Varsity Blues
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"Football is a way of life."
—Jonathon 'Mox' Moxon
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Varsity Blues is a 1999 film.
It is one of the great Cliché Storms of the 1990s. It is a sports story that centers around American high school football in the great state of Texas.
Tropes used in Varsity Blues include:
- All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Averted by Mox, who actually turns down a cheerleader because he prefers his girlfriend.
- Badass Bookworm: Mox, who can make a ref across the field groan in pain from receiving a spiral thrown by him while sitting... As he reads Slaughterhouse-Five.
- Big Man on Campus: Who you are if you're the quarterback at West Caanan High School.
- Big Game
- Billy Elliot Plot
- Blackmail: What you do to ensure your players listen to you.
- The Cheerleader: Darcy Sears
- Conflicting Loyalty: There are multiple examples, however a conversation between Mox and his girlfriend underlines his conflict.
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Jules: Then quit! |
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- Cool People Rebel Against Authority
- Date Rape/Black Comedy Rape: Charlie Tweeder talks to Mox about how girls are panty-droppers, after you give them some pain-killers and alcohol. Subverted by Mox who, rather than laughing about it, asks him if he'll like prison.
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Mox: Tweeter, do you think you'll enjoy prison? |
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- Dawson Casting: Featuring Dawson himself!
- Dumb Muscle: His name is Billy Bob.
- Down to the Last Play
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Coach Kilmer, as are most football coaches.
- Everytown, America: West Canaan, Texas.
- Fanservice Extra: A few of them.
- Groin Attack: "...And say, 'I'm stupid and I'm about to get hit in the nuts.'"
- Hangover Sensitivity: When the boys leave the strip club following a night of partying. The hangover lasts into the game that night.
- Hot Teacher: Taken to the extreme with Miss Davis, especially considering it's a small town.
- How Many Fingers?: The trainer uses this to help diagnose Billy Bob.
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Mox: No-no-no, it's Billy Bob. It's gotta be true or false. Billy Bob! The man is holding up some fingers, true or false? |
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- I Call Him "Mister Happy": The result of Miss Davis' brilliant exercise in her Sex Education class.
- Interrupted Suicide: Mox tracks Billy Bob at the field, shooting trophies before presumably shooting himself, but is talked down.
- Only Known by Their Nickname
- Our Founder: There is a bronzed statue of coach, for whom the high school stadium is also named.
- Parental Obliviousness: His son just received an acceptance letter to an Ivy League college, but Sam Moxon wants to talk football.
- Parental Substitute: Billy Bob: {{[AC|crying}}] "Man, Coach loved me like a son! Treated me like one, too."
- Put Me In, Coach: "Put me in there! We'll block it."
- Practical Voice Over: The radio announcers a few times in the film.
- Losing Is Worse Than Death: Of course it's easier since it's not his well-being, but that of his players at risk. Unfortunately, this is a bit of Truth in Television with many coaches in high school sports.
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Coach Kilmer: The only pain that matters is the pain you inflict! |
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- Miracle Rally
- Naked People Are Funny: The stolen patrol car is full of this trope.
- Rousing Speech
- Save Our Team
- Serious Business: Football in West Caanan, Texas.
- Slow Clap
- Small Town Boredom: The reason Darcy Sears sticks with the star players.
- Sports Story
- STD Immunity: Averted, albeit indirectly, when Tweeder looks down his own pants and asks aloud, "...The fuck is that?!"
- Teenage Wasteland: If you're a Coyote in West Canaan (especially a starter), don't expect the law to apply to you. You are a part of a different society that has its own laws.
- Teen Drama: It was produced by MTV Films.
- Token Minority: Wendell Brown. He is also the only one of the main cast to have been a professional football player.
- Villain with Good Publicity: The town loves the coach because he wins championships, but also because they're not aware of the lengths to which he goes to do it.
- Villainous Breakdown: Almost to tears.
- Wild Teen Party
- You Can Leave Your Hat On: Miss Davis again.