Year 12 Film Study

1. Year 12 Film Study

2. By the end of this unit, you should be able to: • Identify and analyse film language accurately; • Analyse film image and sequences in detail; • Analyse and discuss the use of narrative techniques, including motifs, transitions and editing; • Analyse the way visual and verbal film techniques are used to reveal plot, setting, character; • Use film terminology accurately and with confidence; • Discuss the way the film presents themes; • Write a film review expressing your own views • Write an essay about an aspect of the text

3. What we’re doing in class…order of events/what you should have done at the end of it all • Viewing film • Personal response and discussion • Close reading – scene by scene on 2nd viewing • Plot analysis • Analysis of opening sequences • Analysis of other important scenes Discussion and notes on: • Setting • Characterisation • Themes • How to write a film review

4. Assessment • This will be formally assessed at the end of the year in your external exams (Read, study and analyse a visual or oral text – 2.5), worth 2 credits. • Your assessment in class for this unit of work will be: • Film review (expressing personal response to film) • Essay response (written in class under exam conditions)

5. Response to film • In your own words, summarise what you think the film “Crash” is about (write about a paragraph). • What did you think of the film? How did it make you feel? Rate it out of 10. • Were your opinions or attitudes changed by this film? Why/why not? • Which character had the biggest impact on you? Why? (you could choose a character that you empathised with/disliked/felt sorry for) • What did you think of the ending? How does it tie it all together structurally? • What shocked you most in the film and why? Be honest. • What do you think was the most powerful scene in the film? Why? • Although there is much that is tragic in the story, there are also glimpses of hope. What are they? • What was one visual/verbal technique used and how was it effective?

6. Personal response continued One last thing to think about: • In the promotional commentary for the film, the producer invites us to consider three questions whilst watching the film: • Was this about me? • Was this about the person next to me? • What this about the person I don’t even want to know? What do you think? Be honest with yourself, even if you feel unable to discuss your thoughts.

7. Plot summary A Brentwood housewife and her DA husband. A Persian store owner. Two police detectives who are also lovers. An African-American television director and his wife. A mexican locksmith. Two car jackers. A rookie cop. A middle-aged Korean couple… They all live in Los Angeles. And during the next 36 hours, they will all collide… “Crash” takes a provocative and unflinching look at the complexities of racial tolerance in contemporary America. Driving headlong into the diverse melting pot of post 9/11 Los Angeles, this drama tracks the volatile intersections of a multi-ethnic cast of characters’ struggles to overcome their fears as they careen in and out of each other’s lives. In the gray area between black and white, victim and aggressor, there are no easy answers.

8. Main characters • Graham Waters – detective • Ria – detective • Anthony – car jacker (expresses observations of racism) • Peter Waters – car jacker, Graham’s brother. Likeable, balanced outlook • Rick Cabot – DA • Jean Cabot – Rick’s wife • Cameron Thayer – television director • Christine Thayer – Cameron’s wife • John Ryan – cop • Tommy Hanson – rookie cop • Daniel Ruiz – locksmith • FarhadGolzari – shop owner

9. Minor characters • Choi & Kim Lee – genuine love and tenderness shown, yet he is a trafficker in human beings. • Lieutenant Dixon – black police officer who knocks back Hanson when he wishes to make a complaint against Ryan. • Shaniqua – takes rightful exception to Ryan’s racism. • Graham’s mother – one of the victims of life. Provides the motivation for him to give the Da’s office what it wants. • Lara – Daniel’s daughter who wears the magic cloak • Maria – Jean’s housekeeper • Pop Ryan – to show another side to Ryan, a caring, hurting side.

10. The central issue of the film is clearly racism. How many different races are represented in the film? • White (John Ryan, Tommy Hanson) • African-American (Detective Graham, Anthony & Peter, Cameron & Christine Thayer) • Hispanic (Ria, Maria, Officer Gomez) • Mexican (Daniel) • Iranian/Persian (Farhad, Dorri) • Korean, Asian illegals (Cambodian or Thai); Ken Ho, the insurance assessor, is perhaps Vietnamese

11. Did any of the main characters NOT show racist tendencies or express racist sentiments • Daniel (Mexican locksmith) • Dorri (Farhad’s daughter) • Peter (one of the young car jackers) • Maria (Jean Cabot’s housekeeper)

