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hbk_rudy
Reviews
Go Tigers! (2001)
Football is the new everything
Frightening and very consistently tense documentary about a town's cult like obsession of a team and football above everything else where it doesn't matter what kind of kid you are if you aren't a kid who plays football. The town literally breeds kids for football and kids not playing football talk about leaving the town because they haven't been successfully bred to create football. The pressure on these kids is tremendous, which inevitably means the team is inflicted by sexual assault charges and injuries that could break them psychologically. The fusion of religion and sports is a tremendously jarring visual as parents and teams pray and cry if teams fail. Watching kids close their eyes and pray with tremendous apparent intensity before the game reminds one of "Jesus Camp" except Christianity is replaced by football. The visual is equally disturbing as it was in that documentary. Winning the game is so far beyond in importance to the kids. Football replaces not only religion, but many kids talk about finding a new family. Football literally replaces education as star players are held back to remain eligible to be in the team. As the movie progresses it become darker and more apparent that the town needs a sea change in priority. Excellent documentary, although it might have had a stronger impact in its message if the children excluded from the cult of football had more of a say. And an even stronger impact if girls excluded from the cult of football cheer-leading had more of a say.