LaVar Hosting Jeopardy July 26-30 Stan Account 👁

What’s with the annoying, angry article in today’s @nytimes about the movie Three Billboards? The author writes as if it’s terribleness is fact. Umm, it isn’t and it isn’t. I loved it. Martin McDonagh is rad. So it the cast, the story, the performances. It’s awesome. #odd

Here's the problem in simple terms: the racist cop gets redeemed, but his redemption has absolutely nothing to do with black people or atoning for his crimes against black people.

This tells me the film isn't invested in black people beyond as a way to signal that a white character is Bad. In 2018, if police brutality/racism is just a lazy shorthand for bad person and you have no interest in the actual POC affected, that's... really bad.

also if you find objecting to racism "angry" and "annoying"... that's really REALLY bad too. Even if you feel that way, surely you have the good sense and media training not to say it on twitter...

The movie didn't redeem him though. He didn't get his job back and ended the film on a road trip to kill a guy. The movie wasn't saying he's a good guy now in the same way McDormand's character wasn't necessarily in the right. It's meant to be ambiguous and start discussion.

Yes! And I think it would have been too neat/unrealistic if he had changed in his racism. That was simply a part of his personality, and the film wasn't about that part. It should be ok to feature three-dimensional racist characters in *stories* just like any other sort.

Doing so doesn't mean the racism is OK, just that the story isn't simplistic.

k but do you get why today, in 2018, with police brutality all over the news, and all over our lives, we might be a little miffed that police brutality is treated as a minor background detail in the life of a sympathetic character?