"Boobie lay down and several student managers took off his pads. In his uniform, with all the different pads he fancied, he looked a little like Robo Cop.But stripped of all the accoutrements, reduced to a gray shirt soaked with sweat, he had lost his persona. He looked like what he was—an eighteen-year-old kid who was scared to death." (57)
1. So why do you think Boobie is given such a central position in both the film and the book? Why give such an emphasis on a figure who plays such a small role in the central narrative of the story (in real life, Boobie got hurt in a preseason game)? Go ahead and quote a couple times from the book in your answer; and don't simply reiterate what we said in class today. Expand on what we said; better yet, take your response in additional directions from what we said today.
2. One of the major points I wanted us to get to in our discussion today was how the film is on some level a confusing mix of messages. On one hand, as we said in discussion, it is a clear critique, criticism, as is Bissinger's book, of Permian football culture. At the same time, it is also a feel-good, uplifting, let our boys win the big game against those big bad guys from Dallas-Carter. What part of the film's narrative or message is, for you, most contradictory? This doesn't mean you have to dislike the film, not at all; but it does mean you have to be analytical and critical of what the film does. I would argue that the film wants to have it both ways: to criticize what is clearly a corrupt high school football culture and to have us cheering for a team that is neck deep in that culture. So look at a way that the film tries to have it both ways. And how does this work for you?
Finally, a little preview of where we go next. This is the opening of the pilot for the series "Friday Night Lights".
We'll watch the rest of this tomorrow.
1. I think that Boobie is a really important character because the entire book and movie is revolved around how football enriches the lives of these players while Boobie displays just how horrible the absence of football is to these boys. For instance on page 56, “he said he couldn’t ever, ever imagine a life without football because it would be ‘a big zero.” He also shows just how dependent they are on football to get them a career and get them out of the town. These boys have put everything into football, putting everything else by the wayside. Especially education. Boobie in particular is not bright and without his athletic ability he would probably never graduate high school: “Boobie had been classified as a learning disabled student...When he went to Permian in the tenth grade, he was mainstreamed into regular classes but could get extra help when he needed it. His status made him exempt from the state-mandated competency tests that were a requirement for a high school diploma, and he had never taken college boards.” (65). In the movie Boobie, after injuring himself beyond repair, admits that he can’t do anything else but play football. Boobie, until the injury, was going to be accepted to some of the most prestigious schools in the nation with a third-grade reading level. Without football he has no skills or education, football changed his life and that’s why his character is so important: to show how football can change a person’s life.
ReplyDelete2. While almost everyone who watched the movie/series and read the book can admit that choosing to finance a state-of-the-art football stadium while denying money for the high school is crazy, we still find ourselves wrapped up in the Odessa-like obsession with the team. We are with the team when they lose, at the edge of our seats during the games, and excitingly whispering when a point in scored. While a life of only football is unrealistic, it is reality for the citizens of Odessa and through watching the movie I can relate to them in a way I did not think I would. We watch them grow and persevere throughout the season’s hardships and almost live through their every touchdown scored and lost. One can also not discredit the fact that this team is the reason that the town is not crumbling apart. It creates this amazing, strong community that can bond over one common interest. For some it may be the only good thing that is still in their lives. While there are many cons to football’s transfixing power over Odessa, there are still many ways in which the sport helps the town, causing the viewers to become even more involved in the team’s successes and failures.
