After a quick poll of my family, friends, and several random strangers, I have discovered that I am the only person in the entire world that is watching Friday Night Lights. And while it is flattering to have the resources of a billion dollar television network entirely at my disposal for a whole hour, in general, networks have not had much recent success catering strictly to the "Justin" demographic.
So my goal here is to convince my legions of readers (both of them) to start tuning into the show, turning the ratings on their ear, and legitimizing me as a media journalist and a cultural icon. Think I can't do it? Might I refer you to my blog from a couple of weeks about a little show called Heroes? Nobody had even heard about it then, and now it's the season's hottest new show. NBC & America, you're welcome.
Why wouldn't you be watching the show? It might be a problem of perception. At first glance, it's a spin off of a movie (which are never good) which in turn was the adaptation of a very depressing 15 year old bestseller about a football team in a small town. A movie, a book, and a tv show about the same characters? It's been done to death, right? Wrong.
The book, by H.G. Bissinger, was a brilliant season long chronicle of the star crossed Perriman high school football team of Odessa Texas. More importantly, it delved into the sociological effects of a football team that dominates the collective imagination of a whole town. On one hand, it serves as a unifier; for three magical hours every Friday night, rivalries, race, and every other imaginable divisive force that plagues this town are set aside. At the same time, it shows how the football team takes already scarce resources from a school system and a town that is woefully in need of money, that the members of the team are above the law, and that anyone who bothers to point out the absurdity of the situation is ignored, if not ostracized. Overall, it was a depressing book, as the ground that the characters tread is paved with past failure and disappointment. The dreams of the players are systematically crushed, and those who achieve any success are few and far between. Those of us who remember the book, and there are many, were probably not looking forward to a heaping scoop of depression every week.
The movie was a faithful representation of the book, except that it focused more on players and the game action than the sociological aspects of the narrative. The distinction is important. The players, no longer tied so closely to Bissinger's theme of "football as obsession" become much more sympathetic and compelling. The television version takes the re-imagining of Bissinger's concept and combines it with some VERY important distinctions…
The show:
First, the setting has changed – instead of 1988, the show is set in the present day. Though the team mascot is still the Panthers, the show no longer takes place in Odessa, Texas, but now takes place in the fictional town of Dylan, Texas.
The pilot episode is centered around the beginning of the school year, and first game of the Panthers new season. Longtime assistant coach Eric Taylor has taken over the Panthers football team, which, thanks to star quarterback Jason Street, is expected to cruise to the Texas state championship. Jason is loved and admired by everyone, including his cheerleader girlfriend, his teammates, and the town as a whole. The big game rolls around, and in typical clichéd football game fashion, the Panthers need to engineer a final, come from behind drive to win the game. Except that Jason Street throws an interception. And then gets hurt trying to make the tackle. Enter his jittery and unknown backup Matt Saracen, who somehow, miraculously, wins the game. Okay, fine, the pilot episode was weak, and the typical "Hollywood" ending may have turned off some viewers who were expecting something different and unique.
But some of us hung in there, and were treated to the extreme left turn taken by the show. As we found out in the second episode, Jason Street was not only knocked out of the game, but his back was broken! The character that was set up to be the star of the show would now be confined to a wheelchair! The dramatic repercussions of this event, and reactions of the characters, have shaped the season to this point.
For me, the first real shock of the season was the relatability of Matt Saracen. He is a likeable awkward teenager, thrust into the role of savior. He is overwhelmed, falters, rights himself, and falters again. The viewer can relate to him, because we were not Hollywood idol superstar quarterbacks like Jason Street, but we were, for the most part, likeable, awkward teenagers too. Unlike every other rags to riches sports clich̩ story, Matt Saracen adjusts to this situation like most of us would Рit is his dream come true, but he knows (and we know) that he just might not be up to the task. Unlike the movie, the medium of episodic television allows us to watch how success, failure, and sudden relative fame affect him over time. We wonder if success will change him, and we watch as he wonders the same thing.
The other shock was Jason Street himself. Even though most of the pilot episode centered around him, after his injury, I half expected his character to be delegated to a lingering subplot. But as we watched his struggles to regain the use of his hands, and his struggles to keep some kind of grasp on the life that he knew, we realize something important: that Jason Street is a very strong character. He is far too formidable to by "only" the quarterback of a high school football team, or even to be the prince of a town that reveres him. From a dramatic standpoint, he needs a challenge that his much more worthy of the force of his personality. The contrast with the other characters is striking; it is apparent that Jason Street will bear his burden more capably than the other characters, even Matt Saracen, will bear theirs.
After reading all of this, you might say, well, that's great Justin, but I just don't like football! Well, my friend, let me tell you a little secret about FNL, which somehow needs to be conveyed to the viewing public:
IT'S NOT REALLY ABOUT FOOTBALL!!!
And here's another secret - in the context of the show:
FOOTBALL IS A METAPHOR!!!!
What is it a metaphor of, you may ask? It represents so many different things on this show – overcoming adversity, growth, learning, that a group of individuals can come together for a common goal and be better for it. It is a microcosm of that shared experience that we have all undergone – high school. Somehow, it reminds us of what we were, and how we became what we are now, and perhaps that realization is too painful for some of us.
Watch this show. It's not like I've ever steered you wrong before, have I?
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