I Rewatched "Remember The Titans" As An Adult And It Gave Me A New Perspective I Didn't Expect

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28-02-2025

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I can't believe Remember the Titans came out 25 years ago. I don't even wanna talk about how old that makes me!!! I recall watching this movie in the theater but haven't watched it since then. So, I thought I'd revisit the movie as an adult. Here are my thoughts.
1. The first line in the movie is: "In Virginia, high school football is a way of life. It's bigger than Christmas Day." — Sheryl. That's exactly what this movie did: it made football bigger than the race-related issues in the film.
While viewing this movie as an adult, I noticed football and winning the championship game was the priority and main goal of the story, while overcoming racism took a backseat.
Arguably, the greatest and most popular American sport is football. No wonder this film gained popularity from the central idea of the game everyone loves, which explains why it seems to overpower the race scenes. I suppose the aim was entertainment over education, and it is considered a feel-good sports movie above all else. And I guess that's ok...
2. Coach Yoast makes it clear to Coach Boone that he did not hire him. He says, "The school board made the decision to put you on my staff." Boone replies, "Well, I came up here to coach at G.W. I didn't ask the schools to redistrict. I didn't ask to be assigned to your staff, so I guess we're both in a situation we don't want to be in."
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Exactly this! It rubs me the wrong way how focused the movie is on the white players and the white coach being inconvenienced and placed in undesirable predicaments. It does not display what the Black players have lost by integrating and only briefly touches on how racism affected their everyday lives as athletes.
Additionally, I wondered why the focus was so strongly on Coach Yoast's accomplishments and sacrifices when Coach Boone was just as qualified. There's even *space held* for a 9-year-old Sheryl Yoast, who pouts about how her dad lost his job to Coach Boone. I mean, this is an entire scene! Aaaaand there's a town hall meeting scene about what the white players have to lose, but it was just as much of a sacrifice for the Black players, too. Not to mention, Coach Boone only briefly shares how he moved from North Carolina and uprooted his life because he was qualified to be a coach, yet not chosen because of his race.
And later, Julius briefly talks about how his disposition changed with the integration and admits his performance is subpar because it doesn't feel like a team. The other Black players also just want to play ball but now have hatred at the forefront of their minds instead of scoring, but those scenes are not as full. So I ask, why do these integration films seem to only zoom in on the discomfort of white folks?
3. "Make no mistake, I am qualified to be this school's head coach."
Yessssssssss! I admire Coach Boone's confidence and refusal to back down from the position he is deserving of. He was able to smooth over the situation without compromising his professionalism, experience, and, most of all, his competence. He managed the team with respect and integrity and fairly appointed players based on skill, not color. He also made it clear to Coach Yoast that everyone was in a tough spot, not just him and his white players. Yoast finally came to understand that point of view and urged his players to see it through.
To me, this was an example of Boone deflating white supremacy and elitism — both terms I became familiar with long after my first time seeing this film.
4. I did not realize it was Nicole Ari Parker playing opposite Denzel as Carol Boone. My first recollection of Nicole Ari Parker was Brown Sugar.
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In fact, there are quite a few notable Black stars in this movie that I grew up watching. Donald Faison (Petey), Wood Harris (Julius), Earl Poitier (Blue), Gregory Alan Williams (Doc), etc. It's always good to see familiar faces in their early days of stardom.
5. Ray says, "I ain't playing for no thief," and Gerry claims Boone stole Yoast's job.
The irony in that statement... I almost can't bring myself to spell it out... But it's so cringe when you think about the many acres of Black farmland stolen by whites and the countless thriving Black communities that were destroyed. Alexandria, Virginia, was a major culprit in the eminent domain citations, where Black landowners were forced to sell their land and later became banned from living in certain neighborhoods. Everything they worked hard for was TAKEN. Now, these characters, Ray and Gerry, stand on the grounds of a town historically known for their part in industrial zoning. They're taking a stand against theft and what is rightfully earned, and in light of the historical context of Black property owners in that exact city, I just cannot. Soooo, thief, where? 👀
6. I can see where they got the inspiration to cast Denzel Washington as Alonzo in Training Day!
When Coach Boone introduced himself to the team, the first thing he did was interrogate Petey, which intimidated him. All I could think about was Jake in Training Day, who was as eager as Petey on his first day. But one day with Denzel, I mean Coach Boone, is not fun. Hard work, yes. Fun? No.
7. I missed this before, but Ray actually told on himself by saying, "And Rev? He better be praying I block for his black behind."
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When Gerry told the coach he suspected Ray missed the block on purpose, I refer back to the lunch scene where he discloses to Gerry that he'd bide his time. I applaud Gerry for taking leadership and checking his friend. It was even more honorable that he turned Ray in and cut him from the team when the behavior continued. Ray was Gerry's best friend, but it almost cost the team a big win. Ultimately, Gerry learned right from wrong and found friends who supported his new code of ethics.
8. The Gettysburg speech was at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.
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For some reason, when I was younger, I did not make the connection that the team had traveled to Pennsylvania for their training camp. I originally believed the team was still in Virginia, knowing full well where the Battle of Gettysburg took place... Maybe I confused Gettysburg with Williamsburg? Idk, it's another colonial region in Virginia soooooo...maybe?! 😅 Please excuse my geographical brain fart. I know that the Battle of Gettysburg was in my home state, Pennsylvania, and that's where the players went to train!