Boobie serves as the embodiment of football’s potentially ravaging effect on one’s life in a community in which resources are almost wholly allocated towards the sport, rendering any individual that received a career ending injury, excluding those with considerable natural academic talent, nearly entirely forsaken by the community as a whole. “Some in town, most of them black, worried about what might happen to him if [football] somehow didn’t work out, what the incredible effect of that absence might be. They saw something potentially dangerous in it all. And some in town, all of them white, gleefully suggested that Boobie Miles, without the ability to carry a football in his hand, might as well get a broom and start preparing for his other destiny in life- learning how to sweep the corners of storerooms” (66-67). These concerns and malicious desires exemplify the near dehumanization of many of the African American participants in the Permian football program. As sheer athletic ability appears to be the only way for African American males triumph over the overt racism that plagues Odessa (although distinguished academic achievement is certainly an option, it is shown in no other minority character besides Chavez), many, such as Boobie are rigorously trained from an early age, with nearly all emphasis in their lives placed upon refining their athletic abilities as to further their chances at obtaining a scholarship. Athletic ability, however, is a trait an individual can be stripped of, especially in a ravaging sport such as football where injuries are commonplace among the players. For an individual such as Boobie, who is classified as a “learning disabled student” (65), the loss of athletic ability has an incredibly detrimental effect on one’s life, which is amplified due to the corrupt nature of the town’s school system, allowing Boobie to take menial classes far below his grade level, classes far below the level that his learning disadvantage would likely warrant a justification for. Thus, Boobie, and other individuals in situations akin to his, contribute to the perpetual cycle of racially driven poverty that has been allowed to continue to ravage the African American community of Odessa for decades.
ReplyDeleteWhile throughout the film I developed a respect for Coach Gaines due to his fervent desire to unify the team and his attempts to develop meaningful personal relationships with his players, his stark manipulation of the team for his own benefit yielded a troubling predicament. While he often appeared to act for the mutual benefit of himself and the team, there were several occasions, such as where he failed to intervene between Don and his father vehemently arguing on the field, where Gaines appeared to be attempting to preserve his position as coach rather than act for the benefit of the team and draw a handful of condescending and displeased comments from the community. In addition, the ease at which Gaines removed the names of the senior starters from the board on which the rotation was displayed (with the exception of Winchell) further exemplifies the notion that Gaines may see the team as a machine that grants the continuation of his employment and lucrative salary (by Odessa standards), rather than a group of individuals who have for their whole lives vied for a state championship, a group that will make nearly every sacrifice to render that desire a reality, and expect him to unquestionably do the same, although often it appears the sacrifices are ones that he is less than willing to make.
1. “But there were too many people around Boobie, looking at his knee as if it were a priceless vase with a suddenly discovered crack that had just made it worthless” (57). I think this quotation is the epitome of the idea that these football players are no longer human beings but objects on display for the whole town. Boobie is the perfect is example of why the cycle of Permian High School football is so dangerous. I believe Boobie is a central character in both the film and the book because Berg and Bissinger wanted to clearly demonstrate how truly flawed the world of football is. One coached said Boobie without football was just “A big ol’ dumb nigger” (67). The fact is that even though Boobie did not get to finish his high school football career, the majority of kids on the football team ended up the same as him, back in Odessa, trying to live vicariously through the new football players. Boobie’s story is not any different than the kids who got to play in the state championship their senior year. Boobie says, “he couldn’t ever imagine a life without football because it would be a ‘big zero, ‘cause, I don’t know, it’s just the way I feel’” (56). In truth, Boobie just had to experience life without football a little sooner than the rest of his teammates, but life without football will eventually happen to everyone. Sooner or later they all end up in the same place whether or not they made it all the way to state, and that is the depressing truth. I think the point of keeping Boobie as a central character is to show that no matter what happens in the football career of a Permian panther they all seem to end up right back where they started.
ReplyDelete2. I think one part of the film that sends mixed signals is towards the coach. As we touched on in class, Gaines is a very good coach. He knows his plays, he knows how to run a practice, and he knows how to get results, but his methods don’t always seem very fair. This aspect of the film frustrated me. I wanted to feel sympathy for Gaines when he arrived home to for sale signs in his yard, but I had to stop myself because I was angry with him for turning a blind eye to the abuse between Don and Charlie. Another way the film tries to critique yet also be a feel good movie is in its depiction of the players. The film suggests that these kids have had to grow up too quickly. They take care of the adults in their lives, and they hold the pressure of the entire town. At the same time, the film shows them partying and hooking up with whatever girls they want. The film also shows them enjoying the fame of walking through the halls and getting handed baked goods by Peppetes. I think the film wants to portray the players as enjoying their high school years but still show the struggle of being an athlete. It seems, though, the disappointments outweigh the perks of being a football player. The film wants you to believe there is some glory in being a football player, but I’m not entirely sure this is true.
