Gender + ethnicity in Nightcrawler
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Nightcrawler
fromRwithlove — 10 years ago(November 07, 2015 07:40 AM)
The director/writer considered race and gender issues in the US when writing: the news was always after the contrast, e.g., white females who were burglarized by blacks from outside the suburbs.
Thus his choice to cast a black female as the only character that is truly on to the scope of Lou's ("white male") moral perversity/criminality strikes me as significant, especially given her impotence to prove his crimes. Or that Lou's exploited assistant, Rick, is latino-looking, in a state that exploits hispanics to the end in agriculture. It's almost over the top in its metaphorical meaning.
Add to that the subtext of Lou being sexually coercive/rapey/open to domestic violence, and he's an amalgam of all the abuses of power that a person can legally get away with in modern society.
It's pretty clear that the movie is a (phenomenal) allegory for unconstrained capitalism. Fantastic satire and critique of society. -
fromRwithlove — 10 years ago(November 17, 2015 12:02 PM)
I'm not saying it's the main point of the movie - there are plenty of threads on here that talk about more obvious aspects - just that it might be a commentary on how white, charming dudes can get away with quite a bit. Maybe I'm overanalyzing other characters, but directors make choices, and sometimes there's a reason behind them.
Also, what's with the belligerent comment? It's a movie interpretation thread: you go take a walk until you no longer feel the need to overuse caps lock and beeps. -
KingCobra686 — 10 years ago(December 22, 2015 07:20 PM)
One of the characters in this movie specifically says that crimes involving rich white people are more profitable for the station than crimes involving poor minorities. With a statement like that, you cant deny that there is some element of racism as a theme in thie movie.
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Strazdamonas — 10 years ago(February 14, 2016 10:28 PM)
since ALL people are PoC (well except albinos i guess, but thats a rare medical condition) and all people, regardless of thier skin colour, has experienced racism, this is aboslutely nonsensical statenet.
Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually. -
bezorta — 9 years ago(June 23, 2016 05:45 PM)
Thing is, the kind of racism that you encounter might be a world different compared to what someone else is forced to live through 24/7. Just saying. The difference could be described as having a strict father compared to having a father that beats the ever-living s**t out of you every single day. And both can be called a tough upbringing. Ya, right
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Lyrakill — 9 years ago(July 13, 2016 04:39 AM)
Uhh no. Racism is defined as words or actions by the majority race against an oppressed minority. If you're the oppressed minority, you can't be racist. You can be prejudiced, but not racist; those two things are very different.
It would be better if everyone understood the difference between racism and prejudice. -
Strazdamonas — 9 years ago(July 16, 2016 12:26 AM)
Absolute nonsense. Racism is defined as treating somone differently based on his skin colour, ethnicity, ect. This is the official definition used by United Nations worldwide. What you are using is a lunatic made up definition touted by morons that never experienced racism in their life.
Resistance is impolite, Friendship is mandatory. -
SmartBlonde0 — 10 years ago(December 01, 2015 12:28 AM)
TxMike, read the full post. The OP doesn't talk about just race. The OP discusses gender and capitalism as well. I think it's a brilliant analysis. Nice try on reading comprehension though; maybe you'll do better next time.
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hiitsmewutsup-953-300236 — 10 years ago(December 23, 2015 10:20 PM)
Yeah. I didn't like as a Hispanic how he has no problem picking on latinos as generic minority criminals. Clearly, he's too beep terrified to portray blacks that way. So we make an easy target. beep this Dartmouth beep who wrote/directed this? Also, this movie seems to take place in an alternate universe where people are unable to recognize a very obvious sociopath who pretty much tells people TO THEIR FACE that he's using them for personal gain (!). Weird, but interesting movie. Casually racist, instead of just touching on the issue of racism (how it wishes to be perceived).