Here is one of the most famous and controversial scenes in the film—the "racist rant," preceded by the fascinating conversation between Mookie and Pino. Pino's favorite basketball, movie, and—secretly—music stars are all black. But..."They're Black, but not really Black. They're more than Black. It's different." Which slides into Mookie, Pino, Stevie, Sonny, and Officer Long revealing their deep seated racial and ethnic prejudices to the audience. It's not realism: but it's real. Lee would do something similar in 25th Hour, which we will watch in the spring. It never fails to make me sit up and gape.
"Mookie, if I love you, I love you. But if I hate you..." Radio Raheem.
PINO. I'm sick of niggers. It's like I come to work, it's "Planet of the Apes." I don't like being around them. They're animals.
SAL. Why do you have so much hate in you?
PINO.
Why? You want to know why? My friends laugh at me all the time, laugh
right in my face, tell me, "Go to Bed-Sty. Go feed the Moulies."
SAL.
Do your friends put money in your pocket? Pay your rent? Food on your
plate? They're not your friends. If they were, they wouldn't laugh at
you.
PINO. Pop, what can I say? I don't wanna be here. they don't want us here. We should stay in our own neighborhood, stay in Bensonhurst. And the niggers should stay in theirs...
SAL.
I've never had trouble with these people...Yeah, sure, some of them
don't like us, but most of them do. I mean, for Chrissake, Pino, they
grew up on my food. I'm very proud of that...What I'm trying to say, is
Sal's Famous Pizzaeria is here to stay."
The
middle part of the film lightens up a little, doesn't it? Buggin Out's
quixotic attempt to spur a boycott of Sal's; the tender scene between Da
Mayor and Mother Sister on her stoop; the look on both Mookie and
Pino's face as Jade is chatted up by Sal. And there's Mookie and Pino and the rants. Hate
what Pino says; but at least we begin to understand what makes him so
angry. Then there are the three scenes with Radio Raheem: the famous
love-hate moment, an homage to the classic 1955 film Night of The Hunter;
and the scenes with the Koreans and Sal. Radio looms large in the film:
a young man of few words but with loud music. He evokes different
reponses from different people: a little boy runs alongside him at one
point, clearly emulating him; he is well-liked by the other young black
people on the street, Mookie in particular; the Korean couple are
intimidated by him; and Sal...well, Sal doesn't like his music in his pizzeria, to say the least. (Did you notice how Sal angrily tosses the
pizza slices Radio ordered in the oven? Very different than the way he
lovingly put together Jade's sandwich.)
So:
1. What moment or scene particularly jumped out at you, or stayed with you, from today's viewing? And why?
2.
Radio Raheem and Sal: the two physically largest figures in the movie.
What is your reaction to both of them? How would you characterize each
of them—what makes them who they are as individuals?
3.
The scene I quote above between Sal and Pino. I think it is one of the saddest and tenderest in the film. You can disagree with me. But I do
ask: what is your reaction to it? Sal asks an important question of his
son—"Why do you have so much hate in you?" Pino answers: but there's
more to the reason than what he says. So assuming that's a legitimate
statement, why might he be so full of hate, along with what he tells his
father?
Your response is due Sunday night by 10, but doing it while the fiom is still fresh in your mind might not be a bad idea. I'm not expecting
you to spend an hour on this (though some students did last year): but
25-30 minutes is not asking too much, particularly since this is your
only homework in the class at this moment. It takes me an hour usually
to write a post question. Feel free to comment on what others in the class write; agree, disagree, use it as a starting or ending point to what you're writing.
Finally: here's Mookie and Radio Raheem and the story of love and hate. See you all on Monday.
1. The scene that stayed with me the most from today was the scene between Mookie and Pino, the “racist rant scene”. I think that it was so powerful to me because the idea that black celebrities—celebrities of any minority group—are put on a pedestal and not seen as truly a part of the minority group they belong to. Mookie points out the great irony in what Pino is saying, that Eddie Murphy and Magic Johnson and Prince are black, not “black but not black”, not “different” in some way. They are black people who are amazing at what they do. They are black people who we should look up to just as we do with any other celebrity. They are not tokens of their race or somehow less black because they are talented or whatever it is Pino was trying to say but couldn’t articulate. They are people. They deserve respect just as Mookie and Radio Raheem and the guys on the corner deserve respect. Pino, like many white people, has created a barrier in his mind that prevents him from appreciating and respecting the black people who he interacts with.