1. I believe that Boobie is given a central position in both the movie and the book because he represents a certain character on a stereotypical football team: the loud, cocky, overconfident player and the player who has his football career ruined by an injury. People can relate or understand to his sports dreams of becoming a pro. In the book and the movie, it is obvious Boobie was the best on the team because the coaches struggle on how to still win after he’s injured. In the book especially Boobie comes across as the star of the team with an attitude and all the college letters: “They weren’t interest in him just because he was big and looked imposing in a football uniform. There were a thousand kids in Texas who fit that description… a kind of invincible fire that burned within him, an unquenchable feeling that no one on that field, no one, was as good as he was.” This is what makes him an interesting character to watch and follow his individual story in the movie and book. Also Boobie portrays a lot of black football players in small towns in America in 1980’s. For Boobie playing football is only way out like for many black high school players playing football was the only they saw to get out of their little towns and not ending up being nothing, like Boobie worries about becoming a garbage man. He’s such a complicated and interesting character with a touching life story that people find intriguing. Another reason I think Boobie is a main character apart from the fact that he represents a stereotypical star high school football player, a black player, and a player who loses his career by an injury is that Boobie has such a fascinating relationship with his uncle and father figure, L.V. It makes him and his story unique. The relationship between makes you think whether or not it’s good how much L.V. pushes him to play football: “Some who knew L.V. thought that he had pushed Boobie too much, wasn’t living for him as much as he was living through him. Maybe that was true, maybe it wasn’t.” On one hand playing football could allow Boobie to go to a top university on a scholarship, allowing him to get out of a very racist Odessa. On the other hand the schools only want Boobie because he can play football: “They bragged about their facilities and their winning traditions and none of them, of course, made any mention of the academic difficulties he would face in college.” The reason Boobie plays football instead of focusing in school is because L.V. started him no it at an early age because L.V. himself was deprived of playing football during times of extreme racism and segregation. Their relationship makes you really think about and question L.V.’s intentions and that makes for an interesting story for Boobie Miles. All of these aspects of Boobie’s story are what makes him different from the other players and are why Boobie is highlighted so much in the movie and book.
ReplyDelete2. I think the movie is contradictory in the way that it presents its view on high school football. It criticizes how big of a role football plays in Odessa and how messed up the school is for putting their ‘all important’ football team before education. The players are basically excused from doing any work in classes and the only times in the movie that you see the players in school is when they receive presents or get congratulated. Also building a ridiculously nice stadium that fits 19,000 people when the average SAT score is a total of a 700. And coach Gary Gaines getting paid more than the principal of the high school seems crazy to us. All the money and energy they invest in the team should be going into the high school and kids of Odessa getting a better education. Yet, the movie also makes us become apart of the whole Permian Panther football culture. It makes us connect to each of the individual players and makes us want to root for them and have them win state. This is what the movie’s true purpose is, not to take one view or the other, but to present these contradicting views and let you think about both of them. Why is it that we get absorbed into this football culture? Is it the same reason why the town gets so involved in it? The movie allows us to push ourselves to think about things like what is so appealing about having a worshiped football team and why the school turns its back on education. This is what I loved about the movie: it’s contradictory in order to make you re-examine and think.
ReplyDeleteI think that Boobie is put in the central role in both the book and the film because with or without him, there always seems to be talk of him. Especially in the film, Boobie plays a central role on the team throughout the journey to the state championships. When he is there, no one else matters, and when he isn’t, he leaves a void both on the field and off. In the book, Boobie’s role is slightly more complicated, because he does quit the team, and they move on without him and without needing him; but there is the omnipresent “what if” surrounding Boobie Miles. Within the story of Boobie Miles, there is also the fable of the idolized athlete. It is in touching on this fault that the story of Friday Night Lights becomes a critique on not just the culture of Odessa, but the culture of America as a whole. Boobie’s failure to maintain a well-rounded lifestyle is not his fault, but it comes from the fact that he was “…frequently reassured and coddled. He had been kicked off the team sophomore year for missing workouts. But he had been allowed to rejoin after the coaches concluded that the same demands made of other players could not be made of him if he was to stay on the team” (66). These are the types of exceptions that have been made for Boobie throughout his life, and are the reason he is incapable of anything else. Portraying Boobie’s story and his inevitable helplessness serve as part of the larger lesson of the story of Friday Night Lights, which explains why despite his absence from the team, he is presented front and center in the telling of the story. Maybe Odessa is stuck in an eternal rut because, as conveyed in Boobie’s words, no one could “…ever imagine a life without football because it would be a ‘big zero’ (56). No one is trained for a life without football, so the rest of these kids lives are them trying to find something else to latch onto.
