Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights is a great show. It does not have the very clean-cut camera work like other successful drama series. It has more of a in-your-face documentary style of filmmaking. I think there is a level of honesty that not many other television shows have been able to portray. I think this rawness is what makes the show so great to watch. At least in the first season that is or when it doesn’t involve murder or a meth dealer obsessed with ferrets.

As you watch the show you feel like a part of the town and the football team. You connect with the characters, cry with them, laugh with them. It is like you are actually a part of their story.

The soundtrack will always be one of my favorites. I will always associate Explosions in the Sky with Friday Night Lights. There are such great instrumental songs played throughout the series at exactly the right time. The songs really emphasize the emotions of the show.  The most memorable song is the opening sequence theme song "Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky.

The Friday Night Lights opening sequence is also amazing.  The compositions of the shots are put together in a very cool way. There are multiple shots dissolving into each other slowly so at one point you see them at the same time. I would post a video of the opening credits but it seems that NBC has removed it from everywhere.

One of my favorite moments has nothing to do with football. It is a sex talk between a Tami (Connie Britton) and her daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden). A situation that is often used in television as comic relief. However, this speech is very real and emotional. Just reading the text doesn’t give the scene justice but I can’t find the clip anywhere. It can be found in season 1 episode 17:

“Don’t you smirk at me right now, I am very upset! You are not allowed to have sex! You’re 15 years old! It’s not just one body part going into another body part, and the fact that you think that it’s just one body part going into another body part makes me real clear on the fact that you really are not ready for this. And I need you to be able to hear that. I need you to be able to hear me say that to you. Let me tell you what the big deal is. Let me tell you what can happen. What can happen is that you can be hurt. And you can be degraded. And you can become hard and you can become cynical and I don’t want that to happen to you. This is something that’s special. It’s something that’s meant for people who are in love. And you can wait. I want you to be able to talk to me about it."  -Tami Taylor

Most of the time when you think of Friday Night Lights you think football but it’s much more than that. It’s about love, it’s about life, it’s about loss, and it’s about breaking free of the circumstances one is born into. It’s a fantastic show. I hope everyone who hasn't seen it will watch at least the pilot and then hopefully the first season. 

Friday Night Lights and the Benefits of Binge-Watching

Over the Summer, my family decided to take a huge leap into the 21st century and not only buy a new TV to replace our 20+ year-old model, but to also spend an extra $8 per month on Netflix's streaming service. This opened up a world of possibilities; my dad could watch old episodes of Star Trek, my mom could finally catch up on Mad Men, and I had three whole months to binge-watch to my heart's content.

After re-watching Breaking Bad, I decided to take what I thought would be a brief detour to the world of Friday Night Lights. I quickly discovered, however, that the town of Dillon, Texas had a certain magical quality about it, and I soon found myself falling deeper and deeper under its spell. All of the notions that I had about the show - that it would be a conservative, cliched story about a football team vying for an ever elusive spot at the Texas State High School football championship game - were thrown out the window after the first episode. (SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD)

Is it cliche at times? Certainly. But the fact that the Dillon Panthers end up winning the State title is in no way reflective of the show as a whole. In the pilot episode, all star, pretty boy quarterback Jason Street, who was predicted to lead the team to victory and maybe one day even play in the NFL, is paralyzed and told that he will never walk again. Throughout the show, characters are hurt, cheated on, lied to, and forced to deal with the hardships that come with being in high school, a football program, or any kind of relationship. It can be dark, and not everyone has a happy ending.

But through all the soapy drama and football action alike, there is one constant: Coach Eric Taylor. Played with a steel jawed, sparkling-eyed confidence by the incredible Kyle Chandler (who won the Emmy for best actor in a drama series for his performance in FNL's fifth and final season), Coach Taylor is everything that this show stands for. He is a symbol of hope for those who have none, and commands attention whenever he is on screen. Youtube videos can't do him justice, but for what it's worth, here's a highlight reel.