ReplyDelete2. I like that line, “the two physically largest figures in the movie”, because they are large both in stature and in personality. They each hold power in the neighborhood, in very different ways. Sal feeds the people, which means that he interacts with them often, listens to their conversations, knows them. In addition to his knowledge, he has the power to withhold food (as demonstrated by the “extra cheese” kerfuffles) or (in the case of Jade) prepare a special meal. He is kind of the father of the neighborhood (with Da Mayor being the grandfather). Radio Raheem’s power comes from his music. He is the big brother of the neighborhood: cool, sassy, smooth, and often indifferent to the arguments of others. He can stop conversations with his music, and turn up the volume to make people listen. The message of the songs (“fight the power that be”) is a powerful one that literally resonates with people.
3. Pino tells his father that he has hate because his friends laugh at him. I think that there is some truth to this statement. We hate because we feel hated—hate feeds hate. If Pino’s friends, people who he interacts with often and likes and respects, are racist, their bigotry will infect him. He hears prejudices from his friends, from the media, from people in Bensonhurst, and then those prejudices become a part of his vocabulary, his conscience. He is from an immigrant family, is of a low socioeconomic status, and is working at his father’s pizzeria: he does not have many opportunities to exercise power in his life. So he picks on the group that is still below him.
1 I think the scene that I had the strongest reaction to was when Pine yells at Smiley. I tried to physically deny his word from registering with me by plugging my ears. It was as painful as watching someone kick a puppy. The one redeemable part to it, however, was how the neighborhood came to Smiley’s defense. That was rather inspiring. Despite whatever racial barriers may exist between him and the others, he’s one of their own. The loss of faith in the nature of human character when watching Pine is somewhat restored when hearing the shouts of opposition from all around. That’s what made this scene especially memorable and all in all explosive to me.
ReplyDelete2 Radio and Sal are two characters who continuously surprise me. Between Sal’s easy way about the baseball bat and his dismay at his son’s treatment of Smiley, well it can be hard to get a sense of what kind of man he is. It’s almost as though we’ve seen too many sides of him to get a feeling for the bigger picture of the man. With Radio, on the other hand, we’ve seen him walk about in stoic silence, and we’ve seen him a touch aggressive with both Sal and the Koreans. These extremes are somewhat confusing, especially when compared with the oddly philosophical nature he exposes to Mookie. I have yet to come to any sort of conclusion about him, but I look forward to see what more there is to discover about him. As far as what makes them who they are, I think their individuality lies in their presence in the community. They are constant background noise (in radio’s case, literally) to the neighborhood. As many have said, they were raised on Sal’s pizza. These are two people who don’t quite fit in to this mini society, yet they’re accepted and considered reliable backbones to the day to day routine.
3 I think the reason Pino is so angry lies not within this particular conversation but rather in the one he shares with Mookie. All of Pino’s idols are black. Almost everyone he encounters throughout the day is black. His income comes from black people. All this interaction and reliance yet he will never be one of them. He sees himself as an outsider and it’s made him insecure, so whenever his worth comes into question, like with Mookie being able to do his job, this insecurity manifests itself into hatred and a quick temper.
I'd mostly been thinking about Pino feeling alienated from the Italian-American white community - I hadn't given much thought to his isolation in the primary black neighborhood. His anger makes more sense when considering that he doesn't feel accepted or at home in either community.