ReplyDeleteI think that the filmmakers chose precisely the biographical information that was presented at the end of the film based on an effort to maintain the benefits of Odessa’s football cult. Throughout the movie, there was a very polarized view of the culture: there were obvious critiques, but also uplifting portrayals of the communal strength and the commitment within Odessa and especially within the team itself. One of the scenes that stuck out to me as a major critique was the night at the restaurant where the washed-up high school football player eagerly pleaded for a picture of Mike Winchell with his daughter and then the players’ subsequent much-desired appearance at the high school party. However, the depiction of free-flowing sensitive emotions within the team and the unbreakable relationship between all members of the Permian Football entity creates a counter-example that is hard to ignore. I think that throughout the course of the season, and throughout a student’s football career, the perks and privilege become so masked by the convoluted and corrupt system that is football and life in Odessa, Texas.
I think that the book and movie make Boobie a main character because his story provides a criticism to the football obsession in Odessa. It shows the risk and flaws of having only football and nothing else in your life. This occurs a lot in Odessa and certainly with Boobie: "he was one of those kids for whom the game of football had become as important, as indispensable, as part of there bodies. Taking it away would be like amputating a leg" (66). This reliance on football is dangerous. Boobie gets injured and his entire future is destroyed in a second. Due to his focus on football, he takes classes way below his grade level. The school is aware that his education is lacking, yet they go along with it because he plays football. Some teachers "just seemed to let him go, doing little more than babysiting this kid who, as one acknowledged, was destined to become the next Great Black Hope for the Permian football team" (66). Boobie's entire upbringing has taught him nothing but football, which gives him little help for life beyond the stadium. Through him the book and movie show that the Permian football obsession really screwa over its high school football players because they do nothing other than football until they graduate.
ReplyDeleteThe most contradictory part of the movie was the lives of the football players. On one hand, the movie presents the them as having the greatest lives of all in the town. They are asked for autographs and pictures and treated like celebrities, receiving special treatment from their school and the people in Odessa. On the other hand, they face tremendous pressure, especially for teenagers. When they loose a game and go skeet shooting, Chavez says, "we're just seventeen" to which MIke replies, "I don't feel seventeen." The pressure makes them act much older than they are. There is of course, a contradiction of whether or not the football obsession is good for the community at large. The movie shows how little an education the players get and how the budget spends crazy amounts of money on the team. However, the movie also shows that the football team brings a sense of community to the town. Although the movie presents the football culture contradictorily, i feel that both sides exist in real life. Odessa's obsession is not all good nor all bad, it just complicated.
Boobie represents both the adoration of football that the community of Odessa has, and the devastation of what happens when football is taken away from the community. He embodies the captivation with football that Odessa has, and the abrupt loss of value that will consume Odessa once it's gone. Boobie is arguably just as celebrated as the game itself, in that his fans invest their reverence for him incessantly. "...Boobie had more than just the requisite size and speed to play big-time college ball. He had the rawness, the abandon, the unbridled meanness." (55) And yet, with so much adoration and expectations resting on his shoulders, he is to some degree completely recyclable. A Permian coach responds to "What would Boobie be without football?" by saying, "A big ol' dumb nigger." (67) This epitomizes the fragility of Boobie's status, and the debility he and - if the situation occurs - Odessa will suffer from once the seemingly entire meaning of their existence is revoked.
