Contents
Introduction
The
current analysis is a comparison of a sports related novel to the television
series that is a completely adapted version of the novel. The chosen film is Friday
Night Lights, directed by Peter Berg in 2004 and the novel is Friday
Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream” written by H. Bissinger in 1980.
Summary of the contents of the book
“Friday Night Lights: A
Town, a Team and a Dream” is a non-fiction book, published in 1990, written by H.G. Bissinger.
The book is oriented with the storyline of Permian High School’s football team
of 1988 batch, located in Odessa, Texas. The content of this book is actually
oriented with the journey of the team in winning the state championship held in
Texas. The story commences with the description of the period, just prior to
the football championship. Interior scenario of the story shows a portrayal of
the each and every player of the team who have won the state championships
earlier since last 29 years. They dangle in a celebrating mood in a picture
frame which again resembles the picture of what glory signifies.
The field
house as stated in the book is actually denoted as a cultural landmark. The
township of Odessa, Texas was developed in 1880s with few individuals belonging
to Zanesville, Ohio. These individuals had the aspiration of transforming
Odessa into a destination that is attributable to electric trolley cars. On
this note, Odessa began to become an oil town that was subjected to growth as
well as exploitations. Moreover, football was considered as one of the wealth
amenities for Odessa and this led the team to aspire for victory in the state
championships.
During
the 5A playoff semi-finals, Permian confronts with Dallas Carter, one of the
most the then predominant black teams in football. Panthers were defeated at
14-9. Carter however led by Miami
Hurricances and New York Giants Jessie Armstead had then taken the decision
of taking participation in the state championship. But fortune took the team to
such an end where they encountered severe penalties for their grades tampering,
offering the state championship to Judson High School since last 3 years. This book particularly describes how the
coach of the aforesaid team replaces old players with new junior bloods for the
coming sessions. Permian however went and remained unbeatable in the
consecutive years, and this was only because of future NFL players Stoney Case as quarterback and this made the
team win the 1989 Texas state football championship. This particular segment
deals with the clear elaboration of the following chapters of the book as
follows – The Watermelon Feed, Boobie,
Dreaming of Heroes, Black and Whites, Ambivalence of Ivory, School days, East
versus West, Friday Night Politics, Boobie Who, Sisters, Civil War, Heads or
Tails , Friday Night Addiction, the Algebraic equation and Field of dreams
.
Some of
the most important themes of the book depicts about racism, misplaced educational precedence in the school, the then
contemporary economy and the football, delusion of grandeur, defeat of girls,
discussion about the political situation and the socio-cultural aspects and a
clear identification of the male stereotype in Odessa, Texas. All these
themes together have put forward how dedicated the team was towards the sports
– football. The author has begun to write this book with the attempt of describing
how high school football teams play football within the American society,
especially in the rural areas or outskirts of the townships.
The whole
story was based upon how Permian Panthers
made the usage of their winning records in Texas’s 4As and 5As in the past.
Permian Panthers had been winning the state championships consecutively in 1965,
1972, 1980 and 1984. However the state championship of 1989 was also won by
Permian Panthers. This story is a real life story that was based on the plot
how the author tried to relocate himself and understand the attempts made by
Permian Panthers, their families, their coaches and the efforts made by the
population of Odessa to drive the football-mad culture in the outskirts of
Texas.
Some of
the plot characters in the story were – James
“Boobie” Miles, Mike Winchell, Brian Chavez, Ivory Christian, Don Billingsley,
Jerrod McDougal and Gary Gaines. This particular story deals with a
description about how school sports are held in rural areas of the developed
countries –America. The epilogue of this book ended up with the description of
how the lives of the football players adapted the cultures existing in the base
of Odessa. However, later this book was tailored and adapted for a television
series or a film. The author has portrayed the predominance of black Carter
fans and the players as explicitly annoyed and racially prejudiced.
The
author in order to publish this book had undergone a thematic analysis whereby
he chose to gather real life data. Since this book is a non-fictional book,
Bissinger relocated with his Odessa and had spent the entire football session
in 1988 with the Permian Panther players for understanding the families, their
coaches and explaining the football mad culture of people residing in the outskirts
of Texas, America. However, the book was absolutely based on his own
realizations perceived from the real life scenario at the time when he got
relocated to Odessa. Bissinger has also referred to the fact that racism cuts
both ways. He has spoken about the
economic and the cultural diversities found among the people residing in
outskirts like as Odessa.
Information
about the education system existing in Odessa that hit the oil based economy
was also gathered by collecting raw data about the family structure of people, educational
priorities and communal stability. How football has became the day-night
partner of Odessa in lifting the overall economy of Odessa was explained and
addressed through adequate knowledge and real life data gathered from the
depressed economy of Odessa. It is not that the author has relied upon any
secondary data. But he completely based his findings upon the facets of
American cultural, educational and political referendum. Bissinger has also represented a world where boys in a particular team
are treated as men out of hegemonic masculinity (Bissinger, 2015).
