Remember the Titans: A great drama, but too many distorted facts
Remember the Titans is based on a true story of a high school football team in Alexandria, Virginia where the schools football team goes through integration during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. However, there are numerous inaccuracies throughout the movie but luckily, it made for a film that will be remembered for years to come.
Although the performances of actors such as Denzel Washington and Will Patton were of the top quality and made for an even better film there were many differences between the movie and the real event that have been recognized by the Titans of 1971 themselves. It has been proven that the screenwriter did not live in Alexandria and only did a very cursory job of research in regards to the players.
For example, it is shown in the movie that the players were woken up at 3 A.M. and forced to go on a run through the park in the middle of the night to go see the battlefields. According to players from the actual Titans team of 1971, although they did go to Gettysburg College for a training camp, they were not made to wake up at 3 A.M. and run through the middle of the park as the park rangers frowned upon this. They did go to see the battlefields of Gettysburg, but the head coach did not do most of the talking as depicted in the movie and they were shown around by a guide. As said before, this scene was added to create a feeling of drama, which although increased the appeal of the movie itself, distorted a key moment in the true story of the Titans.
Secondly, it is shown in the movie that there were protests against the integration of the high school in Alexandria by the parents, who claimed that they needed to protect their children. According to students who actually attended the high school in 1971, there were no protests of any sort. Although they had some problems with some minor offenses such as being pushed around in the hallway, these problems soon dissipated when the school year went into full swing. This scene was most likely added to show to audiences that 1971 was the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States but once again, changed the true details of the event.
Lastly, after the state semi-finals, it is shown in the film that the team goes out to celebrate and on the way home their star Linebacker, Gerry Bertier is involved in a severe car crash and sustains quite severe injuries. As a result, he is no longer able to play in the game for the state championship. Although the actual Titans have admitted that a car crash involving Bertier did occur, it only happened after the season had finished and as a result he was actually able to play the game for the state championship. In actuality, his car was found overturned in a creek while the movie showed that a truck had hit him. This scene is changed to add drama and suspense to the movie but as mentioned earlier, it changed the true details of the event.
In conclusion, although the movie Remember the Titans is a great movie for drama, many facts were changed from the real event and as a result has painted a different picture to viewers. The truth behind many events in movies such as Remember the Titans should be researched in order to give a clearer picture of what actually happened as this will both give the viewer a true idea of what actually happened, while not compromising many important scenes that add drama and suspense to the movie.Read full review