ReplyDeleteDon and his father's relationship is perhaps the most contradictory element of the film. Going back on the comments made today in class about it, Don often has the paternal responsibilities thrust upon him based on his father's actions. His having to drive his father when he's intoxicated is one example. The scene in which Don is with the girl on the couch and tries to shoo his dad away is another example. Despite the enormity of Don's responsibility for his father, his father still manages to dominate him through violence and the mere fact that Don feels obligated to constantly satisfy him. That in itself proves his father's control over him, the possessiveness he has of him.
Boobie is given such a central position in the book and in the movie because he is simply the star of the football team. Everyone loves and wants a star, and he fills this role. Boobie helps completely create this image of a near perfect team that the town of Odessa so desperately craves for. He serves as a role model to kids, and as an icon to the people. He is the celebrity and everyone adores him. In both the film and the book Boobie is well aware of his status as the star and accepts is graciously. "Boobie himself was well aware that all eyes were poised on him this season, and while he luxuriated in it, he seemed almost carefree about it" (p. 55). Boobie is in fact a beyond terrific football player, and he is made to be a star. But, his season ends abruptly with a terrible knee injury, and that is that. Boobie is forgotten and pushed aside, and in the book he quits the team altogether. The reason so much focus is still on Boobie after his injury, after contributing absolutely nothing, is because it provides a contrast to the glory and magnificence of the game of football in Odessa, a contrast that is much needed. A huge part of sports, especially football, is injury. A huge part is failure. A very big component of sports is how you respond to injuries and failure. Boobie is given such a central position after the injury in the book and in the film in order to follow his response to the whole situation, to see what he does with it. And, obviously, as Boobie doesn't not excel in academics, he has a really hard time with the situation and what he will do with his life from here on out. "'I won't be able to play college football, man,' said Boobie in a whisper[...]'It's all I ever wanted to do. I want to make it to the pros" (p.57). Boobie's struggle with his injury is a very eye-opening, very real response, and I think that is why he is given such a central role. It acts as a reminder of what could happen, what could go wrong on top of the game of football itself and the outcome of the scoreboard.
ReplyDeleteThe part of the film's message that is most contradictory is the reaction, the meaning of the sport of football. Throughout the whole movie, it is made very clear that football is it. There is nothing in life to look forward to after high school football. Odessa football takes precedence over everything else in life. And then, as the movie goes on, that message contradicts itself. Football is seen as more of a gateway to more important things in life, things like your relationship with your friends and family and how you react to situations you encounter in life. In the halftime scene where coach Gary makes his emotional speech, he talks about being perfect not by winning football games, but by strengthening your relationships. These two messages overlap throughout the film as far as the players responses and the people of Odessa's responses. So, I agree with John in saying that the film both wants you to root for Permian high school while seeing how corrupt this culture really is. It wants you to see and accept how unimaginably important football is to Odessa while picking up on how football is not the only thing in life.
I think that Boobie is given such a big role, because he was so incredibly devoted to football. He planned his whole life around it. He says that without football even “if I had a good job and stuff, I still wouldn’t be happy. I want to go pro. That’s my dream… be rookie of the year or somethin’ like that.” (56) His only dream was to go pro and he focused all of his energy on that. He embodies the mindset of Odessa, football before anything else. Boobie also was an important character because his story is dramatic and tragic. When he got injured his whole life, everything that he had planned and all of his training became worthless. He shows how without football Odessa is nothing. Like people in class were saying football is an escape from life in Odessa and cover up things. Boobie’s talent in football covers up for his grades. The book also goes further then the movie by talking about his background. When L.V. first adopted Boobie it was “from those underpinnings of football, an enormously strong bond developed between the two. They had something they shared.” (63) Football brought L.V. and Boobie together. Knowing why football became so important to Boobie makes seeing him get injured that much worse.
ReplyDeleteI agree that most contradictory part of the movie is criticizing the corrupt high school football program while getting the viewer to support the football team. The movie shows this through the character Boobie. He is the athlete that needs the special treatment to get through school and makes up for it on the field. He shows the corruption in the system, but also having the depth of his character and how he changes over the course of the movie pulls the audience in to action of the movie. I think that the combination of the messages makes the movie. Without the criticism, the movie would be another cheesy, inspirational sports film.
