and puts the children in their places, first loudly and publickly, and then privately when insisting on respect namely answering the coach’s questions, following orders immediately and wearing clothes properly.

There is always school rivalry, so when two schools join, there is always dissension. This is exaggerated because of the race and culture divide.. shown by the white coaches/black coach initial interaction, and the young white captain/ older black coach vying for power, and further shown with the bonding of the two black men.
So, there are many levels of power struggles in this scene: age, race, school loyalty, past experience and accolades, confidence of self with no one around, confidence of self with an audience, and respect. The new coach uses subtle psychology on others to reverse their thoughts and become streamlined with his vision, both for football goals as well as how each player treats the rest of the team.