We can disagree on this one. But I am not sure I understand you
last line about diamonds and silk?
Not that it is necessary to have a conversation but there ofttimes need to be a place of common understanding and shared knowledge. There are certain things that you say and positions that you take that suggest you are either quite young, not familiar personally with the USA or not extensively well travelled.
Diamond and Silk are two characters popular in Conservative circles and darlings of the Right because they actively and cartoonishly support Donald Trump. They elicit the same response as the Black man standing right behind Trump at one of his, ahem, rallies smiling and grinning not because he is mentally unstable but because he realizes how to get notoriety from the opportunity presented.
True, that's reasonable, and even logical, but logic and reason does not rule a traumatized mind - remember the boat with the chicken salesman. Point 1.
The scene with the chicken merchant doesn't speak to why or how Paul should be a Trump supporter or not. It speaks to Paul's lingering and persistent untreated PTSD for things that really happened in Vietnam and to his increasing paranoia for things that he may have seen.
Point 2 - That is a lot of analysis for a director to expect the viewer to do and understand while watching the movie, which is another reason to deemphasize it.
Spike Lee does indeed feed the viewer a lot of information. He does this to make you think and to start a conversation because this mistreatment has been going on since, well,
forever. Norm is the Squad's muse and the viewer's mentor, and yes the burden is on you to connect the dots, fill in the blanks and know the difference. How Paul got the way he was is laid out pretty clear. The movie is layered with images and dialog that compels you to re-watch, re-listen and expand your knowledge to understand, to connect deeper and with empathy to these characters and individuals when you have not walked in their shoes and don't really KNOW them.
Everyone wants the gold - they all wanted the gold and planned for each of them to split it and do what they wanted with it. It is not only Trump supporters that are greedy.
We can disagree on this one. But I am not sure I understand you
last line about diamonds and silk?
No one has ever said that all Trump supporters are greedy. The disagreement you are having is with your own position as the evidence is laid out on screen and in the dialog of the various characters on screen. Sure they all wanted the gold but it was Paul who was driven by ego, power, selfishness, guilt and greed much more than the others. In the end the compromise was made by dispersing the proceeds to what the film deems worthy organizations and causes, as well as helping each of the surviving families. For now Paul's share (which he bequeathed to Norm) may or may not still be lost. Paul never abandons that MAGA hat though and if you watch closely the only people who don that cap are Greedy men or driven by greed; Paul, Desroche and Quan (the hired merc).
Greed is not a mental instability.
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brux (14840)
5 years ago
> The scene with the chicken merchant doesn't speak to why or how Paul should be a Trump supporter or not.
That scene establishes the PTSD. The PTSD obsession is what explains his state of mind and that he is a Trump supporter.
I get it now that you are a Trump supporter as well, so of course this is going to be hard for you to see or agree with, in the same way that Paul cannot see his PTSD or deal with it.
Nice chatting with you.
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