I think Boobie has such an important role in the book and the movie he is the perfect example of how these kids lives revolve around football. Boobie says “he couldn’t ever, ever imagine a life without football” (56) and one of the main messages the book and movie are trying to send is that the town and everybody in the town didn’t have much without football. The whole idea of putting football ahead of education in the extreme way with Boobie backfires when he doesn’t have the ability to play professionally. “Most who met Boobie agreed that he was one of those kids for whom the game of football had become as important, as indispensable, as a part of their bodies. Taking it away would be like amputating a leg.” (66) His whole life, Boobie took the risk that football would work out for him. If it didn’t, he was screwed.
ReplyDeleteThe film makes the audience cheer with the Permian football team, but it is in some ways out of pity. The audience feels sorry for the players that the game is the pinnacle of their lives. The audience also wants the team to succeed because if they don’t, it will be viewed by the town as essentially a waste of these players’ lives. They don’t have anything except football, and you can’t help but want one thing to go well in these player’s lives. The film retracts on what it was intending with the players only living for high school football. During the ending, it shows the players moving on from the loss and going on to college and getting jobs.
1. I think that Boobie is given such a central role in the team and in the story because the worst imaginable thing happened to him for a boy living in Odessa, Texas: he can no longer play football, he no longer matters anymore. As we talked about in class today, being part of the football team is molding to the identity that the town has created for the kids, and that is solely to play football and bring home state rings. There is such an emphasis on Boobie’s character, especially in the movie as a wonderful leader and teammate, because he has lived through all of the boys’ worst nightmares, being stripped of his one opportunity for success, be it college or a way to escape Odessa, or his one chance to be loved and appreciated in his hometown. A rather disturbing quote from the book talks about what Boobie would be without his football, or a general statement of what a black boy would be without his football, “What would Boobie be without football? A big ol’ dumb n-----” (67). Boobie has never had to think about anything other than football in his life with his uncle. After going through a rocky childhood and coming to Odessa, football was his rock, a steady thing for him that grew into something that he was more passionate about that anything in the world. “Football had become as important, as indispensable, as a part of their bodies. Taking it away would be like amputating a leg” (66). Losing his one stability a chance of a future to get to college or leave Odessa is destroyed in an instant and Boobie becomes a “nothing” in the town, some poor black kid. I think the focus is primarily on Boobie to show the importance of priorities and identity that are associated with football in the town.
ReplyDelete2. I think the biggest contradiction within the film is the matter of education. Here is a high school football team taking place at a huge high school, and we never get a glimpse of a class or any sort of academic world. The movie definitely implies the lack of stress of academic focus or rigor when Boobie is attempting to read his recruitment letters in the locker room, but for me it was almost easy to forget that the team had anything to do with a school, it might as well have been the local recreation facility team. For me this is the most obvious and important contradiction that shows the more twisted side of the recruitment process, and what sports actually mean to small town society and even our society. It is very interesting how the team is portrayed, and I want them to win and do well, but little images kept reminding me about the juxtaposition of what we think of as school, and what the football players think of as school. It is interesting that they think that their only ticket to a future is through football, where we think our only ticket to the future is through academics. The movie presents a situation that is very backwards from our world, which I think is done intentionally to challenge the viewer to think of the whole concept of sports and what is actually important for success.
Boobie is given a central position because he exemplified what it meant to be a football player in Odessa. He was an athlete first, way above anything else in his life, and Odessa's obsession with football portrayed him as a god. The town did not care about the other aspects of Boobie's life, they only loved him for his dazzling play on the field "On other occasions, some whites offered another suggestion for Boobie's life if he no longer had football: just do to him what a trainer did to a horse that had pulled up lame at the track, just to take out a gun and shoot him to put him out of his misery of a life that no longer had any value" (67). This crammed Boobie's head with dreams of his future in the pros, which prevented him from preparing for a different future in case something went wrong. Boobie struggled in the classroom and was in fact taking underclassmen courses his senior year. Unfortunately for him, because of his football prowess many teachers just let him drift away academically, assuming he'd be going to college for football anyways. Boobie's life revolving around football is exploited when he says about football "It's real important. It's all I ever wanted to do. I want to make it in the pros". (57)
ReplyDeleteThe most contradictory part of the film is the way football players are treated in Odessa. During their playing days, the "pinnacle" of their life, they are treated like demigods. The entire town knows their names and other personal things about them. Their fame lasts until their last snap, when suddenly they become irrelevant to the town. Don Billingsley's dad won a state championship with Permian, but during the film you could tell he was not ready for his playing days and fame to be over, so instead of giving up on football entirely, he tried to play it vicariously through his son, pushing Don and punishing him if he did not succeed.
