Remember the Titans – Full Movie Review

According to Leitão (apud NOCE, 2002, p. 221), “the concept of leadership is related to that of personality, in which the leader is defined as the individual who has the greatest number of desirable traits of personality and character.”

Coach Boone (black) when joining the team decides to hold a concentration with the players (white and black) throughout the concentration it is clear to observe the lack of cohesion in the group, but Boone forces that all athletes know more about each other. The attitude of coach Herman Boones, of getting tough with the players in the concentration, made both of them begin to accept the difference between whites and blacks, based on coercion that is based on fear, because when he tells the players that if they don’t know everything about their roommate’s life, they will have to train 4 times a day.

Thus, the players began to understand each other and thus better accept the coordinates given by Herman, showing that a black man can indeed be a coach and lead a football team just like a white man. We can then say that the leader’s affective relationships with the group have been understood as being of great effect in favorable situations. Since he is a respected and well-liked leader, he can obtain the group’s consent to his decisions, without the exercise of power, and can therefore act more decisively with more confidence than the leader who is disliked or rejected by group members. (as it happened in the beginning, when he was chosen to be coach).

Gerry and Julius have a very important leadership role in the formation of the team, they managed a series of intra-group conflicts, trying to influence their colleagues to not only accept the new coach but to form a new team. It is observed that in this team, the cohesion between the members was much more important for the result than the individual performance of each athlete. The external resistance experienced (community, friends, family) served as a reinforcer for the members, better demarcating the differences between their team and the others, strengthening the group identity.

According to Noce (2002) motivation is one of the most interesting and complex components in the leadership process. It is the subjective component of the action. The individual may have numerous skills that enable him to perform tasks, but motivation will determine the degree of involvement and, often, the quality with which the task will be accomplished. It is a decisive element in the leadership process, and can be understood as the “drive unit” of behavior.

We can say that one of the motivations was what all the players went through in the concentration, unity and equality between blacks and whites, and when they return to the city, they realize that it is different from what they learned there, prejudice still reigned and was harming the union of the group. For this they come together as a team, regardless of race, but the group cohesion, the unit they formed. So much so that when the members get together to talk about it and soon after they end up inventing the dance before starting the game, which says: “Everywhere we go, people want to know who we are and we say: We are the Titans, the mighty Titans ”.

Because Boone was very authoritarian, as he never let anyone participate in the discussion and setting goals. Just like Noce (2002, p.231) “The authoritarian leader has absolute power and absorbs entirely the group’s initiative, polarizing, in his person, both the capacity to plan, decide and control all the actions of the followers”.

Therefore, Boone used the strategy of external pressure to the group, because, depending on the situation, if there was more interaction, the feelings would be more positive and, thus, he would have the desired standard behavior. An example is when a player asks him for water, and he says that water is for the weak. In a strategic view, he wanted to make them strong, not complaining about being thirsty, but playing with all the strength and intrinsic motivation they had. If a player suffers from this in training, in the game it would be easier for him to play without complaining regardless of his needs.

All this hard line made by the coach towards the players during the entire film, may be related to the instruction and training behavior, where the coach’s behavior should be aimed at improving the athletes’ performance with an emphasis on hard and demanding training. Instructing athletes in the practices, techniques and tactics of the modality, explaining the relationship between group members, structuring and coordinating their activities. Making the players realize that they are capable of winning the championship.

The coach can be considered a good coach, as he adapts quickly to the group, the demands, the tasks (technical-tactical), situations, and behaves in a flexible and variable way, knowing when to be authoritarian or democratic. In training and competition there are often personal conflicts between athletes or between coaches and athletes. The trainer must have a good sensitivity to perceive social conflicts and develop the capacity to analyze and solve them. A good coach must have the ability to quickly analyze complex situations (especially in games), anticipate problems and social conflicts, decide and react quickly in an appropriate way. For this reason the trainer must participate in perception, anticipation and communication training programs. The coach must provide social support to the athletes, develop good interpersonal relationships with them and create a positive emotional climate. The relationship between coach and athlete must be one of mutual trust. All these processes and behaviors can be seen in different moments of the film.

But that’s not enough. The leader must recognize the need and be empathetic, just like assistant coach Yoast. A good leader is one who knows how to apply problem-solving techniques. That is, when Yoast agrees with the decision of a player to give his place to another who was better than him, so that they can win the game. The ability to perceive a problem situation and solve it are essential characteristics of good leaders.

Want more movie tips? Veja – Psicologia e Cinema – 215 Films for those who love psychology

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

SAMULSKI, DM Sport psychology. 1 ed. Publisher Manole, 2002.

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