Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this film -- which was originally rated PG-13 and was re-edited to earn its PG -- revolves around the issue of race in America in the '50s and '60s and is fraught with racial epithets and racist attitudes. There's also a certain amount of violence -- including hard-hitting football action and also dirty tricks like a coach directing his players to hit an opponent at the site of an injury. There's also some salty tough-talk from a football coach and depictions of the segregation and racial divides in the American South in the '50s and '60s.
Sexual
Content
Some kissing and light undressing (blouse removed, underwear on) in the context of a long-term committed relationship. Discussion of interracial dating.
Violence
Extensive on-field football action/violence, both within the context of fair play on the field and cheap shots after the whistle's blown. Football players are pelted with trash, with the threat that an angry crowd may throw bottles. Some fistfights.
Language
Occasional strong language, including "ass," "s--t," and "hell." Extensive, constant, and strong racial language, including the "N" word, "spook," "negro," "black," and more; a football player says to the lead character: "I'm going to kick your black ass back to Africa." "Retard" is used as an insult.
Social
Behavior
The entire film involves intense, extensive discussions of race in the America in the '60s, from segregation to "Jim Crow" laws to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s community organizing and marches. The symbols of the KKK and the Confederacy are seen on death threats. A character who has an athletic scholarship is reminded that, while football is nice, a college degree is even more important. The lead character's mother is flighty and leaves her son with his grandfather for several years. Much is made of the lead character's position as a role model and inspiration during the racially divided '50s and '60s in America. Discussion of terminal illness.
Consumerism
Some logos visible, like Pepsi, Budweiser, Woolworths, Time magazine, and Ritz; characters sing a Pepsi jingle. Constant mention of universities and athletic teams like Syracuse University, Notre Dame, the UT Longhorns, the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Cleveland Browns, etc.
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Beer is served.
