“Football Town Nights” aired in 2015 as a part of the third season of comedy sketch show Inside Amy Schumer. The sketch is a parody of the popular television series Friday Night Lights (2006-2011), which focuses on the life in a small, high school football-obsessed Texas Town. “Football Town Nights” uses Friday Night Lights as a framework to highlight issues surrounding the relationship between sports and sexual violence. The clip shows the football team and surrounding town’s reactions to the new high school football coach’s rule of “no raping.” The athletes are all incredulous that they can be expected not to rape, presenting the coach with a variety of hypothetical situations where they think they should be allowed to rape. The adults in the town are also outraged, with some asking the new coach “how are our boys to celebrate when they win?” The new coach explains to the players that “football isn’t about rape” but is instead “about violently dominating anyone that stands between you and what you want.”

discussion

How does the entry of the new coach challenge norms in this small town? How do football, the football players, and the football fans play a central role in perpetuating these norms?

What different hypothetical situations do the football players argue are acceptable times to rape someone?  Why are so many examples included? What commentary do these examples offer on the justifications people give in the real world for rape?

At one point, Amy Schumer’s character references the fact that the new coach’s stance against rape is at least partially prompted by the fact that he has a daughter. Why would having a daughter change the coach’s views on rape?

The sketch ends with the new coach’s pep talk where he says that “the other team, they ain’t just gonna lay down and give it to you. You gotta go out there and take it.” How does this pep talk draw parallels between football and rape?