>But I think that the movie did wrong to so many people in death row and
>in prisons by overlooking the race and class issue. And this is why I
>didn't like the movie. In my mind the movie (and also the film industry)
>is diminishing and underestimating the whole issue by portraying just the
>white side of the "problem". The movie doesn't even ask why there are so
>many people in prisons and death row? Why so many African Americans and
>Latinos? Why so many uneducated, drop outs, working class people? Why?
>Why to put money on prisons and police force? Why not to schools and
>education?
>
>Jonna Roos
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If I read your critique correctly, you didn't like the film because you
felt it wasn't political enough - it did what it did perfectly, but it
wasn't what you wanted it to do.  Given this position, how can you like any
film?  This is probably the most politically engaged film that's come out
of Hollywood this year (or longer) - the only film I saw this year that
comes close was the British film Priest.  Would you rather see a film that
doesn't try to engage politically than one that does but doesn't meet your
standards of defining the issue?
 
Any film (or TV program, etc.) must make choices as to what aspects of any
issue to present.  You seem to be calling for a political polemic to be
filmed - personally, while I agree with the political position you hold, I
can't imagine that a film that dealt with those issues could be anything
but heavyhanded and preaching-to-the-converted.  Robbins, who I'm sure
believes in a similar political position as well, chose to make a complex,
nuanced, non-preachy film that didn't simplify the issues.  This choice is
admirable, as the film forces people to engage with and confront the issues
emotionally; a polemic wouldn't require or encourage that type of
participation.
 
My disagreement here is not just with you, but with the general position
your critique seems to represent, which is very common within the "left"
(whatever that means these days): if someone tries to make a fairly
progressive political film, it gets knocked for not doing it all.  Look at
the response to Philadelphia for another example.  The end result seems to
be more films that are politically disengaged or underlyingly conservative
(maybe those are the same things).
 
-j
 
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