Fitting into the Historical Moment

Although it was not as apparent as in the 1960s and 70s, racism was still an issue at the turn of the 21^st century when Remember the Titans (2000) was made.  In an article from the Los Angeles Times, Gregory Allen Howard (the writer of the Titans screenplay) says that he moved to the town of Alexandria, Virginia to try and get away from the stress and racial tension of Los Angeles (Howard).  Alexandria was recommended to him by relatives who lived there and praised the town for being “well-integrated” (Howard).  Howard wrote the screenplay and was turned down by nearly every producer in Hollywood, claiming that no one would want to see another emotional, inspirational movie like Remember the Titans (Dretzka).  In another article from the Chicago Tribune, as a response to the denial of his sappy, inspirational movie, Howard is reported as saying that his intention was not to fight racism but to fight cynicism (Dretzka).  This comment helps to place Titans within the historical moment; around the turn of the century, people had become somewhat complacent when it came to the issue of racism because it was not as apparent as it was in the decades before, but Remember the Titans effectively got people thinking and talking about racism by reminding them that racism didn’t disappear with the end of the Civil Rights movement and that peaceful coexistence of different races requires effort to maintain.