Social Psychology in Film: Analysis of Remember the Titans Assignment

This assignment analyzes the movie 'Remember the Titans' through a social psychology lens. It identifies and explains four examples of prejudice, such as the initial resistance to the black coach and the segregation of the team. It also details four instances of aggression, including fights and riots. Furthermore, the assignment provides two examples of conformity, like the team's synchronized warm-ups, and two examples of defiance, such as Louie Lastik's actions. The assignment concludes with an explanation of how the football team overcame their struggles, emphasizing the development of a strong bond and brotherhood, as evidenced by the team's closeness and unity, especially at Gerry's funeral. The assignment references relevant academic sources to support the analysis.

Running head: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Remember the Titans
1. List 4 examples of prejudice throughout the movie.
i. The first prejudice was evidenced when the members of the football team refused to
play when they discover the former coach Yost had been replaced by a black man.
According to the players, there was no possibility of the new coach being half decent
(McMillan 2017).
ii. The very first time the whole team meet took place, coloured players and white
players stood on different sides and refused to accept each others as team mates or
even a human being. In fact while they got on the bus for going to the training camp,
it was coach Boon who had too assign seats as well as roommates in order to enhance
communication between coloured and non coloured players
iii. After a game, when the players were celebrating , the bar owner refused to serve them
since one of the players looked like a gay hippie and the other was black
iv. Garry’s mother asked her son not to play with black people and forcing him to abide
the same.
2. List 4 examples of aggression throughout the movie.
1. Gerry Bertier initiated a fight with Julius since he was not preferring a poster that was put
by Julius in his room. While Julius refused to remove one of the posters from the room,
Bartier had attacked him over the disapproval.
2. The scene here citizens in the community was rioting as well as attacking the African
Americans as a sign of racial discrimination
3. The scene where both the races were fighting inside the school.

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4. Gerry and Julius were having their conversation about what each of them are doing
wrong and Julius says 'attitude reflects leadership, captain'.
3. List 2 examples of conformity in the movie.
i. The titans decided to warm up and they enter the stadium dancing till they get to the
field. Even in the field they continued dancing and singing “We are the Titans”. This
scene demonstrated conformity
ii. Despite several dissimilarities, Gerry’s girlfriend as well as his mother conformed
when it comes to the prejudice about coloured individuals.
iii.
4. List 2 examples of when a character was defiant (open resistance; bold
disobedience)
i. Louie Lastik, being overweight sat on the black table during the lunch for a few days
of the camp. As a result of this, he was labelled deviant by both coloured as well as
non coloured players.
ii. The act of Gerry to celebrate their win with his coloured teammates is also a sign of
deviance.
5. Did the football team overcome their struggles? Explain.
Remember the Titans can be considered as a great example of movie that deals with
overcoming adversity. The movie initiates with a black coach, replacing a white coach in
rural Virginia, which was white dominated at the time (Cranmer and Harris 2015). While a
lot of prejudices and aggression was faced by the team members, as the movie went on an
effective bond got developed between the team members. The film effectively depicted how
effective bond between him and his black team mate Julius got developed. The team depicted

3SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
in the film had come from poor hatred to pure brotherhood. In the climax of the movie, when
the team sung good bye in Gerry’s funeral, it truly demonstrated the closeness of the team.

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Reference List
Cranmer, G.A. and Harris, T.M., 2015. “White-side, strong-side”: A critical examination of race
and leadership in Remember the Titans. Howard Journal of Communications, 26(2), pp.153-171.
McMillan, J.M., 2017. Film Analysis: Remember the Titans. Angelo State University Social
Sciences Research Journal, 4(1).