Delete1. The Love and Hate scene with Radio was the most memorable scene from this section of the movie for me. ' Love' and' hate' are battling throughout the movie.' Hate' includes the racism that is going on between all the different groups in this film (whites, blacks, Koreans, Latinos, etc). That tension between groups creates unhappiness and danger on the block. However, 'Love' is also on the block. It exists between Mookie and his sister, a all the friends groups we see hanging out, and between Sal and his sons. It even exists between Sal and Mookie (in a way). Mookie doesn't complete his responsibilities at work as effectively as he could, but Sal likes him and has kept him around. Both these friendly and strong relationships are the 'love' that is constantly keeping the tension from 'hate' at bay. At this point in the film, nobody has gotten hurt and no drastic fights have broken out, but as soon as this balance of love and hate tips a little bit, something big is sure to happen. The way Radio describes this battle of love and hate is another way to look at the conflict that has been going on in the movie. Viewers could choose to view the conflict as one group vs another, but Radio's explanation shows the conflict in another light.
ReplyDelete2. Radio seems to see the world in absolutes. He sees the conflict in the world as love vs. hate. The song "Fight the Power" resonates with him, so he plays it loud all day. In his own way, he seems wise. While many of the other characters are caught up in drama from interactions on the block, when we see Radio he mostly seems to be thinking about issues that transcend this small block. He wants to fight the power, and stop hate. His large stature helps this idea of him thinking about the big picture. It separates him from the rest of the people on the block. He different than the others. He is a big guy, he's a loner, and he thinking more broadly than the others.
Sal is difficult for me to understand so far. He has more respect for the people of the neighborhood than his sons, and that seems to come from all the time he has spent with them. He has been feeding and talking to the people on this block for years, and over time he seems to have lessened his prejudice. He is a hard working man, and he works on this block in order to do the best thing for his family. Working in a different neighborhood than his own was likely a hard adjustment, but he did it in order to succeed. Now he has learned to be happy working here, but he seems to still harbor a bit of sadness that he can't work in his own community.
3. I think Pino in many ways is jealous of many of the blacks in this community. Pino has to work every day in this community outside of his own home. He is separated from his community and less in touch with them, and all day he sees people who get to be connected to their own community. He is jealous of their connection to each other and the love he sees between them. Also, his greatest idols are black. His favorite celebrities have managed to succeed, even though they were part of an oppressed group. I think he is jealous of that success and talent. One part of him believes that blacks are inferior, but another parts sees blacks that are "better" (in whatever field they excel in) than he is himself and that makes him feel worthless. His self esteem is likely lowered when he sees the people who he believes are inferior are accomplishing more than him.
1. The scene that stayed with me from Friday, was the scene after the confrontation between Mookie and Pino where they zoomed in on certain characters giving their real opinions on other races. The rawness of the rage and prejudice made the movie take a turn into the reality of the minds of the community, into how they really feel about one and other. It showed the lack of a common interest and revealed the ingrained hatred they all held. It made me realize that just because Pino is so open about his dislike of black people doesn't mean that he's the only problem in the neighborhood and everyone on the block held some sort of negativity toward another race.
ReplyDelete2. Radio Raheem and Sal are like the mediators of the community, constantly trying to ease the tension and keep optimistic about things. While very different, I'd characterize them both as influential leaders, keeping things together between everyone to the best of their abilities. They're the elders that people pay attention to and go to for guidance. While they're not always respected, it's clear they know their way with the people.
3. I think Pino's hatred might be partly due to the fact that his friends make fun of him, because it feels terrible to treated like that especially by people who you're supposed to call your friends, but I think he feels that way also because being an Italian American makes him an outsider in a primarily black neighborhood. I think he feels insecure about being the minority in the community when prior to the move he was the majority. He also mentions how all his idols are black which probably only adds to his insecurities. He struggles to explain to Mookie that the people he looks up to aren't necessarily black while they're still black because he doesn't want to reveal his self-doubt.
1. Without a doubt, the scene that affected me most was the confrontation between Pino and Mookie. It was both frustrating and thought-provoking to watch how Pino rationalized and compartmentalized his racism. He seemed to believe that the black celebrities he idolized existed on a different plane than the black residents of Bed Stuy. He could see the celebrities as individuals, with their own personalities and traits, while still lumping all other black people together into one homogenous group. This internally inconsistent viewpoint had never been examined by Pino until Mookie brought it up, and even then Pino barely seemed to recognize his own hypocrisy. What’s more disturbing is that even though this movie is from 1989, many people to this day share Pino’s perspective. They are able to selectively suspend their racism when it benefits them to do so. The other most striking element of this scene was how Pino could spout all this racist rhetoric while looking Mookie, a black man, in the eye. It just goes to show the extent to which Pino lacks common decency and respect for his colleague.