12. One of the main techniques used in the film is setting up a situation or character and then overturning our – or characters’ – resultant expectations. How many examples can you list? • Ryan – racist and hero • Graham – forced to compromise • Anthony – a thief; releases Asians • Ria – of Graham re his mother • Hanson – decent type, means well, yet shoots Peter • Daniel – taken as a criminal but is a loving father • Shaniqua objects to Ryan’s racism but abuses her own power • Jean – seems strong but is lonely and vulnerable

13. Close reading the text: Scene 1: • What impression is given by the title sequence? • What is unusual about the way this film opens? • What do the first lines of dialogue signal to the audience? • Which characters are introduced? What is your immediate impression of each? • Explain briefly what has happened to these characters? • Some important pieces of information are given in this scene. What are they? • Comment on Detective Waters' reaction to the crime scene.

14. Scene 2 • Who are the main characters introduced here? What impression is given of each? • What words tell us Dorri does not want her father to buy a gun? • Given that, why is she there helping him? • Why does the shop owner get annoyed? • What mistaken assumption does he make about his customer? • What important information is given in this scene that becomes relevant only later? Film Techniques • Use the work sheets (or rule up your own paper) and analyse the cinematic techniques of scenes 1 and 2.

15. Scene 3 • Two more characters are introduced. Who are they? • What initial impression do we get of them? How is this undercut? • What do we learn about the Cabots in this scene? Scenes 4 – 11 • Why does Anthony object to the St Christopher statuette? • Why are the Cabots having the locks on their house changed? [6] • What is Jean's objection to Daniel, who is changing the locks? Why is this ironic? • What important information about Rick do we learn in scene 6? Why are Karen and Bruce at his home? • What is the cheque Park gives Mr Choi payment for? [7] When do we find this out? • Why does Ryan chase Cameron's vehicle, even after he is told it is not the stolen one? [11] • Where does Cameron tell Ryan that he and his wife have just come from? [11] • What is the reason Christine gives for Cameron's not drinking? [11]

16. Overall • Where is the film set? How do we know? • When is it set? How do we know? • Setting is not just time and place; it is also society. What social groups have been introduced so far? • What mood has been established? How?

17. By scene 12, all main characters have been introduced and the basic plots are all established. • The episode of Ryan's assault on Christine and humiliation of Cameron [11] spins all the characters involved in different directions; Farhad's gun and the door that won't close [12] sets the next phase of that plot in motion. • Why is Lara hiding under the bed? [14] • In your own words, explain why Anthony says hip-hop is the 'music of the oppressor'. [15] • Why does Dixon refuse to accept Hanson's complaint against Ryan? [16] • What do we learn from scene 19 about how Peter and Anthony operate? • Why will the insurance company not pay out on Farhad's vandalised shop? [33]

18. Backstory • 'Backstory' is the term used for events that are deemed to have happened before the film/play actually starts. • What backstory is referred to in scene 12? • What does the dialogue between Christine and Cameron reveal about their backgrounds? [13] • What happened to Daniel's family before this? [14]

19. Sub-text: Give – in your words – theapparent or surface reason for each of the following – and then explain the real reason for each. • Why Cabot is going to pursue Conklin over the shooting of Detective Lewis. [26] • Why Jean complains to Maria about the dishwasher. [ 28] • Why Anthony criticises Mo Phat. [29] • Why Fred complains to Cameron about Jamal. [30] • Why Christine blames Cameron for what happened the night before. Why he walks off. [32]

20. Characters • In what ways are the two married couples – Rick and Jean Cabot and Cameron and Christine Thayer – similar? How many parallels between their situations can you find? How are they different? Ideas and Issues • In these scenes, many of the characters and situations introduced in the first few scenes behave in ways that force us to re-evaluate them. Give examples of this. • In what way does scene 18 sum up the central issues of the film?

21. Film Techniques • What is the effect of the TRACKING shot that opens scene 31? • Comment on the camera work and editing of scene 37. • Look carefully at the TRANSITIONS between scenes. What do you notice about them? Note examples of effective transitions. • The Director and Director of Photography chose often to film with the light behind the subject rather than behind the camera. Cite examples of this, and comment on the effect achieved. • Identify effective use of sound effects. • Contrast is an important technique used in this film. Cite examples from these scenes.

