Remember the Titans

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‘Remember the Titans’ is a film based on the actual events of newly appointed African-American coach Herman Boone, his assistant coach Bill Yoast and their high school team ‘the Titans’ during their first season as a racially integrated team. These events took place in Alexandria, Virginia during1971. The film discussed how attitudes can develop and change with time and also how negative attitudes can be formed or diminished. The tri-component model of attitudes is a theory of which states that all attitudes consist of three interrelated components, these being the affective (feelings), behavioural (actions) and cognitive (beliefs) components. These three components work together to construct both positive and negative attitudes and also change existing attitudes. For example; at the beginning of the film there was no racial mixing – the blacks and whites were completely separate until the merger of the two schools. In consequence of the merger the African American students and their families were subject to protests, discrimination and snide comments such as “your people” and “black animals”. This situation in particular showed the negative attitudes and superiority held/formed towards the black people, even so as the film proceeded both the white and black football players learnt to work together and gradually built friendships, therefore changing their attitudes towards each other from negative to positive. Discrimination is shown in many forms throughout this film. It is shown through prejudice, racism, stereotyping and also through the actions of civilians. Discrimination can be either positive or negative behaviour directed towards a specific group and its members. Examples of discriminative behaviour in the film include; the scene where Emma refuses to shake Julius’ therefore being disrespectful towards the black players and students. Another example of
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