"And nor did the moments when the dialogue sounded a little manufactured like when the young black guy gave the speech about hip-hop. It also didn’t ring true when the black guy stood by and watched the cop assault his wife, it wasn’t like he was trying to avoid a 20 year stretch – but perhaps I’m out of touch!"
Tilly;
You must be a professional writer to be so perceptive about plot
construction and logic of dialog. In my eagerness to actually promote
the movie - I loathed everything about Brokeback Mountain and fantasized that Acting Members of the Academy would read my
rants on the subject and vote for CRASH instead.
I believe there might be a smidgeon of screenwriter politics in
the portrayal of the passive, Black husband who'd allow his wife
to be molested. The character worked for a movie studio.
The screenwriter of CRASH is flat-out zapping and zinging
Hollywood for its supine existence in the midst of chaos.
The ONLY member of WGA (Writers Guild of America) AOL
screen name CaseyMccc posted on the screenwriter's message board (which has been virtually destroyed by savage trolls) yesterday that
he hasn't seen CRASH yet!? Sex politics, and career politics, I swear to you!!! CaseyMcc is a nice man, but success in his business demands that he toe the line. He, and his fellow workers hoped and prayed for
Brokeback Mountain to win Best Picture. Instead is has failed
abysmally at the box-office, and has in various other ways been
shamed: a Hollywood calamity which I heartily applaud.
Actor, comic, culture commentator Bill Cosby has made waves in
recent times decrying the still-in-existence 'foot-shuffling' of African
Americans even today. The screenwriter of CRASH is insisting that
Bill Cosby is right, and so made the husband so embarrassingly tamed
in at least two scenes in his movie. The other is when he caves in
to the demands of the 'producer' (brilliantly acted by Tony Danza in
a tiny role). The lead, plain clothed detective also caves to City politics.
The screenwriter's 'Idea' for the philosophizing Black bandit is more on
the theme of the passive Black man who bragged he would never rob another black man, yet does so. He atones by releasing the Chinese
slaves.
As to the music, all I can say is that it helped me understand what
was going on, and made me cry, even almost sob in places. When my
four year old came to me before the movie was over to tell me he liked
the scene where the wife was pulled out from under the crashed
vehicleby the man she hated, I gave him a huge rocking hug.
But, you're right: the screenplay suffers somewhat from a
"Surfeit of overt intention" (forget where I got that phrase, school
I guess) which has definitely turned offsome viewers. I'm not sure
what to say about, or think, of "Message movies." If you get caught
delivering the message the force of the message is diminished.
The Greeks might have had the right answer: be bold and shockingly
inscrutable. Medea is incomprehensible. OR IS IT!!!!??????
Barry
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