22. Scenes 39 – 45 (DVD Ch 14 - 19) • This sequence is largely made up of a series of climaxes, as each of the main plot threads reaches crisis point. • Why does the DA's office need Graham's support for a prosecution of Conklin? • Why does Graham agree to support it against his better judgment? [39] Why is this ironic? • Why does Hanson put himself on the line to save Cameron from himself? [41] • Explain what Cameron means when he says to Anthony, "You embarrass me. You embarrass yourself." • Jean tells her 'friend' that she is angry all the time. [44] Could any other characters be described this way? • Why does Hanson get 'all bent out of shape' with Peter? [45] How does this scene sum up the central issues of the film? • Many of the characters and situations previously introduced behave in ways that force us to re-evaluate them. Give examples of this from these scenes.

23. Scenes 46 - 60 (DVD Ch 20 - 22) • Following the series of plot climaxes is a series of short scenes that tie up the loose ends – dénouements. • It is both ironic and funny to see Anthony on the despised bus. But what is the symbolic importance of this action? • What is the cheque that Choi wants Kim Lee to cash? What is ironic about this scene? • Look carefully at scene 52, which cuts between Jean Cabot at home and Rick at City Hall. What does the mise en scène tell us about the relationship between Rick and Jean, between Rick and his assistant Karen? • In scenes 55 and 56, Daniel and Rick both stand inside their homes and look out. In what ways are they different? • What is the significance of scene 57? • Similarities and differences between the Cabots and the Thayers are reinforced by scenes 52 and 57. In what ways? • Why does Anthony let the Cambodians go? [59] • Writer-director Paul Haggis commented that "Anthony has learned everything and nothing." Explain what he means. • What is interesting about scenes 53 – 60, considered together? • Peter and Anthony are friends and criminals who provide the catalyst for the characters to start colliding. What other function does each have in the film?

24. CHARACTER STUDY • Pair up with someone else in the class • Draw out a character’s name • Find the quotes that best fit with your character. Get these checked off to ensure you are right! • Take a sheet of A3 paper to present your character ideas on (you will need to hand in the completed character study at the end of the lesson so work quickly). • Get creative, come up with everything you can think of, present it nicely…and check off all of the following:

25. QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT CHARACTER: • Character name clearly printed on page (group names on back) • Quotes stuck onto page • SIX adjectives • AND THEN… answer the following questions answered in relation to your character: • What strengths and weaknesses does the character have? • What does the character think and/or say about themselves? • How does the character act and react? • Is the character associated with particular settings or personal possessions? • What is the character’s background? • What beliefs and values does the character have? • How would you describe the character’s personality? • What do other characters think and/or say about the character in question? • Finally…the last question: Most of the main characters lose control of their lives at some point. Identify that moment for your particular character, and explain how, if at all, they regain it.

26. Graham Waters / Don Cheadle • World-weary black detective; the heart of the film, and the closest it has to a protagonist – he begins the film and helps to close it; is good at his job – he is in line for a major promotion. • Unmarried; has a sexual though not intimate relationship with his partner Ria. • Loves and cares for his drug-addict mother; has a criminal brother Peter whom she adores = too much to bear but he bears it. • Keeps people at a distance, even Ria; when his mother hurts him badly, he closes in on himself. • Takes exception to Flanagan's racist stereotypes, yet uses them himself. • Loses control when he compromises his integrity to save his brother; is unlikely to ever be his own man again. • RIA: Why do you keep everybody at a certain distance, huh? What, you start to feel something and panic? ... I mean, really, what kind of man speaks to his mother that way? • GRAHAM: Okay. I was raised badly. Why don't you take your clothes off, get back into bed and teach me a lesson? … Then I guess the big mystery is who gathered all those remarkably different cultures together and taught them all how to park their cars on their lawns? • MOTHER: Oh, I already know. You did. I asked you to find your brother, but you were busy. We weren't much good to you anymore, were we? You got things to do.

27. Ria / Jennifer Esposito • Hispanic detective, Graham's partner; objects to Graham's calling her Mexican yet mocks Kim Lee's English. • Comes closer to understanding Graham when she sees him with his mother at the morgue. • RIA: See, I stop when I see a long line of cars stopped in front of me. Maybe you see over steering wheel, you "blake" too! … Officer, can you please write in your report how shocked I am to be hit by an Asian driver! • RIA: You want a lesson? I'll give you a lesson. How 'bout a geography lesson? My father's from Puerto Rico. My mother's from El Salvador. Neither one of those is Mexico.