ReplyDelete2. Both Sal and Radio Rahim are prominent fixtures of the community. Radio Rahim announces his presence wherever he goes with the deafening music emanating from his boombox, while Sal operates the neighborhood’s most well-loved pizzeria. Aside from this similarity, however, they don’t have much else in common. Sal seems to care very deeply about how the residents of the community perceive him. He refuses to even consider moving his pizzeria away from the neighborhood of which he considers himself a part. He says to Pino, “they grew up on my food. I'm very proud of that...What I'm trying to say, is Sal's Famous Pizzaeria is here to stay." Conversely, Radio Rahim seems somewhat indifferent to how he is perceived by the community, at least externally. This is evident in his encounter with the hispanic men on the steps, whose music he drowns out with his boombox. In fact, the only time we see him deviate from his normal behavior in order to appease someone is during his stand-off with Sal. Despite his stoicism, however, we do get a glimpse of Radio Rahim’s internal thought process and sensitivity when he speaks with his friend, Mookie. His depiction of the battle between good and evil reveals a deeply optimistic and thoughtful man.
3. I think that Pino’s anger and hatred stem from self-loathing and insecurity. He’s come to believe that the best way to build up his own self-worth is by diminishing that of others. This, to me, is the classic mindset of a bully. By degrading those around him, he may experience a brief respite from his own insecurities, but ultimately this practice results in him feeling isolated from the Bed Stuy community. Conversely, his father doesn’t seem to feel the need to look down upon those around him, and therefore feels a greater connection with the community. I think that, just as bullying is a short term fix for insecurity, Pino’s proposal that they change neighborhoods also only addresses the symptoms of his real issue.
I felt particularly moved by two scenes. In the first scene, Da Mayor delivers an emotional retort about his failures to provide for his family to Ahmad. This scene may help explain some facets of Da Mayor’s character; maybe he drinks to numb his emotional pain, and perhaps he is concerned with doing “the right thing” to make up for his past shortcomings. An example of such occurs in the second scene, when he saves the life of a boy. But again Da Mayor receives disrespect, for the boy doesn’t thank him, and the mother of the boy beats the boy against Da Mayor’s wishes. Through these scenes Da Mayor is made into a tragic character: his efforts to be helpful to make up for his past failures are unappreciated by the community, which seems more concerned with his alcoholism and the dirt on his clothes than his kind heart. Maybe he serves as some synecdoche for the entire movie, a warning about the dangers of being so concerned with the superficial that deeper human connections are lost.
ReplyDeleteRadio Raheem, with his towering figure and loud music, seems to me as some sort of depiction of black masculinity. Black men and boys like him, but others are either scared by or hostile towards him.
Sal seems inseparable from his pizzeria, in the sense that his concerns are with preserving his own establishment. He proclaims to Pino that “Sal’s Pizzeria is here to stay” and he responds violently towards anything that threatens the status quo of the environment (think his hostile manner towards Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out). But Sal’s obsession over his pizzeria seems to get in the way of personal connections: he provokes Buggin’ Out to try to start a boycott when he kicks him out, he angers Radio when he tells him to turn down the music, he alienates Pino when he doesn’t do anything to address his problems with the neighborhood, and Mookie seems somewhat annoyed at Sal’s stingy behavior (although Mookie does have some reliability problems when it comes to working).
I think that Pino has so much hate inside of him because he feels robbed of his father’s attention, and he believes that many of the black neighbors have received it. For example, both Mookie and Pino seem distraught at the sight of Sal talking to Jade, and earlier in the film, he confronts Vino about him listening to Mookie instead of his brother.
I felt disgusted watching the scene. When Pino unleashes his anger on Smiley, you can almost feel Sal’s disappointment and embarrassment as he watches the lesson he had been giving his son for the past two minutes be disregarded. It hurt, too, when Sal attempts to salvage the situation by buying one of Smiley’s photographs. But Smiley had already uttered, with tremendous effort, his “fff-fff-fffuck you” to Pino, and no amount of photographs could save the face of Sal and his pizzeria.
