I Am Tired Of People Saying Friday Night Lights The Show Is Better Than The Movie
Last week we had two trends on twitter, #Fav7Filmes and #Fav7Shows. Like everyone else I put my list out. On that list was my favorite sports movie of all-time; “Friday Night Lights”. Naturally, people started commenting that the show is better than the movie. Our boy Pete Blackburn led the charge.
KFC and Kmarko also talked about the Show on Mailtime. Both said it was an all-time classic. Look, I love the show too. It’s great. I love Coach Taylor, Mrs Taylor, Tim Riggins, and I even love that little back-stabbing skank Lyla Garrity. This is one of those situations where there isn’t a “bad” answer, but there is most definitely a right answer. A “perfect” answer, if you will. Even though I don’t really like comparing movies and tv I decided to put it to a poll.
I’m not surprised by the results of this poll. I know how popular the show is and this would be an uphill battle, but I am still disappointed. Here’s the thing though. Having the perfect answer to this question isn’t about siding with the majority. It’s not about that scoreboard. It’s about being able to look people in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because told them the truth. The truth is that the movie is better. I can confidently say that with clear eyes and love in my heart…with joy in my heart.
The biggest advantage for FNL The Show: the cast is WAY hotter. Riggins might be the hottest person in TV history, girls want to marry Coach Taylor and his dad-bod, and we all had very inappropriate thoughts about High School girls(please reaffirm this so I’m not the only creep on the internet). In the first ep where Lyla was saying “Mr Street is it true…blah blah blah…then you must kiss me” I fell in love. Hell, even Connie Britton is way hotter in the show…
…than she was in the movie
We are all hoping to land a Tami Taylor. If you’re making you’re evaluation based only on who is hotter, then yeah, by all means go with the show and stop reading this blog. Just about everything else goes to the Movie.
In terms of entertainment value, I think Friday Night Lights are pretty much tied, but the movie brings out more real emotion because it’s more real. It pains me to write this blog, but there are so many absurd things about the Show that bother me. “Hey Chief, it’s fiction. You love Game Of Thrones and that has dragons flying around the air”. I hate that argument. If it the fantasy genre, I know what I’m getting into and I will buy in 100%. Those dragons, White Walkers, Giants, and and Red Women are all real to me. If you’re telling stories about a real subject like West Texas High School Football I need you to at least TRY to accurately portroy what goes on. I know its fiction, but I can only suspend disbelief for so long.
***Spoiler Alert***
That final scene in the movie where they’re driving down to try and win the State Championship is as real as it gets. The reality comes from the finality of your last game. Billingsly, Winchell, Chavez, and Ivory “Preacher Man” Christian laying it all out there for each other one final time. Not everyone played for a championship, but I would assume most people who read Barstool played HS or college sports can relate to their last game. So when you find out Riggins and Lyla Garrity are either sophomores or double repeat seniors takes some of the juice out of it for me.
Obviously its much harder to write 5 seasons of storylines than it is to write a movie, but we also can’t simply ignore the preposterous shit that served as fillers for the show. Landry murdering a rapist, Street going to Mexico looking for some special spine fixing operation, Lyla kissing Street in Mexico and Tim liking it? Tim, Lyla, and Jason all somehow being friends again, playing that game in a stupid cow pasture or whatever, come on. Hell, I don’t even believe Street really got paralyzed. The central moment that sets up the entire show was fake as shit.
Led with his shoulder and landed on his chest, but he’s paralyzed. Hmmm(trademark, all rights reserved PMT). I’m not a doctor, but I also can’t believe this caused a spinal injury. At least make it a head on collision or have him celebrate a TD like Gus Ferortte. The entire series I kept expecting him to walk again because the paralysis was in his head kind of like Ricky Bobby in “Talledega Nights”. And even that would’ve been more believable than the Landry murder. Again, this specific thing isn’t that big of a deal. It certainly doesn’t ruin the show. It’s just that it’s not as realistic as what happened to the star player in the Movie, Boobie Miles.
“Can an MRI fix your knee?”…uhh nobody Boobie it can’t. But I wouldn’t expect a guy who got straight As in being an athlete to know that. But at least it’s a real injury and a real story. It genuine emotion. Emotion that causes a protagonist to threaten some jealous ass doctor from Midland who clearly got paid off.