28. Anthony / Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges • Young, black, politicised, articulate; one of the 'angry' characters; provides much of the humour in the film. • Almost a protagonist – begins the action with the car-jacking and almost closes the action. • Expresses many valid observations of racism, yet treats Asians in the same way. • Violent, aggressive – though does not ever fire the gun. • Comes further than most other characters – though not as far as he might. • Loses control when Cameron fights back and wins; regains self-respect when he frees the Cambodians. • ANTHONY: And black women don't think in stereotypes? You tell me. When was the last time you met one who didn't think she knew everything about your lazy ass before you even opened your mouth, huh? • PETER: How in the lunacy of your mind is hip-hop the music of the oppressor? • ANTHONY: You have no idea why they put them great big windows on the sides of buses, do you? … One reason only. To humiliate the people of colour who are reduced to riding on them. • Yeah, you laugh, man. But you have never seen me steal from a black person ever in your life. • All scary-ass places for a brother to find himself. Drop Mo Phat at a Starbucks in Toluca Lake, that nigger will run like a rabbit soon as somebody say "decaf latte."

29. Peter Waters / Larenz Tate • Young, black, also articulate but more balanced in his outlook than Anthony; pricks the bubble of Anthony's rants on many occasions; cool, clear-headed, observer of human-nature. • Good-humoured, laughs a lot – very likeable; observer of the world – finds the world and the people in it a source of interest and amusement; Hanson thinks he is laughing at him – leads to his death. • Loses control a little when he runs from the police, but really only when he is shot by Hanson. • PETER: Love the ice-skating. When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a goalie.

30. Rick Cabot / Brendan Fraser • DA, a politician through and through – everything seen from a political perspective; haughty, image-obsessed. • No sincerity, no genuine feelings ever expressed; patronises his wife. • Uses Flanagan to sort out problems; probably is having an affair with his assistant Karen. • Loses control when he is car-jacked; quickly spins his political machine into action to manage it; is back in charge when able to use the Conklin killing to deflect attention from himself. • RICK: I'm the goddamn District Attorney of Los Angeles. If my car gets jacked, it's gonna make news. … All right. If we can't duck this thing, we're gonna have to neutralise it. What we need is a picture of me pinning a medal on a black man. • FLANAGAN: If he did his own dirty work, none of us would have jobs.

31. Jean Cabot / Sandra Bullock • Bitter, aggressive, outspoken, angry; shaken up by the threat to her security. • Takes out her feelings on her housekeeper – who is the only person who is kind to her. • Leaps to wrong assumptions based on appearance (Daniel) though has some justification for doing so. • Is shocked out of control by the car-jacking; and again by her fall, which makes her reassess her life. • JEAN: And it was my fault because I knew it was gonna happen. But if a white person sees two black men walking towards her, and she turns and walks in the other direction, she's a racist, right? Well, I got scared and I didn't say anything. And ten seconds later I had a gun in my face! … You know, didn't I just ask you not to treat me like a child? • JEAN: And I realised... I realised that it had nothing to do with my car being stolen. I wake up like this every morning! I am angry all the time, and I don't know why.

32. Cameron Thayer / Terrence Howard • Television director, upper middle class, wealthy, comfortable in his success; 'coming home from an awards show' – suggest professional status. • Has never really experienced the reality of being black and poor – but is reminded of his vulnerable position by the TV show's producer. [Is this because he is black or just a show of power regardless of race?] • Is humiliated by the treatment meted out to him – but seems to lack any appreciation of how his wife must feel after that way she was treated, which was much more invasive and offensive; self-centred? • His slipping into 'black' dialect and his ability to fight suggests he has pulled himself up from more humble origins • Loses control when Ryan stops them and roughs him up; regains it by the fire when he gets things back in perspective • CAMERON: Sooner or later you gotta find out what it is really like to be black. CHRISTINE: The closest you ever came to being black, Cameron, was watching The Cosby Show. • FRED: I mean, 'cause all I'm saying is it's not his character. Eddie's supposed to be the smart one, not Jamal, right? You're the expert here. But to me, it rings false. • CAMERON: I'm not sitting on no curb, I'm not putting my hands on my head for nobody. • HANSON: Then stand where you are and keep your hands in sight. Can you do that, huh? • CAMERON: Yeah, I can do that. • CAMERON: [to Anthony] Look at me. You embarrass me. You embarrass yourself.

33. Christine Thayer / Thandie Newton • Stylish, beautiful, assertive, gets angry at the way they are treated and speaks out. • Wants and needs comfort and support and gets none, so lashes out at Cameron because she can't at Ryan. • Loses control when assaulted by Ryan; regains it only when her husband reassures her that he loves her. • CHRISTINE: I can't believe you let him do that, baby. Look, I know what you did was the right thing. Okay? But I was humiliated! For you. I just couldn't stand to see that man take away your dignity.