You put that very well; the idea that Sal is threatened by deviation from the norm.
Delete1. When Radio Raheem buys batteries, he seems like a totally different person than much of the rest of the movie. Normally he is silent other than his boombox. He only speaks on occasion, and the most notable time he does it's to talk about how love triumphs over hate. Here he is loud and angry and all about negativity. I guess this is what happens when he doesn't love you.
ReplyDelete2. As i said before, Radio Raheem starts the movie by only ever blaring his music. He's interesting because his seems to be a voice of love, but simultaneously is a somewhat violent personality. The words "fight the power" show his sense of clear lines between an us and them, without a solution other than violence. He also explains the story of love and hate as a battle for control. This stark division doesn't seem to allow for any sort of in between. He says, "If I love you, I love you. But if I hate you..." With Radio Raheem, there are clear lines. Sal shows more gradients though. At first I viewed him as just racist, like Pino, but as the movie progresses h shows a fondness for the community and the people in it. He says that though it may sound odd, he's proud that the block grew up on his food. He still has distrust in him, shown by how quickly he goes for the baseball bat, but not the same level of automatic anger and hate that Pino has.
3. Pino always feels out of place. In his own neighborhood, he's the only person who serves primarily black people, and is made fun of for it. At work, he and his family are typically the only white people around. He takes this feeling differentness out through racism, pretending he doesn't want to feel like part of the community. It's not just that he wants to fit in at home or just that secretly wants to be black, but he wants to fit in somewhere. He thinks that if only he just worked back in his own neighborhood he'd fit in at home and at work, so he hates the neighborhood and the people in it for keeping him ever feeling like a part of things. He distances himself from it.
1. Pino and Mookie’s conversation really stood out because of how obviously it defined racism. All of Pino’s favorite performers and sports stars are black, but he says they’re, “More than black.” Pino defines “more than black” as being talented; being interesting. He defines “more than black” as capable and admirable, someone worth something. Pino defines “more than black” as human - he recognizes the black people he looks up to as real people, instead of "just black." Mookie coaxes Pino into recognizing this, and it makes him uncomfortable to think that everyone around him, everyone he interacts with, are real people, especially because he hates them so much. Pino hates black people because the people he surrounds himself with mock him for being around them, insulting him by saying he enjoys their company, and rather than hating the people who attack him (whom he regards as people) Pino turns his hate towards a group who he thinks of as somehow less than human. With this view shared by so many of those around him, it’s much easier for Pino to do this than to hate anyone who looks like him. Pino isn’t ready to let go of his hate just yet - it’s much easier than dealing with problems head on - but his discomfort during the conversation as Mookie stares at him is a good step in the right direction. Pino knows how irrational he sounds, he just isn’t ready to acknowledge it.
ReplyDelete2.Raheem and Sal are best known for their physical presences - their volume and size are their reputation, and how they deal with life’s challenges, but they’re only similar up to a point. Sal keeps his life in order through verbal and physical intimidation. His anger keeps everything and everyone in line, as evidenced by his shouting and threats of violence towards his two sons, as well as Raheem’s boombox entrance. When confronted with another physically strong individual, who somehow makes even more noise than him, Sal is disturbed and raises his own voice in retaliation. Raheem deals with problems with his own noise - he becomes stressed when buying batteries, and starts shouting at the shopkeepers - but his music is also a positive influence. Many people admire him and enjoy his presence because of his trademark music accompaniment. Raheem’s music makes people happy, and when someone doesn’t like it, he turns it up until they can’t compete. He speaks of love and hate as a physical fight, but we’ve never seen him physically threaten anyone. Both characters rely heavily on their volume to get things done, but when the going gets tough Raheem has music and Sal has a baseball bat behind the counter, and that’s a huge dividing line.
