Football movies are wildly popular in America. Often based on true stories, moviegoers love good films such as “The Blind Side”, “Remember the Titans”, and “Rudy.”  Encapsulated by the struggles of the protagonists, viewers laugh and cry with the ups and downs of the movies, from the joy of playing for Notre Dame to the distress of having a teammate crippled in a car crash.

Films about America’s most popular sport have long inspired young players and fans to work hard and achieve their dreams. It is always nice to learn a lesson of perseverance and hard work from a feel good film.

From “Remember the Titans” to “Rudy” and everything in between, nothing beats that feel-good story about an individual or team overcoming adversity, especially when said story is based on true events. However, is it too easy for filmmakers to exploit an audience’s love for a good success story with frustratingly repetitive storylines and incredibly cliché endings?

Though football films are widely regarded as positive experiences and quality movies, highly repetitive plotlines and predictable conclusions have crippled the effectiveness of the movies themselves.

Most football movies seem to begin with a seemingly hopeless situation. An (Individual/Team) isn’t performing well or is facing a challenge. Said (Individual/Team) overcomes challenge, and then faces another problem. (Individual/Team) wants to quit, but then, upon hearing an inspirational speech in the form of a coach or mentor, decides not to quit and keeps fighting. In the end, success is always won through hard work and perseverance.

Football movies today, though moving at times, have gone in the same direction for too long. The lesson of hard work and overcoming adversity is an important one and should not be overlooked. However, the most popular sport in America has more lessons to offer than simply overcoming adversity.

A general rule of thumb for football movies is that the protagonist always wins in the end by overcoming adversity. Victory is won and everybody walks away happy. However, real life does not always work like that and filmmakers should reflect that in their movies. In a cinema world where all of the characters leave happy and victorious, the predictability of the movies ends up lessening the impact on the viewer.

It is time for filmmakers to branch out and use football movies as a tool to teach new morals and lessons. There’s more to life than winning and losing, and most football movies fail to convey that message. However, there are exceptions, and these exceptions end up delivering powerful messages to the viewers.

Most would agree that the field of football cinematography is good. However, movies about football have the potential to be so much more than they currently are. If filmmakers did away with cliché plotlines and lessons, football movies could achieve their true potential.