when the condor asks the group of black people in the lobby if they had a coat hanger and if they could help him break into his car
but here's the real racist line:
"You can't tell me you've never busted into a car."
Maybe you should go lie down in the corner and cry yourself to sleep. Poor baby.
We applied Rule .303. We caught them and we shot them under Rule .303!
I agree. It's a racist line. There's underlying stereotypes.
shareThere's sometimes a thread of truth behind stereotypes.
You're blind, unobservant, or just plain stubborn if you refuse to believe that.
And you're blind, unobservant, and just plain stubborn if you think walking up to a random black person on the street and asking, "Excuse me -- I'm sure you know how to break into cars, so could you help me?" is just speaking the truth.
It's amazing how many people in this thread cannot deal with the obviously correct observation from the OP. There's a clearly racist line thrown into this film -- deal with this reality. Not being able to accept such a trivial point is very indicative of larger issues in this culture today.
It's not racist period. He makes that statement because you had to use a hanger back in 1975 if you locked your keys in your car. I can remember my mother locking her keys in the car and asking someone if they had a hanger in their car. There was no slim Jim's, the cops didn't come out, and very few people had any kind of roadside service in the 1970's.
shareThis is true ! Opening a locked car with a coat hanger back then was as commonplace a skill as changing one's tire. So, it was a very reasonable assumption on his part that someone in that younger crowd he approached would have the street-wise savvy to have acquired it.
I haven't had to use it since the 90's when I accidentally locked my keys inside my 1977 Chrysler Plymouth Volare, late one winter night.
And let's not forget that Redford's character was a "reader" ( researcher , for the CIA ) and had amassed a diverse array of practical knowledge through his profession as evidenced progressively during the movie, adding further credibility to his assumption.
I agree, but it was 1975 so I guess we're just lucky he didn't say "boy" at the end of it ;)
shareOnly a racist redneck would use 'boy' that way, which Turner certainly wasn't.
share***Only a racist redneck would use 'boy' that way, which Turner certainly wasn't.***
could someone explain me why? i'm not american or english obviously... :)
thank you!
I have just watched that scene again and if anyone saw racism in that scene they are the real racists because they were the ones who saw colour rather than just a bunch of kids.
shareHe walked up to a black guy, and - knowing nothing about him - said something like, "Don't try to tell me you've never broken into a car before."
If you can't see potential racism there, then you're so ignorant that you have no business pointing fingers at anyone.
lol i think it's hilarious. lmao
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"You are literally too stupid to insult."
"Thank you."
[deleted]
C'mon, 1975 New York wasn't 1955 Montgomery.
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
and your point is?
shareI think the OP's point was that there's a racist line thrown into this film. What is your point in asking what the OP's point was?
shareand again? so what? it's a movie. it shows reality. don't see any problem with that. there is racism in many movies. still don't see what the point is other than showing off he's great at spotting racism...
btw it was no racism as there was a white girl in the bunch as well. so even at that he fails.
So what you haven't quite thought through but seem to want to imply is that racism shouldn't be discussed and anyway it should be denied. Defensive much? Really that hard to admit there was an off-color line in the film? It doesn't mean you have to condemn the entire movie, or that you have to work to cleanse yourself if you like the film.
share So I assume everyone telling the OP to get over it would be white correct?
Condor's a great film, that part did have me raising an eyebrow though. However whether the films specifically being racist, or it's our knee jerk culture that sees it as racist.. well I don't know.
"Snows always melt"
oh, how i love that i was raised in a society that thought that a line in a movie is just a line in a movie... not today where everyone screams racism and where everyones head is so up their asses...
p.s. young people in the 70s and 80s knew how to break in a car, because it was so easy back then, and because we used to break in and steal our parents cars for fun... until we got caught and then we'd regret it :D
Interesting that Houseman's line while speculating on Condor's motivation has had "homo" excised from the mention of "sexual".
What I had in mind was boxing the compass.share
Best comment so far....from dead head....
shareSo I assume everyone telling the OP to get over it would be white correct?
"My brain rebelled, and insisted on applying logic where it was not welcome."share
Occupy much?
shareThe teens were just a gang of punks hanging out. As I recall, they were of mixed race (ha, only in the movies!). OP sees a black face and throws down the race card with a vengeance. As Arthur Spooner might have observed, 'Cry me a river!!'...
Condor was problem-solving, not being racist.
Hi, Bob.
I noticed the line, but I also noticed two other things that might have influenced the character's use of the racist line.
1) Turner is trying to get people to go outside with him to shelter him so he can evade Joubert. He knows it will be dangerous to go outside alone, so he is trying whatever way he can to goad the people to go outside with him.
2) When Turner is outside, he breaks away from the group well before reaching his car, though it is unclear exactly how he explains he no longer needs help getting into the supposedly locked car.
It may very well have been that Turner's ploy was to anger the people enough so they would chase him outside, providing the cover he needed. At any rate, Turner's motivation in the scene is clear, and the racist remark is more likely used as a tactic than as an expression of his own prejudices.
That is why Turner wouldve killed Joubert when he got off the elevator and stood there. DumBBB Plottt Holeee
shareSo if it was a group of all white kids, you wouldn't have a problem with it? Have YOU never had to break into your car because you left your keys in it?
shareIn the 70s, it was fairly easy to use a coat hangar to get into a locked car. Less so these days. Pretty much every car owner I've ever known has had to "break in" to their own car, or do it for a friend (or sometimes stranger), due to people locking their keys in the car. We didn't have dinging bells and flashing lights to tell us the keys were in there. I'm white and can certainly imagine someone saying that to me in those days. No racism.
shareWell said.
share