Remember the Titans: Historic or Hollywood?
Remember the Titans (2000) explores the story of recently desegregated T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Set in 1971, the film investigates how racism was challenged by football coach Herman Boone and it follows the team as they take on the boundaries of institutional racism from all sides. The classic is a heartfelt, family movie but includes some very dark themes. While it is not a documentary, Remember the Titans misrepresents some historically significant elements of the story in an effort to make it lighter and more family friendly. This misrepresentation has the ability to rewrite audiences’ understanding of this time in history.
The film sets the stage for 1970’s Virginia by opening with riots in the street following the murder of nineteen-year-old Robin Gibson by a white Seven-Eleven employee in the summer of 1970. The unjustified nature of the shooting drew the crowd and started a three-day riot that resulted in fourteen arrests and several cases of arson. The civil unrest represented in the film is realistic yet toned down for the audience, showing no fires and limited violence. Ignoring the slight misrepresentation of the violence and the fact that the riots took place in the summer of 1970 rather than ’71 the scene is realistic.
Spring training is the first true trial for the Titans and the first time players of different races interact. This training camp is historically accurate however the context is far different. In the film, the merging of the two high schools was a direct result of integration. While in the film desegregation is happening in 1971, in reality “by the early 1970s, localities’ formal opposition to school desegregation had ended.” T.C. Williams, George Washington, and Francis C. Hammond had all been desegregated for at least three years beforehand. So, Coaches Boone and Yoast had three schools worth of players to weed through resulting in a rigorous training camp. The hard work and subsequent team bonding was not motivated by the idea of overcoming racism, but simply part of being a football coach.
During camp, Coach Boone wakes the team for a run at dawn in true military fashion. He takes them on a long trek through the woods to Gettysburg. As the troops catch their breath, Boone gives a speech about the importance of their struggle. He says “50000 men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight were still fighting amongst ourselves today.” In this scene it is clearer than ever that Coach Boone has a personal mission to make these kids bond. This never happened. “Boone admitted he would never get a group of high school boys up in the middle of the night to run in the woods.” It’s just another example of screenwriters trying to make the story seem more historically influential than it really was.
It is clear by the animosity heard from behind the police line how the majority of the white population feels about the integration. On the first day of school many of the white families are shouting slurs and chants while others throw things. Remember The Titans seriously underplays the threat of racial violence in the south at the time. In the film, a brick is thrown through Coach Boone’s front window one night. This event really occurred however in actuality the projectile was a full toilet not a brick. And that’s one of the details they included! “One malicious event eliminated altogether was the mistaken bombing of a neighbor’s house, which was intended for Boone.” Alexandria has a long history of racial violence dating hundreds of years and the looming threat of violence was overlooked in the film.
The way the Titans supposedly paved the way for anti-racism in Alexandria is unrealistic to say the least. After the Titans win the state title, it seems that the town is so proud of their victorious high school that they are willing to set aside their differences and come together for a brighter future. This notion is represented perfectly in Coach Yoast’s halftime speech during the game. He says, “You’ve taught this city how to trust the soul of a man rather than the look of him, and I guess it’s about time I join the club.” For Coach Yoast, Boone’s influence and guidance throughout the season was enough for him to see through the racism. Coach Yoast represents the supposed hearts and minds of southerners. This leads us to the most influential character in the film, Coach Herman Boone.
Coach Boone is misrepresented as a sort of civil rights activist in the film. His drive to get the players to know each other, his run to Gettysburg, he was even introduced as a “race man” at the beginning of the film. It is clear screenwriters had a particular vision in mind when writing his character. “Howard wrote Boone — who had already coached both black and white players for the two seasons he served as an assistant at T.C. before taking over as head coach in 1971 — as an amalgam of Vince Lombardi and Martin Luther King Jr.” The real Herman Boone was more like Vince Lombardi than Dr. King.
The misrepresentation of the context of the 1971 season and Coach Boone’s personality in an effort to make Disney’s Remember the Titans more lighthearted resulted in a false interpretation of history. “To hope for more than that — for a genuinely color-blind society — is simply foolishness. Remember the Titans is a reminder of how much is misrepresented by that version of history.” As a successful Disney movie, Remember the Titans has the influence to make a difference in how our youth views our history. The screenwriters at Disney had a particular vision in mind for Remember the Titans. One which is evident in the film’s misrepresentation of historical events and figures. The film’s downplaying of racial violence in the south, circumstances of the Titan’s season, and the unrealistic portrayal of Coach Herman Boone all contribute to the film’s misrepresentation of history. This misrepresentation has important implications in how we view this point in history.
