>peace eldealo:
>
>
>>at first, i wondered why don would have spoken that way to
>>his mother, but i'm guessing she was probably incoherent to
>>begin with. his attitude toward the whole thing made more
>>sense to me because it seemed a little more clear that he
>>would not really let her in because of his family situation
>>and just didn't like talking about it.
>>
>
>That scene was illogic. One would only joke with someone who
>you have a close relationship with. His mother was
>hallucinating throughout the movie, why would you tell her
>"hey mom, I'm fcuking a white woman." wtf!
>

naw brooklyn, i feel you. i don't understand it myself, but i took it that his issues were just that deep. since cheadle was one of the producers, i figured that he was aware that it seemed illogical. i would think she was too high to even hear it. but yeah, it was confusing.

>
>>i don't see why some were offended by this scene with
>thandie
>>and howard and matt dillon. it was supposed to rub you the
>>wrong way to show that a lot of brothas go through this.
>that
>>is a fucked up decision either way.
>
>It was n't the brutuality which many object to. It was how
>the persons thandie and howard were devalued and trivilized in
>an effort to redeem dillion. A privledge characters of color
>are rarely given.

Not sure i understand...

Are you saying that the director devalued and trivialized the characters? Or Dillon's characters actions did?

The reason I ask is because I felt that moviegoers related to Terence's and Thandie's characters more because of the fact that they were demoralized and violated. Thandie, Terence, and Michael Pena's characters were the most human to me, and I thought the bullshit they had to go through made them the most interesting.

>
>
>>thandie/matt dillon - i regarded that scene as thandie
>>struggling to let a racist asshole like dillon's character
>>help her in order for her to live.
>
>though I don't agree with this assertion, let's except it for
>arguements sake. Now, Newton after being abused by this man
>has to struggle to accept his help to save her life. Once
>again her life is at his mercy.

I can see why that could be troubling. Though it would have been nice to see her help herself, or at least her husband...I still thought it was a powerful scene. Perhaps its a bit idealistic, but I wouldn't put Dillon's character in a bubble and say he is any one thing. Sure, he is a dick, and a bigot, but I also thought he was someone that used to believe in his job and helping people and lost his way. I wasn't convinced or any kind of redemption either. Rather than judge a black male or female as an individual, he judged everyone based on the criminal segment that he'd come across and his father's misfortune.

>>the flip side to that was that dillon has to cope with the
>>fact that a woman almost died because of his issues with
>black
>>people and him physically assaulting her. that's the kind of
>>shit that will stick with him for the rest of his life. i
>>don't think the scene was trying to redeem him at all.
>
>Dillion regret over newton/howard scene is never illustrated
>in the film. And if it was, maybe I missed it, it was short
>or weak at best.

The way they focused on Dillon after they took her away was enough for me personally. While Thandie's character was grateful, I felt that she was conflicted after having to accept his help. As she walked away, it didn't look like the camera was focusing on a proud hero, but a man that had been humbled to an extent. We didn't get any cheesy smiles or speeches from Dillon. But only you can answer whether or not it was effective. He looked fucked up by it all. To some extent, I would think the director intended for the speculation. I think we are meant to wonder about his character. Is he going to evaluate his faults and try to be a better cop and person in general? Or is he gonna continue to be the same bigoted asshole?

Though the movie had some things I would have liked them to have done differently, I just interpreted that the overall message was trying to get across that you never know what kinda drama people go through in their lives.