3. When Sal asks why Pino has so much hate, he says that he’s constantly insulted by the people around him, who he calls friends, because he works with and around black people. Sal tries to reason with him, pointing out that people who insult you aren’t your friends, and that the people in the neighborhood are very important to their lives and livelihood. Pino doesn’t absorb this, and instead goes outside to chase Smiley away. Instead of reevaluating his understanding of the world, Pino turns to violence. Rather than regarding his tormentors as the problem, he blames everything on black people. He’s afraid of losing the social advantages of being white by being associated with african americans, and this manifests as slurs and hate. Pino finds it easier to fight than to change, to hate rather than be hated, and this is how he copes with it.
1. The scene that stuck out to me was the confrontation scene with Mookie and Pino. I think this scene is an essential part of Pino’s character as well as the movie. Since he first appeared on screen, Pino has been hateful and angry, but it was never clear why. One could of course speculate the reasons why he is the way he is, but the film does a good job of making him a complicated character by gradually building on his character. I can't say that I know exactly what Pino's reasons are, but this scene, as well as the talk he had with his father, shed some light on his inner conflict. Mookie pointed out that Pino's idols are all black, but yet he still insists on hating blacks –his excuse being that “they're more than black”-. “It's different” he says. It doesn't make sense because if he was half as racist as he acts, there wouldn't be a difference. Which led to Mookie’s conclusion that maybe a small part of Pino actually wants to be black.
ReplyDelete2. Radio Raheem and Sal are both in interesting positions because they both hold some sort of influence and power in the community. Radio Raheem is a man of very few words and lets his boom box speak for him. He walks through the neighborhood seemingly unnoticed, but everyone is aware of his presence.and Salthough not black, has the respect of many of the residents of the community. He is respectful towards them, but is also firm and doesn't get intimidated. People wouldn't even boycott him, which shows that he's an essential part of the neighborhood.
3. I think Pino feels like an outsider not only in Bed-stuy but also in Bensonhurst. He goes to work everyday knowing his friends think less of him and laugh at him because he goes to work in Bed-Stuy to make pizzas for niggers. When he goes to work he takes that anger out on the so called niggers his friends hate. He's heard it so many times from his friends that he thinks it's okay, when he knows that it's not. I think the only thing stopping him from doing the right thing, treating blacks with respect, is the fact that it's the only power he feels he has, which is fueled by his friends’ hatred.
1. The scene that stood out to me was Pino’s interaction with Smiley outside the pizzeria. I knew that something was going to happen as soon as Smiley appeared at the window because of Pino’s racist rant to Sal immediately preceding the scene. I really like how Lee did this, how he could fill the watcher with fear for Smiley by showing Pino and Sal’s conversation immediately before. The disembodied voices that grew more prevalent and louder as Pino assaulted Smiley indicated that the building tension would quickly escalate to violence if Pino continued to threaten and abuse Smiley. Sal managed to diffuse the situation before it escalated, but the raw senseless hatred of Pino shocked me and stuck with me.
ReplyDelete2. I think one of the main things Radio Raheem and Sal have in common is that they are both very adamant about their rules. For Radio Raheem, his boombox must be blasting “Fight the Power” at all times. For Sal, everything that goes on in his pizzeria must be approved by him. When Radio Raheem walks into Sal’s pizzeria to get a slice, these two rules come into abrasive contact with each other. One of these big men will have to break and allow the other to get what he wants. Radio Raheem eventually gives into Sal’s rule, but not without a lot of tension. Sal becomes increasingly angry and Radio Raheem seems like he’s purposefully using his music to make Sal as angry as possible. Right before Sal snaps, Radio Raheem stops the music. The scene shows how much power Radio Raheem has when he simply refuses to turn of his music.
3. The part about his hatred that Pino leaves out when talking to Sal is his hatred for himself. His hatred for himself is the root of all the other hatred that radiates out of him and into the neighborhood. At multiple points in the movie he makes it clear that he thinks working in his father’s pizzeria is beneath him. He has distanced himself from the community he serves, and he is distanced from his own predominantly Italian-American community too. His friends there are not really his friends because they make fun of him for working in a primarily black neighborhood; this also adds to his hatred of the community he works in. Above all, he is jealous of many people including his brother for having a good relationship with Mookie and most other people in the neighborhood because they have such a strong sense of belonging, and hates himself for not being able to form similar relationships.
