Charles billingsley friday night lights

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Running head: ​FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS 1

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A Review of ​Friday Night Lights

Madison L VanWinkle

Whittier College

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SECTION I

Section I: Overview

The pressure to be perfect and with the whole town watching their every move, the young

senior stars of the team struggle with their mental health and even with being able to truly love

the game. The team’s quarterback, Mike Winchell, is burdened by taking care of his sick mother.

His lack of a smile becomes a running joke throughout the movie, but it is important to note that

Mike is more driven to play football just to get out of Odessa, rather than playing football

because he loves it. Boobie Miles, the team’s running back and arguably star player, has put all

of his time and dreams into playing football professionally, even willing to risk his health for the

game, but he lacks a proper education even saying that his only subject is football. Boobie

struggles throughout the movie with his physical health, along with his ability to stay humble..

Don Billingsley struggles on the field to not fumble, but off the field, he is burdened by his

overbearing, abusive father’s obsession with making sure Don is the best and wins a state

championship just like he did.

The team starts the season off to a good start with Boobie Miles leading them to victory,

but in the next game shown in the movie things take a tragic turn. The team has a heavy lead, but

Coach Gaines still makes the decision to put Boobie in. Unfortunately, Boobie is intentionally

injured by the other team, leaving him with a damaged knee. In the following games, without

Boobie, the team faces defeat leaving the team and Coach Gaines, in particular, to be ridiculed

by the town. Boobie, ignoring doctor's orders, attempts to play again, but after only a few

minutes on the field, he falls to the ground in pain after a tackle, marking the end of his football

career. As a team, the players attempt to work harder and play with more aggression and passion,

but their efforts still fail when they lose the game to qualify for playoffs. This leaves three local

teams in a tie, thus the division is left with no choice but to do a coin toss to decide who will be

continuing to playoffs and whose dreams will be over. The scene involving the coin toss takes

place at an undisclosed truck stop and is a changing point in the movie. With tensions high,

Gaines flips the coin, and it is first revealed that the other two teams got heads. Upon first glance

Gaines’ thinks he has also gotten heads, but with a quick relook, the officials realize he has

actually gotten tails, thus meaning the Permian Panthers will advance to playoffs.

The games in the playoffs are all leading to a championship game against Carter High

School, an unstoppable team composed of big guys from Dallas Texas, many of which who have

already signed their division one letters of intent. Playing in the AstroDome with Boobie on the

sidelines cheering them on, the Panthers struggle in the first half due to Carter’s immense

strength and speed, along with the fact that Carter is playing dirty. With blood on their uniforms

and sweat and tears dripping down their faces, the Panthers lose the game after an extremely

close play. Surprisingly, the town stills rallies around them with hugs and a prayer circle being

shared.

The film concludes with the senior players walking away from the Permian Panthers’

stadium, and screen captions revealing what ended up happening to each of them. Don

Billingsley went on to sell insurance after graduating college, and maintained a relationship with

his father. Boobie Miles was able to play football in junior college and now is raising his

children. Mike Winchell did get out of Odessa as he attended Baylor University and became a

surveyor in North Texas. Coach Gaines was not forced out of town, and instead, the following

year, he led the Permian Panthers to an undefeated season resulting in the 1989 Texas State

Championship.

Section II: Sporting Cultures and Racial Identities

David Leonard argues that the correlation between sporting cultures and racial identity

directly affects the media, politics, and social discourse in general (Leonard, 2011). To examine

sports with a sociological imagination, it must be asserted that sports are more than a game

(Leonard, 2011). Social issues such as race, gender, sexuality, substance abuse, class, and

dysfunctional familial relations all do have a direct effect on individual athletes and sports as a

whole. Race in particular effects the sports athletes play, the positions they play, the income they

earn, and the opportunities for leadership that they receive (Eitzen, 2016). Race refers to the

attributes passed genetically (Woods, 2016). Racism is defined as “...the belief that race

determines human traits and characteristics and that racial differences result in the superiority of

a particular race” (Woods, 2016, p.199). It is important to note that in modern, American society

the dominant and more institutionally powerful race is white. Arguably, racism is responsible for

African American athletes being asserted as the other, or the more aggressive and inherently

superior athletically (Leonard, 2011). Race affects athletes on the field and off the field.