34. John Ryan / Matt Dillon • White cop (Irish-American by the name – a bit of a stereotype here). • Bitter, angry, abusive, racist, – yet seems to get on well with Gomez, an Hispanic. • Ugly in his misuse of his position; imprisoned in his own bitterness. • Kind, tender, caring with his father; really suffers for his father; is powerless to help him. • Heroic in his rescue of Christine – he risks his life to pull her out. • RYAN: [to Shaniqua]: All right. You know what I can't do? I can't look at you without thinking about the five or six more qualified white men who didn't get your job. • DIXON: I understand. Your partner's a racist prick. • RYAN: Look at me, look at me. Wait till you've been doin' it a little longer. You think you know who you are, hmm? You have no idea. Yo, Gomez, you ready to roll, homey?

35. Tommy Hanson / Ryan Phillippe • Rookie cop, decent guy, tries to do the right thing; linked to Peter by the St Christopher. • Appalled by Ryan's treatment of the Thayers but helpless; has to support his partner, the senior of the two. • Wants to report it, wants to help Cameron – both times he is knocked back. • Completely misreads Peter and becomes frightened and shoots him; unable to face the consequences so dumps the body and burns his car. • Loses some measure of control when he is forced to support Ryan's behaviour; never really regains it and when he shoots Peter, we know he will never regain it. • HANSON: [to Cameron] I'm trying to help you.

36. Daniel Ruiz / Michael Peña • Mexican locksmith; called out late to change locks; always polite. • Tattoos suggest a rough past, but has settled down with Elizabeth and is trying to make a good life; unlike every other main character, he does not show a 'bad' side but is an island of quiet decency in a sea of prejudice. • Adores his daughter; is tender, gentle and sweet with her as he calms her fears; protects her against the world – ironically setting her up to put herself into real danger. • Loses some control when he screws up the job-sheet at Farhad's shop and so sets in train the near-tragic events. • DANIEL: [to Farhad]: I'd appreciate if you'd stop calling me names.

37. FarhadGolzari / Shaun Toub • Iranian /Persian; speaks some English – needs his daughter to translate complicated things - but does not read it; is taken for Arab. • Has been in America for many years – Dorri has no accent, so presumably was born in US. • Disagreeable and bad-tempered, as much the victim of his own temperament as he is of anti-Middle Eastern anger. • Buys a gun to protect his family, and ends up attacking Daniel's family with it. • Loses control when his shop is vandalised, though has seemed to be at the mercy of the world already; regains it when he faces the miracle of Lara's lack of injury – he is shocked into counting his blessings. • FARHAD: Yes, I speak English! I am American citizen. • FARHAD: Dorri, that man could've killed your mother. You think I should let crazy people do what they want to us? • DORRI: He doesn't read English. • SHEREEN: Look what they wrote. They think we're Arab. When did Persian become Arab? • FARHAD: My angel. My angel! She came to protect me. To protect us! You understand?

38. DorriGolzari / BaharSoomekh • Strong, beautiful, calm,in control. • Her father thinks he is protecting his family but she protects him from himself. • DORRI: You can give me the gun or give me back the money. And I am really hoping for the money

39. Themes in craSH Paul Haggis: “Bobby [Moresco, his co-writer] and I didn't set out to actually write anything about race or about intolerance or prejudice. We actually just started following these characters around. Early on we were intrigued by the notion of how strangers affect other strangers. And one way you judge a stranger is that he looks different from you. So the cast became black and Persian and Hispanic and white and Asian.”

40. But we haven't really been made to think, or even to feel. Crash only confirms what we already know about racism: it's inside every one of us. That should be a starting point, not a startling revelation. - Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

41. It is a narrow, ungenerous and, finally, unrepresentative view of the world, one that suggests people are correct in suspecting others as having only the worst motives. The film seems to promote an ideology of victimhood, and shoves race-based thinking to the fore of every human exchange. … A reasonably realistic and varied array of actions and responses is rejected in favour of an anxiety-provoking slate of negative motives that fulfil the drama's sociological programme, creating a blinkered view of humanity in a film that could have been employed to examine a more diverse cross-section of attitudes. -Todd McCarthy, Variety

