Remember the Titans is a year 2000 movie, directed by Boaz Yakin based on a story about racial integration in college sports. The Blind Side is a 2009 movie , directed by John Lee Hancock revolving around how a black boy from a poor family and limited opportunities ended up playing college football at the prestigious University of Mississippi. Finally, The Help is a 2011 movie directed by Tate Taylor relating to the plight of African American maids working for white families in the days of de facto and de jure racial segregation. The pain and suffering caused by lack of social justice are among the common themes that I noticed within all three movies. Further, an element of social stereotyping is also common even within the racial divide. To this extent, I perceived several similarities in the two movies. However, the movies also vary in approach, substance, content, and outcomes. Three different storylines being told about social injustice in America, all based on an element of truth reflects the adverse nature of social justice in the modern world.
Comparison of the Three Thematic Outputs
As is carefully watched the three movies, storylines seemed to focus on a journey to success against strong odds, which are based mainly on the absence of social justice. In two of the movies, Remember the Titans and the Help, the social justice element is based on racial discrimination. The primary difference between racial discrimination in the two movies is the setting. The Help is based on the period just before 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was passed. As the movie is set in the Deep Southern State of Mississippi, the setting falls within the Jim Crow era where racial segregation was guaranteed by law. The main characters in the movie, who are maids in white family homes have to endure extremities of segregation, including using separate bathrooms situated outside the house even in bad weather.
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Remember the Titans is based in 1971, several years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. It was clear to me that so much racial tension and discrimination still exists as a reflection that the de jure end of racial discrimination did not bring an end to De facto racial discrimination. Finally, the Blind Side focuses on yet another form of social injustice relating to the great differences between the rich and the poor in the USA and to some extent racial discrimination. I identified the story of Michael Oher’s exponential success in football as reflective of how many poor children lose chances for success purely because their parents are poor. As per the story, it is only because of a chance interaction between Michael and the relatively wealthy and white family that Michael eventually gets the chance to succeed. I discerned in the three movies that racial and class discrimination denies many capable Americans the chance to reach their full potential.
Stereotypical Expressions and Contradictions
Social injustice is mainly based on stereotypes and the same is prominent in the three movies. In Remember the Titans, I noted that black players are looked down upon by the white community simply because of the color of their skin. However, the general stereotype is contradicted by the character of several white individuals who go out of their way to fight for the black students. Similarly, in the Blind Side, Leigh Tuohy is warned that she is putting her daughter Sean in danger by accommodating Michael who is black and from a poor family. The Touhy’s stand their ground and support Michael. Finally, in the Help, the black domestic workers are treated very unfairly, even getting fired for minor offenses such as using the guestroom bathroom during a storm when it was unsafe to use the outside bathroom which I found to very unfair. Within the same film, however, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan who is white stands up for the rights of the colored workers, a contradiction to the general stereotype.
Plot Structures
I found that the plot structures in the three movies are similar to the extent of almost seeming redundant. The movies begin with introducing the problem. For Remember the Titans the problem is racial discrimination in a desegregated school. In the Helps the problem is racial discrimination against colored workers and in the Blind Spot, the problem is poverty and its implications for children. It is at the point of introducing the problem that the respective main characters are also introduced. The movies then move to the second segment where each of the main characters struggles with the respective problem with a little help from empathetic individuals. It is in this second segment where a lot of resistance to the success of the main characters is reflected. The movies end with the last segment where the underdogs seem to thrive in spite of the odds stacked against them. Although the narratives and characters differ exponentially in all three movies, I could discern a very similar storyline structure. Further, all three movies have a linear timeline centered upon a singular main character and a primary narrative related to the same main character. In Remember the Titans, the main character is the black team coach Herman Boone, in the Helps it is Aibileen Clark one of the black domestic workers while in the Blind Spot it is the black football player Michael "Big Mike" Oher.
Social Context of the Films
The three movies span almost half a century yet the problem of racial discrimination dominant in the 1960s is still being shown to be dominant in the 21 st century. The Help reflects racism in the days when racial discrimination was institutionalized and acceptable under the law. Remember the Titans comes soon after in the 1970s when racial discrimination is outlawed yet still taking place. Finally, the Blind Spot is based in the modern times when America has come to be referred to as the free world, yet racism still exists. In my considered opinion, the films are based on different times but fall under the same social context.
