Fast question..forgive me. But does the son end up going to the Knicks game instead of his dad's concert? I never understood that part. Because he comes in looking all depressed, saying how the Knicks are world champs...and I didn't know if he was depressed because he missed it...or because he felt bad he didnt go to his dad's concert.
shareYes he was depressed that he went to the game and missed his dad's concert. Man just the sound in his voice always gets to me.
shareI always thought he went to the game since I didn't see him at the concert. I thought he felt bad that he went to the game instead of his dad's concert. He was coming from outside and I thought he would have been at the table already with his family if he didn't go to the game.
But maybe he didn't go. That scene was unclear to me as well.
You know what, thats new to me to, I also thought he went to the game and he was feeling bad that he didn't choose to go to his fathers concert...I'm watchin' it right now...I'll have to pay more attention... Cause I don't recall seeing him in the concert hall.
sharehe definitely went tto the game. i dont think he would have WATCHED IT ON TV instead of going to the concert lol i woulda went to the game too....shoot, thats money wasted. knicks arent ALWAYS playing but my dad would be and hes family so he can forgive haha.....CLINTON WENT TO THE GAME, most definitely. yeah like the other person said HE WOULDA BEEN AT THE TABLE ALREADY.
shareHe went to the game. He felt guilty because he made the choice, and missed an important night in his dad (and family's) life. great movie.
shareI don't think that was such a big deal though. Your dad can have another concert, your team's championship might not come around again.
But I don't think his dad's feeling were hurt because Clinton missed the game, I think he felt bad that he put his son through that predicament. He had already put the mom in a predicament by not contributing to the household cause of his wanting to be a musician. I think at the table he realized what his decisions were doing to his family.
If I was in that situation, I would have 100% gone to the knicks game. I can't beleive it was even a question.
You down with o.p.p.?share
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Here it is...Clinton did not go to the game...he went to the concert...he comes in sad because he misssed his favorite team win the NBA championship...I can relate to his situation.
shareHe went to the game. Otherwise, he would have already been inside with everybody else.
shareI thought so too. My boyfriend thinks otherwise. So I thought to "start" a thread. lol Clintion wasn't missing this game for the world. And I don't think his mom forced him to either. I didn't see him at the concert, nor the kitchen table. He was torn that's all.
shareOk, maybe he did go to the game...but why was he so sad? I would have come thru the door hollering "the knicks are world champions, whoot, whoot!". "Sorry I missed your concert dad". "The knicks are world champions, whoot, whoot!".
shareyou are correct. he WOULD have been happy if he were at the game, but he wasn't. he still had his suit on - no kid wears a suit to a basketball game. besides, where would he get the money ? the family was struggling. NBA games is 'spensive.
the first thing he did when he got home from the concert was to check with his boys to see who won the game. he came inside and sadly gave his report.
I would be sad if my team won and I missed it. They didn't have ESPN back then right??? He can't get highlights!
shareOK, nobody posted on here since last month, but here it is. That incident is based on a real incident that happned in the Lee household. Spike talks about it in his book, That's My Story And I'm Sticking To It. He did go to the game. Clinton is based on Spike, however a few years younger than he was in real life, and in real life Spike went to the game. Spike still says that he was glad he went to the game, but in the film, I think Clinton is guilty.
shareClinton did go to the game, Ebert alluded to it in his review of the movie:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19940513/REVIEWS/405130301/1023
i guess i see it differently from everyone else. I felt that clinton was depressed because his dad wasn't at the game with him. I didnt think he felt guilty he missed the dad's concert.
shareI agree, bc he had two Knicks tickets. So I always thought that he was sad bc his dad was supposed to be at the game with him
shareClinton definitely went to the game. He was sad because he felt he disappointed his father. If you look close enough you'll see that he's not wearing a suit. It's a t-shirt, jeans or corduroys, and a jacket. And if you remember he had tickets. Even if they were for an earlier game, it shows that he somehow manages to get tickets to see the Knicks. Also, when he comes in the father tells him there's ice cream and cake. If he was already there he would have known that. It's also obvious that the game was longer than the show because everybody was completely settled around the table when Clinton came in the house.
As far as the other posts regarding a championship game vs. your father's first and possibly only concert, I would feel bad if I made the same decision Clinton made. It's obvious the concert meant a lot to his father and he would have liked it if ALL of his friends and family could have been there (with the obvious exceptions of course). If you noticed, the father wasn't too upset. I think most of his disappointment was due to the fact the concert wasn't a success. Clinton not going just added to it.
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This is my fav movie. And clinton went to the game. He didn't have on a suit he had on a jacket and jeans. I can't believe 14 years later yall asking this question.
shareWhen I first saw it, I thought Clinton was supposed to watch the game on tv, but instead went to the concert, then came home upset because the game had already went off.
shareThe ticket that Clinton had that Troy stole were Knicks Celtics tickets. She stole the tickets prior to leaving, and if you follow the NBA, those two teams are in the EAST. He didn't have the tickets to the finals, so he was all depressed that he didn't be able to watch the game and was forced to go to the concert that sucked.