42. But for the most part, Crash works so hard at moral instructiveness that it's tedious to watch. A universe in which we're all racist puppets is finally just as simpleminded and predictable as one in which we're all smiling multi-coloured zombies in a rainbow coalition. … In the end, Crash says, when you push a vicious racist, you get a caring human, but when you push a caring human you get a vicious racist. - David Edelstein, Slate

43. Virtually every conversation in Crash is contentious, and the participants in these conversations run into each other far too often to be believable. But I'm willing to forgive Crash its coincidences because it's never judgmental or glib about the battles its characters face. The film mourns the direction society is taking, but it is compassionate about the pressures that lead to foolish behaviour. And, although Haggis's sharp, surprisingly witty script admits there are no easy answers, it holds out hope that it's possible to change hateful behaviour. Even the 12-people-in-a-huge-city-who-keep-running-into-each-other thing works for the movie. The idea is that even a big city is smaller than it seems. The planet is tiny, Crash argues, and the differences between us insignificant. - Chris Hewitt, St Paul Pioneer Press

44. Don Cheadle, star and co-producer, disputes that the central issue is racism. • "Everybody says it's a movie about race but I don't think it is a movie about race, or, I would say, racism. At its core, it's more about power. Every character in that movie is wrestling with – is trying to find – power. Loss of power, and their place in the world, and how they affect the world, and how the world affects them."

45. BRAINSTORM = WHAT ARE THE BIG IDEAS IN CRASH? • Racism • -stereotypes • -judgements • -protection • -oppression • -prejudice • Power vs Powerlessness – the oppressors and the victims • Rich and poor (wealth) – differences between people • Small world – chance encounters • Dog eat dog city • ‘crashing’ into one another • Law – doing the right thing – compromising integrity

46. Your task… • You will get into groups of four or five. Each group should reach consensus on the three most important ideas explored in the film. Think about it: 'Racism' is not enough – must be more specific. • Each group will produce a chart/poster with three columns, with details under the following headings:

47. people's (racist) assumptions stop them seeing who is really there • Graham, Kim Lee both call Ria a Mexican • RIA: You want a lesson? I'll give you a lesson. How about a geography lesson? My father's from Puerto Rico. My mother's from El Salvador. Neither one of those is Mexico. • Farhad is thought to be an Arab • GUN SHOP OWNER: Yo, Osama… Yeah, I'm ignorant? You're liberating my country. And I'm flying 747s into your mud huts and incinerating your friends? • SHEREEN: Look what they wrote. They think we're Arab. When did Persian become Arab? • Choi is a "Chinaman" • PETER: Man, we done ran over a Chinaman. • Jean mistrusts Daniel because of his appearance • JEAN: The guy with the shaved head, the pants around his ass, the prison tattoo. • RICK: Those are not prison tattoos. • JEAN: Oh, really? And he's not gonna sell our key to one of his gang-banger friends the moment he is out our door? • plus an ironic example from Anthony • Look at us, dawg. Are we dressed like gang-bangers? Huh? No. Do we look threatening? No. Fact. If anybody should be scared around here, it's us! We're the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people patrolled by the trigger-happy L.A.P.D.

48. Grouping together people of different groups and races • All Asians are Chinese; all Hispanics are Mexican; all blacks are criminals; all cops are racist etc. • Haggis: This was something important I wanted to say – that we tend to lump all groups together. … everyone from the Middle East is an Arab. • LUCIEN: Don't be ignorant. They're Thai or Cambodian. Entirely different kind of chinks. • ANTHONY: Dopey Chinaman.

49. Use of stereotypes • ANTHONY: And black women don't think in stereotypes? You tell me. When was the last time you met one who didn't think she knew everything about your lazy ass before you even opened your mouth, huh? • GRAHAM: Ah. Then I guess the big mystery is who gathered all those remarkably different cultures together and taught them all how to park their cars on their lawns.

50. Misuse of power and authority • Ryan misuses his over Cameron and Christine • Dixon and Hanson – Hanson's genuine complaint dismissed in the name of personal ambition and career • Just like I'm sure you understand how hard a black man has to work to get to, say, where I am, in a racist organization like the L.A.P.D. and how easily that can be taken away. • Fred asserts his power over Cameron • Shaniqua misuses hers to pay Ryan back for his racism • Jean uses her position as employer to snap at Maria • Flanagan 'buys' Graham by using his ability to lose an arrest warrant • G: So all, uh... all I need to do to make this disappear is to frame a potentially innocent man?