There’s something I don’t get in the move A Bronx Tale.
After C’s friends beat up the black guys on the bikes, C goes to meet Jane at the school, where he finds out her brother is one of the guys who got beat up. And she brought her brother along. Jane’s bro identifies C as one of the guys who beat him up, even though he was really trying to help. But Jane believes her brother over C and as she is leaving to go home, C calls them niggers, at which point you would assume that any possible chance of them getting back together is gone. Especially after you see the look on Jane’s face after he says that. Sort of a look that said, I guess I was wrong about you being different.
Anyway, needless to say, Jane comes back to C, after her brother admitted he was lying and that C really was trying to help him. But he still called her a nigger! And they don’t even bring this up again, even though it was a climactic moment in the scene in front of the school.
He doesn’t apologize or anything. It’s just forgotten. And it seems to me that in the '60s, something like that wouldn’t just be forgotten.
Actullay he didn’t call her the word, he called her brother it. Her brother denied that he helped and he said something to the effect of “You know I tried to help you,you stupid nigger!” Then there was silence. Her brother says “She, I told you,there all alike…” and they walk off. He tried to apologize, but if fell on deaf ears.
When they find each other again (after C’s friends get killed), she tells him that her brother told the truth and he was right, so it may have had to do something with it. Howeer, just for the record, I was thinking the same thing. Why would you go back to someone who you know has racial tendicies? That was kind of a strange thing.
I don’t think that word was nearly as potent in the 60’s as it is today. Also, I agree with what Muldoon said. He really liked that girl, he just said it because he was miffed and he couln’t think of anything else to say.
I agree with Muldoon. The fact that this kid tried to protect the other guy (from his own friends, no less) says way more about his character than the fact that he got angry at being unfairly accused and said something really stupid.
It’s also different times. “Nigger” was still a slur, but it was a damned common one. It wasn’t exactly the Atomic Bomb of insults it is today. I think its use by someone who heard his friends and family members use it on an almost daily basis would be easier to forgive, especially when the person using it has shown with his actions that he isn’t a racist. And, of course, the attempted firebombing and inadvertant death of all of the main character’s friends was probably a strong example of what happens when you hold onto your hate instead of forgiving.
I wanted to watch A Bronx Tale tonight. Mean Streets was on at the same time. Due to the fact that I don’t know how to use my video, and the fact that I was still in the pub when the films started, I was unable to watch either.
I saw A Bronx Tale again last night. Yes, it’s a great film and well worth renting.
I think the previous posts have explained well enough why Jane was able to forgive C. It was a stupid slip of the tongue on his part while he was being falsely accused, and his other actions demonstrate that he isn’t a racist (his affection towards her, for instance, and that he frequently disagrees with his friends about their objections to the black guys appearing in their neighbourhood).
A couple of minor corrections: the reconciliation between Jane and C takes place immediately before the firebombing not after it, and the firebombing was more than just attempted - it was tragically successful, even though the bombers came off worse.