So I'll admit it: Friday Night Lights got me hooked. I watched the whole series, all five seasons, in just under two months. Now, this may not be binge-watching in the truest sense of the word (I've known people who have plowed through the show in a matter of weeks) but I still watched it much quicker than the creators ever intended it to be watched. Some people claim that this ruins the integrity of the show by not allowing you to connect to the characters as much as you should be and by also helping to promote the "gotta have it all right now" attitude that our generation tends to live by. Hell, Jim Pagels, a columnist for Slate.com, wrote a very convincing argument against binge watching. Read it here.

Maybe it's just my college student mentality, but I have to strongly disagree. Not only are sites like Netflix and Hulu Plus a resource for television students like myself, but they offer a TV watching experience that is 100% tailored to the viewer. If I wanted to watch three episodes of FNL back to back to back, there was nothing (besides my job) that could stop me from doing so. On the flip side, if I was busy for a few days straight and not able to watch an episode, I didn't have to worry about missing anything, since I knew that whenever I got back, Tim Riggins and Matt Saracen and all of my other favorite Dillon Panthers would be there, waiting for my return.

Which brings me to another point; all of the TV characters that I've felt closest to, that have connected with me on a deeply personal level, have come from shows that I've binge-watched. Whether it be Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad or the more recent Coach Taylor, these characters have all left their mark on me. It's not that I now find watching shows on a week to week basis to be boring: it's that I have had the experience of truly immersing myself into a world for two month's time that it's now hard to be torn in and out of that world once per week. The times are changing, and TV is learning to change with it. I'm just along for the ride.

I just finished Friday Night Lights, and after I choked back my manly tears, I got the feeling that you get when you finish a really great book and realize that everything is over; that there's no more story to tell. But with the recent news that Connie Britton (Mrs. Taylor) has a copy of a script for a potential FNL movie, the Dillon dream may live on after all. That sounds like pretty great news to me: any chance to hear Coach give one more goosebump-inducing speech or see Tim Riggins wistfully look off into a Texas sunset is an opportunity that I can't miss out on. The only advice I have to give for everyone involved with the possible film?

Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't Lose.

Teen Soaps

One of the most lucrative types of programming, though viewed as one of the least sophisticated, is the teen drama. These types of shows are often written off as silly or overdramatic, and some of them are. However, I don't think that a show should be written off just for this factor alone. I've seen some teen soaps that are god awful, but I've seen some that are excellent - great acting, aesthetics, and writing included. Here are three examples:
 Freaks & Geeks
Freaks & Geeks is one of the only teen shows that actually stars people who look like they're in high school instead of twenty-year-olds. The show deals with drinking and drug-use in probably the most realistic way I've ever seen - they don't have fifteen-year-olds drinking at high class lounges (like in Gossip Girl) and they don't have an after-school special lecture at the end either (7th heaven). The drama and emotions are authentic and real, and its also really funny -- not mention it is produced by the now famous Judd Apatow and stars some of today's biggest stars prior to their major break out!

My So-Called Life
This is another show that portrays teen drama in a realistic way. The acting on this show is pretty solid, considering Claire Danes (currently starring in in the new critic fave Homeland) is the lead. This show was one of the first to feature an openly gay teen character. Mostly, it captures the real tension between parents and their teen children without being over-the-top or overdramatic.

Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights, though only about a small-town and its high school football team, is one of the most impactful and poignant TV shows featuring teens of recent times. This show has fully-developed and well-written characters that I think truly carry the show. Completely worth your time.

Words of Wisdom.

As mentioned earlier in the year, I love to watch sport movies because they can be inspiring to a lot of audiences especially to the minds of younger adolescents. What makes the sport movie worthwhile besides the adrenaline of the action is the quotes that come from the movie that are inspirational besides just being plain AWSOME. Inspirational quotes from sport movies give the movie that extra boost in what inspires kids and could teach them moral values.Here are some quotes that I love to hear when I watch sport movies...

1. "Heroes get remembered, legends never die"- Art LaFleur as Babe Ruth in The Sandlot.

This was a great movie watching as kid that followed nine boys who played baseball on their old beat up looking sandlot field. It was a summer film and these kids did nothing but play baseball all summer long. However, when a ball signed by Babe Ruth is hit over the fence of a neighbor with a supposedly killer dog their summer of baseball turns into a thriller as they do everything in their power to get the ball back. When all seems lost, the leader of the group, Ben Rodriquez, has a dream that Babe Ruth visits him and tells him to jump over the fence to retrieve the ball and says this quote that inspires him to do just that.

