"Prisoners" is a top-notch "Saturday-afternoon" thriller. It will literally keep you on the edge of your seat. The theater was so quiet during the film you could hear every popcorn crunch.
Not to spoil it, I won't tell you anything about it, except to say that the young daughters of two close families go missing and the worse is feared. But there is also something else missing.
One family portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello, go with their two children to a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of friends Terrance Howard and Viola Davis. Outstanding acting all around, by the way.
In the early scenes the couples do what friends do -- the adults drink, gossip, dish, and laugh, while the children, in another room tend to their own childhood entertainment.
What's missing here is any acknowledgment at all that one couple is white and the other is black. Not one comment about race in America, or Obama. Not one corny ethnic joke or any hint of racial tension (or even awareness of race for that matter) in this small suburban Pennsylvania town. Its as if this is perfectly - well normal.
Maybe it is. But this is the movies, and most films are either "white" or "black." And although its a lot easier to identify the "black" ones, we can also readily identify the obligatory "black" characters superimposed in white silhouette in films and TV shows.
But "Prisoners," perhaps because of its strong writing, acting and fast pace, leaves the race question at the gate shortly after the film begins. There were brief moments when I wondered if the two families would be treated differently by the various authorities, but there was not even a subtle trace of that.
That is a good thing, and maybe art is lagging behind imitating life in issues of how we "all get along."
But I am not one who believes we are "post-racial" because President Barack Obama is - well is he black or bi-racial? I guess either is a sign of progress.
We as a society are not post-racial in the same sense that we say post season. Post season is a similar phrase, in that it means something very different by how one is affected by it. If your team made the playoffs that's one thing. If it did not, then you will have to wait until another season has come and gone.
Clearly - and thankfully - there are many in this society, especially those under 40, for whom racial identification will have less of an impact on their lives. That of course is mostly true of those who have adequate income and education level, a fact subtly made in "Prisoners." Although clearly not wealthy, both families own more than comfortable homes, have more than one car, and Viola Davis is a veterinarian. There is no harbinger of a plant closing or of businesses fleeing the town. All of this makes it a bit easier to seem post-racial.
But in the world outside of the film, it is still nearly impossible to get many people's heads around the fact that those uncomfortable, buzz-killing issues over race are still front and center in the lives of many. Just try to get major league sports teams to understand that they should not use logos and names that are offensive depictions of American Indians. They cling to those characterizations like some southerners cling to the Confederate flag - symbol of a war they lost nearly 150 years ago.
And as much as they try to deny it there are elected officials in Washington willing to bring the nation and perhaps eventually even the world, to the brink of financial collapse because the President is not white.
There's nothing naive about "Prisoners" in the way it deals with child abduction and the human drama that accompanies it. Ultimately it is not naive about race either. Some people get past it. And getting past it is a big step towards getting over it.
But for many people its wait until next season....
No comments:
Post a Comment