Analysis Of Friday Night Lights
The film Friday Night Lights (2004) is based on the real-life story of the 1988 Permian Panthers football team in Odessa, Texas. The film is a more fictionalized account of the book it’s based on, written by author H.G. Bissinger and downplays the more intense issues that plagued Odessa when Bissinger followed the team during the 1988 season. (Briley 1) The film follows Coach Gary Gaines (portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton) as he coaches the Panthers in the football obsessed town. The film portrays the societal pressures put on young athletes, especially in a town where one sport seems to be the dominating past-time. All that matters is football; academics are barely even mentioned. No matter where these athletes go, they can’t escape the pressures
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In the case of the film, this was football (as told, obviously, by the title). But, the passion for ‘Mojo’ football, as they call it, is overzealous and amped up. The characters are often shown being confronted by members of their community and always reminded about how they should go undefeated and win State. According to Frank Jing-Horng Lu, who studied the pressures and stress put on college athletes, “they face harsh and weighty demands, such as repetitive and exhausting training, frequent travels and competitions, injuries, pressures to win and avoid losses, internal competitions between teammates, media pressures, and sometimes burnout” (Lu 1). Like other football teams, the film shows the intense practices the players go through, whilst getting interviewed by the media in the middle of it. There’s a heightened sense of pressure on these players in the film that reflects on the real life pressures placed on young athletes. Coach Gaines likes to end his speeches at practices with “Can you be perfect?” While he’s one of the more empathetic adult characters in the film, this is still a question that haunts the young players. In comparison with the athletes that Lu studied, he states that they “are a unique group on campus who may face a variety of stressors and challenges compared to their non-athlete counterparts because of their social environments” (Lu 1). This rings true in Friday Night Lights because of the way that not only are these kids feeling pressures from their parents, but from their town as
In the case of the film, this was football (as told, obviously, by the title). But, the passion for ‘Mojo’ football, as they call it, is overzealous and amped up. The characters are often shown being confronted by members of their community and always reminded about how they should go undefeated and win State. According to Frank Jing-Horng Lu, who studied the pressures and stress put on college athletes, “they face harsh and weighty demands, such as repetitive and exhausting training, frequent travels and competitions, injuries, pressures to win and avoid losses, internal competitions between teammates, media pressures, and sometimes burnout” (Lu 1). Like other football teams, the film shows the intense practices the players go through, whilst getting interviewed by the media in the middle of it. There’s a heightened sense of pressure on these players in the film that reflects on the real life pressures placed on young athletes. Coach Gaines likes to end his speeches at practices with “Can you be perfect?” While he’s one of the more empathetic adult characters in the film, this is still a question that haunts the young players. In comparison with the athletes that Lu studied, he states that they “are a unique group on campus who may face a variety of stressors and challenges compared to their non-athlete counterparts because of their social environments” (Lu 1). This rings true in Friday Night Lights because of the way that not only are these kids feeling pressures from their parents, but from their town as