The Movie Friday Night Lights

In honor of Ithaca College’s last regular season game of 2013 I have decided to post about a football movie. I chose the movie Friday Night Lights because I love the stories told with each character. It is very authentic and real.  The movie takes place in West Texas in a town called Odessa. 

High school football is above all in the town. It is more important than money, church, or sex. It is everything. It holds the social order together and gives people a sense of meaning and belonging. The football players of Permian High are told to protect the town, which is a very important job for a bunch of male teenagers.

I like the storylines because each character has a different personal story that is brought together by the game of football. Boobie Miles is the star running back who puts all his hopes and dreams into football stardom which is eventually broken by an injury. Don Billingsley isn’t the best football player. He has an abusive father who once played for the team and won the state championship. Mike Winchell is driven by desire to leave the small town of Odessa.

The reason I love the movie as a whole is because of the ending. The ending is uplifting but also sad. It is one of the most honest high school sports movies I have ever seen. The team ends up losing the state championship by a few feet. It is not a happy ending, it is a real ending and I love that. Since it based off real-life members of the 1988 team, we are told where each player ended up. The players, heroes and superstars in high school, grew up to be construction salesmen, and land surveyors.

I just love movies that don’t always have happy endings or fairytale stories. I love sincerity.