Although Boobie got hurt in a preseason game in real life, he still played a huge role on the team. He was the most talented, hardworking, and competitive player on the football field. When the Panthers lost an athlete like Boobie, he had a huge impact on the team as a whole, not just their season. Boobie is also an important character because of his background, I believe. "L.V. could have turned his back on him, could have let the image go. After all, Boobie wasn't his child. But he couldn't do it." (61)
ReplyDeleteBoobie's backstory is an unusual one, dating back to his separation from his parents to living with his grandmother to moving back in with his to being taken away. The introduction of L.V. to Boobie is sweet and satisfying to the reader, knowing that this unwanted child is being taken in. The reader/viewer wants a character like this to grow up and be successful. But here is where the story turns. Boobie's hopes and dreams of being in the pros is diminished. "All I wanted to do, Make it to the pros." (57) Boobie's story has now disappeared because it no longer holds meaning. When a main character's journey is officially gone, other roles and characters begin to formulate meaning (Mike Wenchell, Chavez, Jerod McDougall).
I totally agree with the fact that cheering for a corrupt high school culture is contradictory. I believe, although the culture of high school football is too much of a responsibility for kids who don't deserve it yet, cheering for something that brings unity in a community is perfect. There is not much that goes on in Odessa, so having something that everyone in the community can agree and be together for, is healthy for a society. We can all agree that there was still major racism occurring in the 80's (there still is today) so having events that all races can cheer for is helpful, healthy, and is overall good for the community of Odessa and its citizens.
I think Boobie plays such a central role in both the book and the movie because he is the most kid-like of the characters that we've seen so far. Anyone who has ever spoken to a high school athlete--especially one who's been told his whole athletic career how amazing he is--can tell you that, to a certain extent, they're all cocky in one way or another. It's a front that they put up to cover up what they're insecure about, and this is exactly the case with Boobie. He acts like he is the best of the best because he knows that that's what he has to be. He needs to be the perfect athlete that everybody thinks he is if he has any chance of getting out of Odessa. Boobie is placed in the middle of everything to remind the reader/audience that this story is about high-schoolers. He looked like what he was—an eighteen-year-old kid who was scared to death. When you take away all the fans and the bravado "he looked like what he was—an eighteen-year-old kid who was scared to death" (57).
ReplyDeleteGaines' presence in the boys lives is what's most contradictory for me. On one hand, he appears to be a very caring coach. He sits down with Boobie and L.V. to have dinner, congratulates both of them for doing their jobs well. He visits Winchell in his home and offers his advice. And his speech at half-time during the last game is all centered around how he has a "full heart." But how full is it? It certainly doesn't seem as though he cares for the boys when he's screaming demeaning things at them while they're on the field. He doesn't seem to care that much when Billingsley's father is beating on him in front of the entire team. Gaines obviously sees what's going on and turns his head to look the other direction. He can either be the caring, advice-giving coach that Winchell and the rest of the team look up to, or he can be the seemingly robotic coach that methodically takes down the names of the senior the moment their season is done. It's as though Gaines doesn't know what kind of coach he wants to be.
I think Boobie is put as a main character in the book and in the movie because he is or was the star of the team. At the beginning of the season he is the star player, with the everyone expecting him to take his team to a state championship and go play at one of the big college schools. But when he gets injured, everyone imediently looses interest in him even when he quits the team, "there were a lot more important things to worry about than that pain in the ass prima dona with a bad knee." 20)After he is injured, Boobies whole life now is changed becuase of this injury, all of his hopes and dreams gone because of this knee. Without his football, oobie is considered a "big ol' dumb nigger."
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