9. This speech is about as deep as the film goes, set just after the Civil Rights Era, addressing the issue of respect. But the visual exposure to the grounds of the "bloodiest battle" is what got through to the players.
"This green field right here was painted red, bubbling with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, man... You listen and take a lesson from the dead. If we don't come together right now, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed just like they were. I don't care if you don't like each other or not, but you will respect each other. And maybe, I don't know, maybe we'll learn to play this game like men."
I loved this speech, which Denzel Washington delivered perfectly. He mentions the fight is still at hand, and this was the 1970s, but we are still fighting that fight in 2025, too. It is a powerful comparison with him standing on a field where 50,000 men died in contrast to the football field with a crowd of the same number of soldiers in Gettysburg. Both times, a coming together was needed.
It's all about respect, which was the primary mission of Boone's training camp. It's sad how much respect was lacking at the time and is lacking today.
10. I didn't realize "yo mama" jokes were such a cultural thing.
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For me, "yo mama" jokes go back to Bebe's Kids, White Men Can't Jump, The Nutty Professor, and my elementary school cafeteria. We just cracked these jokes to pass the time and lighten up the mood. In this scene, Gerry is offended at first, but Julius assures him that it's just a joke. No sooner are they all partaking in the "yo mama" roasting trend. This is the beginning of their cross-cultural bonding as a team, where their differences are acknowledged and accepted.
11. Another cross-cultural bonding example is through music. (Ryan Gosling doing his best Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell impression is priceless. Actually, all the Ryan Gosling scenes sent me, lol. Guess he's always been a heartthrob.)
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"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a repeated song in the movie, and it reflects the idea of a team gelling together and not letting anything come between them. I used to think it was incorporated into the movie for its catchiness and fame, but now I understand, "ain't no river wide enough/ to keep me from getting to you." The lyrics describe the idea that Coach Boone emphasizes: not letting race and hatred break the bond of this team, especially once they leave camp and head into the real world.
In a later scene, the team rides the bus home from the training camp and chants the song, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam. As the parents welcome the players home, some are disturbed by the literal harmony and the harmony created through the bonding of music. White players are enjoying Black songs; Black players are singing white songs... This is another cross-cultural moment that brings the team together.
12. When Coach Boone told Ronnie he had 12 brothers and sisters, I wondered why he made up that number.
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Doc asked Coach Boone, "You have 12 brothers and sisters?"
Coach Boone replied, "8."
Then the camera shows Ronnie on the field and reveals his jersey number, which is... 12! Ohhhhhhh, I see what you did there, Coach. That was such a motivational lie, lol. The idea was that Boone was young and had to assume responsibility for 12 siblings once his parents died. Similarly, it was up to Ronnie, whose number was 12, to take over for the team.
13. Watching Julius walk out the house and encounter an officer had me on edge.
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I couldn't remember what happened in this scene and expected the worst, especially when he started stuttering. Unarmed Black men have encountered officers and faced terrible outcomes despite being innocent, so I thought it was going in that direction. I was relieved to see the cop was actually congratulating him and the team on a job well done.
14. Boone confronted Yoast about coddling the Black players but not the white players.
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"The world don't give a damn about how sensitive these kids are, especially the young black kids. You ain't doing these kids a favor by patronizing them. You're crippling them. You're crippling them for life."
I did not understand this line as a child, but now I see, and to an extent, agree with Boone on how it does more harm than good to deal with students in this manner.
Yoast's approach comes off as thoughtful, but really, he is making them inferior and unprepared for a ruthless world that exists outside of football. The world will continue on in its cruelty and will not stop to think about how they feel, especially those same Black players that Yoast is singling out. I don't think he singled them out to purposely put them down, but in the end, life is hard sometimes, and it's up to teachers, parents, and coaches to prepare students for a difficult world. Essentially, they will have to learn to navigate those feelings, no matter how dark they may seem, because the world will not pause just because you're having a bad day. Even when you're sad, frustrated, confused, and hopeless, the game will still continue, and the other team will continue to score. Coddling them and pulling them out of a hard-to-manage situation will not build resilience and therefore cause crippling in their future endeavors. I get it now.
15. I think the characters that changed the most were Julius and Gerry, who became more than friends. They became brothers. Gerry tells the nurse, "Don't you see the family resemblance? That's my brother."
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Boone had an effective strategy. Each player was instructed to spend time with another player of a different race to allow the opportunity to see beyond color and look into each other's souls. From that initiative came great duos: Julius and Gerry, Nicky and Sheryl, Louie and Blue, Boone and Yoast, etc.
Julius is even found holding Gerry's mother's hand at the funeral, comforting her when she originally didn't want to get to know him at all.
16. In the movie, it was never revealed how Gerry Bertier died. The narrator, Sheryl, just states that he passed 10 years after the team's big win.
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I always wondered what happened. But while rewatching and seeing the end credits, it reads, "He was killed in a car crash with a drunk driver in 1981." I guess I left the theater before reading the end credits. Whoopsie. But was there any reason why they didn't just say that in the actual script?
17. The victory at the end did not feel as victorious watching this 20+ years later. I think I was more hopeful for change when this movie came out, but having lived 25 years after its release, it always feels like we're going backward when it comes to race in this country. Remember the Titans is an incredible film, but I noticed the victory at the end of the movie felt just like that: a movie and not reality. Idk, I think, as a child, I saw the end of the movie as some sort of victory over racism. I was naive, I guess.
What movies have you rewatched as an adult that changed your perspective?
Let me know in the comments.
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