Parental Involvement

Parental involvement is arguably the most important factor involved in a child’s

academic success as empirical evidence shows a direct correlation between improved grades, a

lower likelihood of dropping out, and more success on standardized tests with more parental

involvement (O’Bryan, 2008). Parental involvement can be negative, though, dependent on the

parent’s own behavior and values. A parent who is highly involved in a child’s life, but values

sport more than education may have a negative effect on his child’s academic success. A child or

teenager whose life is consumed by sports and constant parental off-field coaching may burnout,

choose to withdraw from sport (Woods, 2016). While involvement in sports has been found to

reduce a teenager’s likelihood of dropping out of school, a parent’s value on a sport as the only

way to success may result in an adolescent staying in school to play the sport but having little to

no academic success (O’Bryan, 2008).

Adult-Organized/Athlete- Organized Play: Violence

Athlete organized sport allows the athletes themselves to develop the game, decipher

rules, and simply just play for fun (Woods, 2016). Whereas, adult-organized sport tends to be

modeled after professional sports and puts a great emphasis on winning at all costs (Eitzen,

2016). Arguably, adults’ serious approach to youth and high school sports is reflected in the

attitudes surrounding violence and aggression within contact sports (Kerr, 2005). A study

involving over a thousand eight to nineteen-year-old children concluded that violent and

aggressive behavior is encouraged and even rewarded within collision sports (Kerr, 2005). Many

coaches and players alike associate aggression with winning (Kerr, 2005). This deplorable,

violent behavior and mindset can have a negative long-lasting effect on a child’s mental and

physical health.

SECTION III

Racial Examples from the Film

A key scene surrounding the issue of race in the film ​Friday Night Lights​ is when the Carter High School’s football coaches come to meet with Coach Gaines and the staff of the Permian Panthers. Their conversation surrounds the debate of where the championship game should be held. The Panthers want to host the game in their new, grand stadium but the Carter Cowboys suggest the game should be held in Dallas due to concerns surrounding the two fan groups combining. Upon further explanation, the Cowboys’ head coach points out the obvious that Carter is an all-black community that has problems with the racially divided Permian community. Coach Gaines suggests a neutral site and it is decided that the state championship game will be held at the Astro Dome. The conversation then progresses into a

heated debate about the race of the referees. The Cowboys’ wants their team’s racial dynamic to be represented by the referees so that no bias is imposed in calls based on race. The Permian Panthers’ staff, not having an understanding due to being white men, argue that the Cowboys simply believe having an African American referee will allow them to win the game.

Parental Involvement Examples

Negative parental involvement is seen throughout the movie between Boobie Miles’

relationship with his uncle, L.V., and through Don Billingsley’s relationship with his alcoholic,

abusive father. One key scene is after Boobie learns he won’t be able to play anymore and has to

clean out his locker. He returns to his uncle’s car and begins sobbing because football is all he

knows, and his uncle promised him that he was going to go pro. L.V. never had ill intentions and

was always supportive of his nephew, but he valued sport over education. In his mind, football

was going to make Boobie famous and rich. In opposition, Charles Billingsley was not nurturing

and was not the supportive fan in the stands like L.V. was. Charles berated his son in front of his

teammates and the community. In one key scene, Don brings a woman home and upon arrival is

met with his father who in a drunken rage duct tapes Don’s hands to a football, in an attempt to

teach him how to not fumble.

Athletic Aggressiveness Examples

The sign in the Permian Panthers’ locker room reads “Whatever It Takes.” This mindset

is incorporated into the team’s aggressive and violent on the field and off the field behavior. The

young, high-school players are often depicted with blood covering their uniforms and in one

scene at the beginning of the film, the teammates even get in a physical altercation with one

another due to the frustration of not running drills well and team members thinking they are

better than others. In another scene of violence, a Carter Cowboys player kicks Mike Winchell in

the face when he does not have his helmet on and is down on the ground. This behavior goes

unnoticed by the referees, and the Carter coaches reward their player.

The film ​Friday Night Lights ​ is not only a look at the Permian High School football team but at the world of football and sport as a whole. Utilizing a sociological imagination, issues surrounding race, education, and ethics within sport can be analyzed along with many other themes. The film shows that sport has the power to unite a community and can be good, but as previously analyzed sport can also have negative effects.

References