Remember the Titans

    Recently in our Psychology class, we viewed the memorable movie, "Remember the Titans".  The movie follows the summer football camp of a newly integrated high school and the following football season.  Viewers are taken through various episodes of angst, animosity, acceptance and triumph.  While most watch this movie for the heartwarming story of the acceptance of young blacks into an all white school of the early 1970's, my class and I watched more closely and observed the multitude of social psychology moments that come into light throughout the movie.  Though there are many, I will elaborate on five such moments. 
      In one of the beginning moments of the movie, we are introduced to the fact that T.C. Williams High School, an all white school, is experiencing integration.  As the football players of the school learn of such integration, and the replacement of their white football coach with a black man, we see an example of group polarization.  Group Polarization is the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.  As the players talk among themselves, the comments they make about the integration fuel their animosity and frustration of the situation.  With comments such as "If you leave, coach, we won't play" the team backs their prevailing views of the opposite race and integration and they feed off one an other's opinions, adding fuel to an already raging fire.
      Throughout the beginning of the movie, most of the white players take offense at the thought of playing with black players, and once they make it to camp, their attitudes don't improve.  When Julius places a poster on the wall and Gary demands he take it down, a fight arises once Julius refuses.  Both of the young men views the other as a terrible person.  Attribution theory comes into play here.  Attribution theory suggests how we explain someones behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition.  Both men contribute the other's animosity to their disposition, not the situation.  The white players tend to thing that the blacks are angry because that's their personality, not because they're frustrated because of all the change that has taken place in their lives in the recent months.  The Black players also saw the white players in the same light; they attributed their attitude to their disposition, not the situation.
      In the beginning of the of the film, both groups are seen talking about one another.  The whites saw the blacks as "no good" and the blacks saw the whites as "judgemental".  Both groups thought that they were in the right.  This is an example of In group Bias.  In group Bias is the tendency to favor one's own group as opposed to the others.  The white football players preferred their group of white men and the black football players preferred their group of black men.  Each group preferred their own, and didn't want to make time to become involved in the other.
     While the players are at football camp, Gary makes a comment to Julius that he's wasting his talent by making plays that do not benefit the entire team.  Julius, in return, comments on how Gary is failing to be a leader by rejecting help to the black football players on the team.  This is an example of a Social Trap.  A Social Trap is a situation in which conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing self-interests, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.  Because both Gary and Julius, as well as all other members of the team prefer to look out for themselves, they both mutually contribute to the corrosion of their team.
      Towards the end of football camp, and throughout the rest of the movie, the audience gets the heartwarming feeling they've been looking for. The Titans, both black and white, pull together and put their differences aside.  They experience a series of winning games and pull through as a team, even when Gary becomes paralyzed.  This is an example of The Social Exchange theory.  The Social Exchange theory is the theory that our social behavior is a exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs. The team puts their differences aside to maximize their benefits, which is the winning of football games, the gain of new friends, and a calmer environment. 
      "Remember the Titans" is a great movie to watch if you're in the mood to become inspired by the fact that two social groups can set their differences aside and come out stronger in the end.  Apparently, it is also full of many different examples of social psychology.  By watching this film, my class and I were able to point out many of these terms and recognize how they were applied throughout the film.  Also, it was quite enjoyable to watch.