When Peterson says this to Sgt. Waters, Sgt. Waters is shocked by it and the other soldiers move away and are pretty much saying, "Uh oh".
Why did they react the way they did to,"Well where you from, England?"
Because he was talking back to a superior- a very volatile one, at that.
shareExactly as put by "thirdrow" - it's one of my all time favourite movie lines. The tension in the scene had been building up superbly and this moment was the "breaking point" it's so beautifully delivered by Denzel and, as for Mr. Caesar's reaction? Oh yeah...
shareI disagree guys.
Right off Peterson called Sgt Waters a 'creep' and no of the other soldiers were stunned then. But the "England" comment seemed to be over the line.
The idea was that he was allegedly "more cultured", cultivated, and from a land that allegedly accepted all races (which wasn't true in England at all, for they had their own race issues).
shareBecause Water was acting superior to the other soldiers, and not just because of his rank. He didn't like the fact that the Black soldiers acted so "colored", compared to White soldiers. Pete was reminding Waters that he shouldn't forget that he was also Black and his stripes didn't matter to white soldiers.
He who is without sin, go find some. We can't wait all night.
Sarge was talking about "southern Blacks" making all Blacks look bad...Peterson knowing that most Black roots in this country are from the south..called Sarge out. regionalism and classism has been going on since before the civil war.
Sarge knows that he is either one or 2 generations removed from the south HIMSELF, so Peterson calling him out makes him look stupid.
Yep, I agree. A thought-provoking part of the story, as it shows geographical and culture prejudice in a different light. It was a really good, well-delivered line.
Objection, your Honor. You can't preface your second point with first of all.
As a former serviceman, i can say that it hurts to not be able to talk back because if you do, you can ruin your life all because you could not be quiet and take it.
and its always harder when youre black.
First, Waters made the statement about the Southern blacks being an embarrassment to the race. Being that Sgt. Waters is a black man in America, it is almost definite that his ancestry is rooted in the South.
Knowing that he isn't from England, Peterson exposed the sarge's hypocrisy and shamed him in front of the company and given the sarge's temper, the guys knew he wasn't gonna like that one bit.
"Bust shots at Big Ben like we got time to kill!"