Week 2 Day 3: Power Struggle – REMEMBER THE TITANS

[Susan]

Remember the Titans
The power struggle is created by the captain of the White team telling the new coach what is going to happen or the Whites won’t play.
The characters demand a power struggle because of the two racial sides during that period in history, and the obvious pressure each person is under to do exactly what they are doing in that scene.
The characters each have an audience. The team captain’s audience are his White teammates, the other coaches who are now working under the new Black coach, and the captain’s parents. The new coaches audience are the old coaches who are now working under him, the black teammates and just about everyone else who need to know RIGHT now, that he is in control.
The drama of the scene is built around the demands of the team captain and the authority of the new coach.
How each character is expressing their profile (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) through their words and actions.
Right Character:
New Coach: Because he is a Black man with experience thrown into a difficult situation at work at what was previously a White school and now he is in the position of power over white people.
Team Captain: Because he can make or break the moral and performance of the team (at least the white side).
Traits we can see in this scene:
New Coach: Not to be bullied/Boundary Setter, Self Respect/Self Worth, Assertive, Confidence, Resilient,
Team Captain: Brave/Courageous, Fear of disappointing others/doesn’t want to let the team (or his Mom) down, limited boundaries, Flexible
Secret:
Coach: Really couldn’t tell in this scene.
Team Captain: Really couldn’t tell in this scene.
Wound:
Coach: Really couldn’t tell in this scene.
Team Captain: Really couldn’t tell in this scene.
Future:
The Coach and Captain are already living into their future of having to have a relationship that makes the team work no matter what anyone else says or does.
This is really all you can tell from the scene itself. If you see the rest of the film the team captain is being pushed into this confrontation by others and continues to be pushed until he can make a change internally. You also know that he likes “black” music and isn’t racist like some of the other people are (this is his secret). The Coach’s secret is that his family is constantly harassed, this, and other forms of discrimination caused him wounds that he has mostly overcome. The captain’s parents are overprotective and extremely demanding as are his previous coaches and his old white team looks to him for support and demands he do something.