Even the mom explains, "we were trying to get your dad's emotions up" or something along those lines, " and it was working until..." and they show that. The kid was pissed off that he had to go to the show.
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Aries_Angel81, ITA with your post. I just watched it today. Clinton felt disappointed b/c he felt that he disappointed his father for not going to his concert. Also I think that the father was disappointed because it wasn't a bigger success. Remember Alfre's character said that they were trying to lift the husband's spirits up & it was working until Clinton came in. I remember when I first saw this movie & when he was giving his concert & then they were showing the audience. It only had his family & friends in it. I felt so bad for him b/c I know that he tried.
shareHard for me to believe that they could get Finals Tickets
But Maybe he was feelin guilty that he didnt go the concert, i didnt see him with the rest of the kids at during the concert scene so he probably did go
Clinton was sad because he was psychic, and therefore knew this was the last time The Knicks would be NBA champs.
~~
Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn't already have.
Yeah. That shows he's a good father. He knew his son was already feeling upset/guilty and so he didn't rub it in.
sharehe is not wearing a suit and they show all the kids sitting at the concert except him then he walks in ashamed of himself and mad his father made him make that decision at the same time.He did NOT go to the concert
shareHe went to the concert. Look closely at the concert scene, and you'll see him in the audience. Clinton was sad about missing the game.
shareNo question that he went to the concert. How in the heck could he afford a NBA Championship ticket and they could not even pay the light bill? If he had purchased a ticket there would not even be a question if he would of went to the game. They were very hard to come by and very expensive. And he was just a kid who was he going with? There was no question the choice was not actually going to the game but watching it on TV. Oh and if this was the 1973 Championship the Knicks won in LA.
shareNot sure if he went to the concert or not (as I didn't look that closely at the audience) however, he did have tickets. Two actually. The same tickets Troy stole from his bulletin board along with his Buffalo nickles. Who was the other ticket for? Not sure. I just always assumed it was for his dad. Sure they were poor but who knows, maybe he won them or they were a gift from someone. Just a guess.
I want my old man back! -Diana Ross, Mahogany
Actually they were not poor they were middle class. I just think it was hole in the script. Because I cannot see anybody assuming their son will go to their fathers concert if he hard hard to come by playoff tickets. And when I talk about the Knicks I really mean hard to come by. lol What was he going to do with the tickets scalp them? It makes no sense.
shareYou're right, they weren't poor. My mistake. But since he did have 2 Knicks tickets and his mom told him to make a decision, people usually just assume that he had tickets to the playoffs game since they never mentioned any other game (besides the game he watched on tv). Oh, & I agree, I totally believe Knicks tickets were hard to come by...they still are lol
Then again, as I was typing that, I just thought about something...
Those tickets he had earlier in the movie most likely weren't to the playoffs game because how did he have them so far in advance? Like, he had them before Troy even left to go stay with Viola for the summer. Granted, i'm not sure of the timeframe in which he got the tickets and when the game actually was. Additionally, I know very little about obtaining playoff tickets (even more so back in the day lol) esp since i've never tried. Idk, maybe we're supposed to just assume he got some tickets to the championship game somehow? Because it still feels like Spike Lee intended for viewers to think he chose the game over the concert because she told him to choose. And why am I dissecting the movie like this? I have no idea lol I just like Spike Lee Joints :)
I want my old man back! -Diana Ross, Mahogany
The movie is currently on youtube. Clinton went to the concert. He is sitting by himself several rows behind his family. As to why he's not sitting with his family at the dinner table, he might have left the house to let off steam, maybe gone to a friends house, and caught the end of the game.
Jack "Things could be worse"
Hurley "...HOW?!"
Or, he didn't come in the house with everybody else because he stopped to ask somebody if the Knicks won.
The truth is mightier than the sword.
his dad seemed to enjoy sports and i couldn't figure out (i've only seen it once) if he really did goto the game when i first thought about it. when i saw him walk in to the family, i figured he went to the game.
it really weirded me out though that he was depressed cause i would have thought he would have been excited and same with his father.
in my family, it would have been excusable to go to anything championship instead of like a family event (that has probably happened more than once)
I've ALWAYS been confused by this section of the film. If the kid had Knicks-Celtics tickets, he definitely didn't go to Game 7, because the Knicks won it in Boston Garden. And I KNOW he didn't have a bus or train ticket! And it couldn't have been Game 7 of the finals, because the Knicks beat the Lakers in L.A. I was a teenager in '73, but I can't remember if the playoffs were broadcast live or on tape delay after 11:30 EST. (Yes, children, it wasn't until the early 80's that NBA playoff games had enough juice to be aired live)
Another thing I could never understand is why did Woody put on a solo piano concert and who would've promoted it. He didn't seem to be well known enough to be able to sustain such a performance. I mean, he wasn't Cecil Taylor or Keith Jarrett. And in a pre-Internet/Facebook/You Tube world, he would've hard-pressed to advertise the concert. Should've at least hired a drummer and bass player.
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"