One Sentence Movie Review: “Go Tigers!”
Go Tigers! (2001): "Any small town who claims that their high school football team gives them pride, should have enough pride to say 'Our team makes us proud, even when they don't win."
Notes: Friday Night Lights in Ohio. It's only watching Go Tigers! that I realized what these towns have in common. The destructive forces behind living and breathing high school football is that the team has to win. It's isn't just about a team and the town who loves them. It's about a winning team.
Pardon me for sounding all Free to Be, you and Me but if want 17 year old boys not to cheat in school, take steroids, consider their lives wasted if they don't get a state championship ring, shouldn't the message coming from all the fans and the boosters, and the dopes throwing pep rallies be "We love you the same, whether you win or loose?"
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4 Replies to “One Sentence Movie Review: “Go Tigers!””
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Many smart people feel that the “everyone gets a medal” mentality has taken over the American childhood, and that the Millennial Generation has been spoiled by the certainty of their own specialness.
That said, what made “Friday Night Lights” such a groundbreaking and controversial book was the pressure on the team and the coach. Most towns are indeed proud of their teams, win or lose, but prouder when they have a winning record. It’s only in the obsessive ones like Odessa that the attention to high school football is book-worthy.
Many smart people feel that the “everyone gets a medal” mentality has taken over the American childhood, and that the Millennial Generation has been spoiled by the certainty of their own specialness.
That said, what made “Friday Night Lights” such a groundbreaking and controversial book was the pressure on the team and the coach. Most towns are indeed proud of their teams, win or lose, but prouder when they have a winning record. It’s only in the obsessive ones like Odessa that the attention to high school football is book-worthy.
Interesting, Seamus. I certainly don’t have a problem with rewarding excellence over lack of it. But you do wonder what sort of sad lives grown adults are leading when their sense of themselves depends so much on a bunch of 17 year olds and a game.
Interesting, Seamus. I certainly don’t have a problem with rewarding excellence over lack of it. But you do wonder what sort of sad lives grown adults are leading when their sense of themselves depends so much on a bunch of 17 year olds and a game.