Hey all,
So I, also, was going to post on friday night lights, but got beaten to it!!! The episode is on hulu if anyone is interested: http://www.hulu.com/watch/548/friday-night-lights-blinders
I think the first interesting thing about this show is that it has an African American as one of the lead characters - not in a supporting role. Being from the Midwest and from a community obsessed with football with its own share of racial tensions among athletes, I thought the way in which race tensions were portrayed were very accurate. However, I was ambivalent about the race episodes. Sorry....spoiler, but the black students give up on their football strike (they are protesting the coach's racist statements) because they realize that the state championship is more important. They give up their own idea of justice for teammates and a coach who did not support them in their struggles. I think that this is a sad message but it is a choice that many people have had to make throughout the years. My discussion question for the week is: How to sitcoms and movies about sports generally represent people of color and what are the implications of these representations? My thoughts are: While minorities are present in huge numbers in the major leagues and other sporting events, many feel-good family sports movies tend to completely ignore the presence of minorities OR they focus on teams of all minorities, ignoring the fact that most teams are integrated.