The book also portrays an inflexible delusion of male invulnerability
whereby they are able to develop a sense of empathy and self awareness. The
storyline of the book is thus completely based on pragmatic and practical
instances that economy, culture and political bias have contributed in the
lives of the people residing in Odessa, Texas.
Analysis and evaluation of the book and
film
Strengths
The book “Friday
Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream” is so far acknowledged as one
of the bestsellers. This book is excellent since the book represents an
elaboration of a wide range of matured themes from which readers can get an
idea about the issues and challenges faced by the American people. The book
shows how racism disappeared through football. This bestseller book is actually
the portrayal of sports which brings an end to the racism. This particular
segment embraces upon a clear evaluation of key strengths like – what message
the author has actually tried to pass on to the mass and weaknesses – what messages
and information, he could not depict to the mass from the storyline of the
book, i.e. the worst part of the book that could not satisfy wants and needs of
the readers. This particular segment of depicts the strengths and weaknesses in
an evaluated manner.
Strengths
·
The storyline catches the
interests of the readers
·
The writing is one of the
strength
·
Plotted characters
·
Bissinger has depicted the
sociological, economic , political and cultural aspects
·
He has tried to put forward the
mislaid instructive priorities
·
The author has tried to
identify the realm of athletes and sports personalities as persons and value
their dreams and hard-earned struggles
·
The book is all about a
thorough analysis of the subculture of athletes
·
Some facts that attracted the
mass were – undermined educational priorities, violation of rules for the
footballers, coaching tactics and discipline at the ground
·
The book was developed with a
social commentary
Weaknesses
·
Failure to win the state
championship would have uncovered inadequately high levels of criticisms from
the readers
·
The book somehow violated the
amateur rules
·
The book also tells about
minimal concern being shown by the high school football coach towards the
students. Often this instance has been criticized by the readers as the coach
was addressed to be bad
·
The concepts of racism and
masculinity have weakened the preferences of the readers to have an overview
about the book
·
There was direct influence of
Latino community on the realizations made by the author
·
The book actually was graded as
boring by some readers
·
Due to the negative responses,
one of the book stores in Odessa cancelled the signature made by the author
Evaluation of the arguments and interpretations
in the book
The
concept of this book actually opines how and what actually makes the high
school football team players to lit up their hopes and dreams to prefer the
football game even when Odessa is attributed with the cultural flaws and social
hardships. The book is more of a realistic and journalistic report that is
based upon the lifestyles and the socio-cultural backgrounds of people residing
in Odessa and the author has spent a year in Permian Panthers who qualified for
the football sessions of 1988. Bissinger has also tried to focus on 6 players
along with their sentiments and emotions (agonies and victory) that they
continuously experience while their stay in the town, that was actually not a
football-mad town. The town actually is attributable to racism and witnesses
economic challenges since the effects of oil businesses on the lifestyles of
the people residing in the outskirts of rural areas. These people are having
both best and worst opinions and experiences since the psychology has worked
that the place was not just Odessa, Texas but it was America, one of the
developed countries of the world. The book finally reaches the climax where
Carter High School Cowboys are defeated by the Permian Panthers in the
semi-finals at the state championships. The game however ends up with the dream
and crafts in each boy who has witnessed
if the sentiments of “what if?” that consumes them even ten years later.
Arguments
have also put forward the fact there are several implications allude to critical remarks of race integration at Permian
which has pointed out a question – are the high school football games only
codes and indications of long-simmering racial violence and hostility? The
negative and adverse reactions made to the final tournament situations were
aggravated by the book and according to the reviews it is prominent that many
people belonging to Odessa bought this book, based on the reactions varying
between the mild resentments and annoyance to the intimidations of physical
violence aimed at H. Bissinger. The book also comprises of football as well as
conservative politics especially witnessed and experienced among the existing
high schools located in Odessa. Therefore the book is a blend of sports,
cultural & political bias, and likelihood of the high school players to go
and connect with the town schools to apprehend their dreams.
Quality of the book
Quality
of the book is excellent and breathtaking. Boobie is the leading character of
the book since his life is passing through constant struggle and difficulties
and Bissinger has tried to put up and enumerate the struggles and his
sufferings. Friday Night Lights is plotted in Odessa during 80s which instead
has become of the characters of the book. The book explains about a high school
team and the coaches of Permian Panthers along with failures and success. The
book provides the readers and the critiques with an implausible view of the
roles and responsibilities that athletic sports or especially football play in
the society, specifically in backward societies along with the best and worst
parts of athletic sports in developing the culture and economy of any rural
area, Odessa during the 1980s.
