Friday Night Lights: Truth or Stereotypes?

The television show Friday Night Lights follows the lives of young, high school students in a small town in southern Texas, known as Dillon. The community revolves around the sport of football and thrives on the commotion of the Friday night games. While the show portrays realistic struggles that small towns may have, especially those in the southern portion of the United States, and focuses on the average life of a teenager, it is much too stereotypical. The idea that a small, southern town would experience poverty and racial issues is far too predictable.


In Season 1, Episode 15, all is going well in the football game until race issues become a problem. It seems as though the plot itself is not enough to be its own show. The idea of the high schoolers and the hype about the town’s football team becomes repetitive. Naturally, dilemmas are needed to make the show more interesting. Being that it takes place in the deep south, the show experiences a handful of problems with different races on and off of the field coming together in a civil way.

While race is definitely still the cause of a lot of conflict throughout the United States, specifically in the south, it seems as though the show adds to the stereotypes of the south being a selection of small, run-down, poor, racist towns. There is also the relationship between the coach’s daughter and the star quarterback that seems far too much like a fairytale.