1. One scene that struck me was the scene where Da Mayor is sitting on the stoop while Ahmed screams at him. To say that the two men have a misunderstanding or even an argument is an understatement and does not begin to allude to the amount of emotion in their conversation. This scene gives more insight into the tensions in the community – tensions between people of the same race too. I think that Da Mayor is sometimes thought of as a leader even though he does not always act like one; the young men decide to call him out on that, without fully comprehending Da Mayor’s reasons for acting the way that he does. The main thing that struck me about this scene was Da Mayor’s reaction to their confrontation. At first he defended himself, responding to the men’s accusations by saying that they don’t have the right to criticize his life when they don’t understand it. This response just elicits another deluge of insults (and also releases what seems like years of emotion) from the Ahmed, which leaves Da Mayor with a stricken look on his face. Just looking at the pain and hurt (and possibly realization) on his face almost moved me to tears. I also somewhat identified with Da Mayor’s response because I think it’s important to try and understand everything – or at least as much as possible - about a certain situation (in this case, Da Mayor’s life) before making a judgment about it. And it is crucial to note that it’s true that Ahmed does not understand Da Mayor’s life. On the other hand, if the members of the community feel let down by Da Mayor and his lack of responsibility, they have every right to feel that way..
ReplyDelete2. I agree with Alice in that I’m having difficulty identifying what kind of man Sal is. In general, I liked him at the beginning, until the scene with Buggin’ Out, when Sal refuses to put photos of black celebrities on the wall. Sal points out (not only him, other characters too) to Pino that people in this neighborhood grew up on his food. This is very important to him and he takes pride in his business. Maybe he even takes pride in being an outsider – an Italian-American in a mostly non-white neighborhood (it certainly doesn’t outwardly bother him as much as it does Pino). But Sal refuses to acknowledge the kind of impact the community has had on him, or how working in BedStuy may have benefitted him. It's as if he holds himself in higher esteem than the people of color in the neighborhood. And he certainly dislikes being defied – by his sons or patrons of his pizzeria.
I like Radio Raheem. He has a strong backbone and does not back down easily – as shown both through his looming figure and stony (much of the time, at least) facial expression, and his boom box. He stands up for what he believes in. He is well aware of how intimidating he is and I think he uses other people’s wariness of him to his advantage. I think this can be a good characteristic, if used wisely, although I do think he was unnecessarily rude to the Koreans who were selling him batteries (that scene made me cringe). Though he is physically imposing, I think Radio Raheem is kind and has a thoughtful side and I get the sense that he is a good person, as shown in the famous love-hate scene.
3. I found this scene very moving (partly because there are people in my life to whom I’m dying to ask the same question Sal asked Pino). I think what lie underneath Pino’s response to his father are remnants of Pino’s earlier conversation with Mookie, pieces of that scene that still stick inside Pino’s brain. Even though the conversation with Mookie cannot be an underlying reason for Pino’s hate (because it happened on this particular day), it is reasonable to think that the conversation dredged up thoughts that Pino had mulled over before (perhaps memories of feeling left out, among other things). Having a second soul-searching moment piled onto this first one was enough to make Pino lash out at Smiley (another scene that made me cringe). I think that Pino thinks of people of color, including black people, as lesser than him. This is clear as he scrambles to define his favorite black celebrities as “not black” – he does not want them to be black because he thinks there is something wrong with being black. But this is complicated when Mookie so insightfully points out that Pino wants to be black. Why would he want to identify with a group he considers as “lesser”? I think Pino struggles with this. Maybe he feels like he owes more to himself, that he deserves more. On the other hand, being black would enable Pino to have one community instead of none (he probably would not be accepted in Bensonhurst, but he already admitted to feeling left out - if he was black perhaps he would feel more at home in BedStuy). He could appreciate his favorite athletes, singers, and actors without feeling any qualms (which he may feel among his Italian-American friends). Feeling left out definitely contributes to Pino’s anger – and he believes he cannot talk to his father about the possibility of him wanting to be black or feeling left out of BedStuy because his father would not understand why he would want to be a part of that community (considering his father’s unwillingness to recognize how is affected by the neighborhood, as I mentioned earlier). This conversation made me feel conflicted inside – I can imagine that Pino is feeling a mess of emotions that he doesn’t know how to untangle or identify, let alone deal with.