2. Death Crawl from "Facing the Giants"

I couldn't come up with the words to describe this scene, but when you watch this scene you can very well be inspired as I was. This is the story of Grant Taylor who is going through a tough time in the community. Not succeeding at being the greatest coach, the parents and student are through with his coaching and want him replaced. He is struggling financially, and him and his wife are struggling to have a kid. In this particular scene he teaches his players especially his captain the importance of giving all you got and not giving up until you can go as far as you can go. There is no telling how far you will go, but give everything your best and hardest and don't quit.

3. Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gaines halftime speech in "Friday Night Lights"

I love this scene from Friday Night Lights because it can describe a moment from experiences I had on the field playing football in high school. When our team made it to the semi-finals in the state tournament, we were losing pretty bad at halftime and we came away losing 66-8. We played a rough but great team, but at halftime our coach told us almost exactly what Billy Bob Thornton told his players in this scene. From our coach he said "Being perfect is not what we accomplished this year, it's how you all can look into your teammates eyes and tell each and everyone of them that you did your best and didn't let them down. Being perfect is how we accomplished where we came this year by playing as a team, a family."

4. Denzel Washington as Coach Boone in "Remember the Titans"

Save the best for last I always say. Probably my favorite sports movie of all time and my favorite inspirational speech of all time comes from Denzel Washington as Coach Boone in Remember the Titans. Throughout the beginning there was problems with the team as African Americans joined the once all White titans team. There was much discrimination and fighting in the movie until Coach Boone takes them on a run to the site of the Battle of Gettysburg and makes his famous speech about coming together and playing as one. My most favorite line in the history of motivational speeches as to be when he says "If we don't come together, right now on this hollow ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were. I don't care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other and maybe...I don't know maybe we'll learn to play this game like men." I can't tell you how much this movie amazes me every time I watch it how they overcame their differences and learned how to play together.

Football Football Football

My life completely revolves around football. I have played football since I was 7 years old and I haven't stopped since. My Dad coaches for Assumption College, my Uncle coaches for Wagner University, and I play football here at Ithaca. Every time my family gets together for the holiday's it pretty much all we talk about. I love the game and what is has taught me. On the eve of our sixth game of the season, I decided to pop in one of my favorite football films, Friday Night Lights. This got me and my roommates in a debate over our top three football movies of all time. After a long discussion I finally came up with my list.

1.) Friday Nights Lights  is my number one football movie. The Texas football scene is the perfect setting for a football movie. Billy Bob Thornton fits the role of Coach Gary Gaines perfectly. This movie depicts the life of a high school football player in an environment that loves it's local team. My favorite character in this classic film is Don Billingsley played by Garret Hedlund. Billingsley is the teams fullback and is a typical football meat head. He loves football, beer, and girls. Everything else in his life pretty much goes to the wayside. The group of characters in this movie are what makes it so relatable to football players like myself. This is the reason why FNL is number one on my list.

2.) Coming at number two, directed by Oliver Stone, is Any Given Sunday. Any Given Sunday takes a look at football at the professional level. Al Pacino is the lead actor and plays the role of coach. In one of my favorite sports movie moments, Pacino delivers the goods in an epic speech during halftime of a pivotal game. The movie takes a look at athletes with money and what they chose to do with that money. Also, the movie goes into the business aspect of professional sports which is interesting to look at. Any Given Sunday is great for the drama of what it means to be on a professional sports team. My favorite character is "Steamin'" Willie Beamen. The third string QB who is forced to start after array or injuries turns in the star who you can't help to root for. That is why Any Given Sunday comes in at number two on my list.

3.) The Disney film, Remember the Titans comes in at number three at my list. The cast is lead by Denzel Washington who plays Coach Boone. Coach Boone has just taken over at a high school which has just been racially integrated. Boone challenges the team throughout the movie to become one team. Throughout many hardships the Titans starts to realize that they can't win if they don't accept each others differences As the racial barrier is divided the wins starts to pile up in this heart warming story. That is why this movie comes in at number three on my list.

Honorable Mentions: The Program, Rudy