Furthermore
the book also expressed the outlook of the educational systems existing in high
schools and how football can improve and retrench the willingness of the
players towards the game. Literally, the book is not just only about football
but is all about the essence of football in the community, especially backward
society. The script is just heaving with
energy with life. H. Bissinger expresses his appreciation towards the
society and gets overwhelmed when he writes about the students who take part in
the state championships in Odessa. He has also described their way of talking,
their standard of living, their eating styles, their behaviour to the society
and preferences towards the game.
The book
has expressed how exactly Odessa dealt with inert brand of race relations
during the ‘80s. This was the onset when the people started believing that
black people are actually good in playing football, the town indeed were actually were far more compliant and accordingly
illustrated and had drawn town lines based on what demography of people lived
where the Permian Panthers could reach more black people (Bissinger, 2015). People liked and preferred this book
so much that some reviews showed that people residing in every corner Texas
have started watching the television series of Friday Night Lights. Preferences
hit the critiques that people started believing that despite of not being a
sports lover, people might get engrossed. All men, women and kids belonging to
any class, religion and race can watch the television shows since the book
exposes cultural and social contexts in which high school football were revered over the others.
Odessa
was not racially integrated since
late 1980s and the inception of the football-motivated
gerrymandering backs of Permian high school team had ignited hopes in the
minds of the people residing in Odessa. The book is highly pleasant and also
comprises several practical and relevant facts about the Texas community. How
people are mostly attracted towards football after buying and reading the book
has been explained. The writing of the book is excellent. The author has used
exaggerations, overstatements and metaphors and however has crafted a concrete
image about the school, student’s lives, the town, the team “Permian Panthers”
etc. Transforming high school players as passionate football players is
something what the author has suggested to all the kids. Football today has
become the pride for Odessa and this book has therefore represented views and
perspectives or questions about how one shall motivate himself/herself, how
shall she/he relate to others, how to value personal beliefs and others’
beliefs, the essence of rationalizing the public policies and how shall a
society be free of racism.
Comparative analysis of film version of
Friday Night Lights with the book
“Friday Night Lights: A
Town, a Team and a Dream” is the chosen book
for the study where a detailed explanation and comparison of the novel with the
movie is represented. The book is all about a small town in Texas, named as
Odessa which however only cared about football championships. The book is
written by H. Bissinger and is one of the bestsellers in Texas. Based on the
story, the film named as Friday Night
Lights is a spots fiction film directed by Peter Berg in 2004. This segment
of the analysis depicts a clear comparison of the film and the novel. Some comparisons
are depicted below.
·
In the film, Boobie Miles was
represented as one of the three captains of Permian Panthers. But in the book,
the three captains were Ivory Christian, Mike Winchell and Brian Chavez.
·
Again, in the adapted
television series/movie, the numbers and the positions of some football players
were altered like as Boobie Miles in the
movie was #45 and he is playing tailback which according to the book is
slightly different. As per the book, Boobie
Miles is playing fullback etc. (Bissinger,
2015)
·
Charlie, father of Don
Billingsley is depicted to have won the state championship but in the book the
storyline was different like being a junior players of 1968, Permian Panthers
lost the finals which shows that Charlie’s team had lost the state championship
·
As per the novel, the
third-ranked Marshall Mavericks defeated Permian Panthers for 13 -12. But, in
the movie, Permian Panthers has beaten Marshall Bulldogs in the non-district
sessions.
·
Lastly, as per the movie the district
championship began during week 2. But in the novel, the district championship
started off from the fourth week.
Evaluation of the movie Friday Night
Lights
Friday Night
Lights is a film based on the storyline of the
bestseller novel in Texas “Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a
Dream”. The film released in 2004 and is directed by Peter Beg that
features the coach and football players in a high school football team located
in Odessa, Texas. The television series has depicted the roles and
responsibilities of a team in protecting the name of the town and the city
against the idea that the township is inconsequential and the residing
population is simply not worth mentioning. The film plots how the coach Gaines
led Permian Panthers in winning the state championship, thus proving Odessa as
the place of glory, power and significance (Bissinger, 2015). The role of Gaines was played by
Billy Bob Thornton and the movie represents Odessa as a town and the film
caught the key characters only from the novel are identified. One of the themes
of the film is based on depicting Gains as a fatherly figure for the players. The soundtrack of the film is attributable
for post rock band and explosions in
sky. Music is given by Daniel Lanois
and the film has had high positive reviews. The film also scored 70 out of 100
on Metacritic, depending on 35 reviews and is was box-office hit of 2004. The
strengths and weaknesses of the movie can be evaluated below:
Strengths
·
Excellent acting
·
Absence of any gratuitous
unnecessary scenes
·
Excellent casting
·
Remained true to the novel
Weaknesses
·
Absence of social commentary of
the novel
·
Lack of adequate history about
Odessa
·
Changes of themes and plots
·
Lack of adequate information
from the novel
Conclusion
From the above description
and evaluation, it is co-incidental that the movie differs from the real
storyline of the novel to some extent and for which the movie has been
criticized by Metacritic. The novel is better since the entire story is written
with social commentary.
a.
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