ReplyDelete1. I was particularly struck by the "love hate" scene. I had been hoping since the first couple scenes for a little bit of insight into Radio's character, and I felt like I knew him a little more after this scene. It felt like Radio distilled the entire movie into a single metaphor in just a couple seconds. Throughout the movie we've seen the struggle between love and hate ( a couple examples are Sal, who is unsure how he feels about the neighborhood, wobbling between two extremes and Da Mayor, who seems to go back and forth between feeling angry at those who insult him and being understanding). I wonder if the victory of love at the end of the story is some sort of foreshadowing of the film's conclusion...
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, his creed (I love you or I hate you) feels refreshingly simple in a time when our society is dominated by increasingly complicated social relations
2. While both Sal and Radio don't seem to be that in charge, they both hold a quiet position of power in the community. While Sal doesn't participate in the day to day activities of the neighborhood, he controls his restaurant (seemingly the only one in the area). Unless someone has earplugs on them, Radio has the power of forcing people to listen to his music. While it isn't as definite as control of a food source, it seems to immediately give him some sort of social leverage. I think his radio is especially interesting in the context of America ignoring the cries of black people for generations.
3. I thought the scene was interesting not because we got to see Pino's anger, which had already been pretty prevalent, but that we got to see a different side of Sal. Instead of him just saying that the black people in the neighborhood gave him economic security "we run a good business" he said that he actually was proud of the work he was doing and his relationship with the community "they grew up on my food"
I think Pino feels he's better than restaurant work in a poor black neighborhood. He's disappointed with himself and angry that this is his life and all of his friends have better. Also, he's a little bit of a bigot. We see that Sal thinks of black people as less than human, and by Pino's comments we see his friends do as well. As Pino calls black folks "apes" it becomes clear this bigotry has led to shame in his position. But besides just plain disappointment and bigotry, I feel like Pino is a little narcissistic. He bosses around Vino and Mookie all the time because he thinks he's too good for the task. He thinks highly of himself and that he can do better than his father and his brother. I think in a narcissistic personality, bigotry and shame are just too much for your brain to rationalize and all you can do is hate.
1) Though overall the middle of the movie has lightened, the scene between Jade and Sal is in my opinion on of the most tense in the movie. The silent stare between Pino and Mookie adds so much tension to the scene alone. In the beginning, Sal's conversation with Jade didn't seem to have any ulterior motive attached to it. I originally thought it was just Sal being sentimental towards a person who grew up on his food, which he commented on earlier. But the stare between Mookie and Pino, combined with Sal's comment on her hips, made me realize the true nature of the situation. The way the camera moved across both their faces, the sweat on their faces, and the music playing in the background all came together to make a really stressful scene for me.
ReplyDelete2) I love Radio Raheem's character. What I find special about Raheem is that along with Mookie, he's one of the only characters moving throughout the neighborhood, on screen at least. But unlike Mookie, he's usually greeted with anger over his music, rather than the welcome that Mookie usually gets. The boombox-on-the-shoulder was a common occurrence on the streets in New York and the competition between Raheem's boom box and the Hispanic Group's boom box showed this while added to the racial tension as well. As for Sal, my opinion of him has blurred a little since his scene with Jade. I originally tough if him as a respectable and smart business man, being able to realize this neighborhood was better or business due to less competition. But the history behind him, Jade, and Mookie isn't completely clear. Why did Jade stop coming to Sal's? What problem does Mookie have with Jade and Sal's relationship? Exactly how young is Jade compared to Sal?
3) I think mostly the answer to this question lies in the conversation Pino had with Mookie about his favorite athletes/celebrities. He likes aspects of black culture, maybe wants to be part of it (his kinky hair), but he knows he can't be. Now he is in this situation where he doesn't really belong in his own neighborhood (his friends make fun of him), and he Is far from being a part of the neighborhood he works in. He's resorted to hating the neighborhood, the people in the neighborhood, and the pizzeria in the neighborhood for "putting" him in a situation where he doesn't belong anywhere.