And if your heart didn’t break during the later scene then you’re dead inside
Boobie Miles, ultra talented star running back who was as cocky as it gets was still a downright lovable character. In fact, you can go right down the list in FNL The Movie. They were all lovable. Winchell, Chavo, Billingsley, Boobie, Water bug, Preacher, Billy Bob Thornton was likable for the first time ever on screen as Coach Gary Gaines. You feel for all of them. That is NOT something you can say about the show.
I don’t like Jason Street. Yeah, sad story about your fake paralysis, but every single time he’s on screen the show is borderline unwatchable. I don’t care about him after he “breaks his neck”.
Fuck Matt Saracen. I don’t care about your stupid grandma(Winchell’s situation with his mom seemed worse), your inability to hold off a punk ass freshman for the starting job, or your inability to hold on to your girlfriend. How the FUCK does QB1 in Texas lose their girl to a fake Swedish guy? That only happens to Saracen.
Julie Taylor SUCKS too. The whiniest teenage girl of all time. And speaking of the Taylor children, that baby was fucking hideous
Lyla. Now, I won’t lie…I got back and forth on Lyla. I think it’s because Minka Kelly is SO hot that it clouds my brain. If I can remove the physical element from my head and look at her actions in a vacuum then I hate her. And don’t forget when she turned into a weirdo bible thumper for minute too. Some bible thumper that cheats on her paralyzed boyfriend with his best friend.
Smash is just a knockoff Boobie. Guy was trying too hard to have that diva bravado, but it never felt right.
I love Riggins, Coach Taylor and Tami as much as the next guy, but hating or having so much apathy for so many key characters is tough for the show to overcome. Its a problem that the movie doesn’t have.
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With hundreds of hours of dialoge the Show still produced way fewer memorable quotes. Everyone loves Riggins’s “Texas Forever” speech and “Clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose”, but that’s all there is. There isn’t one more instantly memorable line from the entire series. The movie is litered with them. I’ve made reference to a few of them in this blog already. “Can’t hold on to the ball, can’t hold on to the lamp…”, by Tim McGraw the drunk dad, “are you gay? Can you prove it?” by that little blonde jersey chasing minx before she fucks Winchell in the bathroom, “babies and memories”, “ain’t no curses”, “you wanna win, put Boobie in”, “we’re gonna get drunk, we’re gonna get laid, and we’re gonna win State, but not tonight”, “how many black stripes this zebra got?”, “I-Right Wiggle 34 switchblade for the State Championship. I love all y’all. I love all y’all”. That’s just off the top of my head. I could go on and on. The writing in the movie is far superior to the show. The Movie also has the two greatest half time speeches ever
Ivory
Chills…followed immediately by Coach Gary Gaines putting love in your heart forever
Ready to run through a brick wall for my brothers after those speeches. The type of speeches you need for the 2nd half against Dallas Carter. Every show or movie needs a great villain. I can’t remember a single villain other than that freshman quarterback and his rich arrogant dad from the show. On the other hand, Permian ran into Dallas Carter in the State Championship. Those boys were big, hun. They’re fast, they’re big, they’re dirty… plus they’re fast.
Even their cheerleaders were bad.
I love the East Dillon Panthers, but that was a creampuff schedule #teaLizard. Dallas Carter we’re some of the baddest motherfuckers in sports movie history.
The Show plays out like a Disney production, the Movie seems more authentic…because it is. It was based on a true story about Permian High School in 1988. The show is based on the movie. Without Billingsly there is no Riggins, without Winchell there is no Saracen, and without Boobie there is no Smash. Without “Clear eyes and love it your hearts” there is no “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose”. The Show built upon the model the movie gave them and in my opinion they just went too far and it lost the authenticity and relatability that made the movie so special.
If you’re a person that loves the show, I am not criticizing you. I love the show too. I’ve watched it all the way through twice in the past 3 years or so. All I’m saying is give the movie another chance. Watch it again with clear eyes. If you watch the movie again and still insist the show is better well then you’re just jealous cuz you from Midland.
If you’re a person that is with me, we know this isn’t a popular opinion. We know the people who love the movie more are small in numbers and we are going to be smaller every time. When the show people come out, just stay low. Keep those feet moving. A lot of you have shown support for this opinion over the past week…my heart is full, my heart is full.
PS: I think the thing I love most about Riggins is that he calls everyone by their numbers. 7, 6, 2-3, etc. I want that in my life. I wore 10 so if you guys wanna call me 1-Oh I won’t stop you.