unfamiliar territories

Once again, i think it was a very well produced movie, especially when compared to the techniques used in In the Heat of the Night. I also like how they shied away from both the typical cop-buddy racial depictions, and the hero sidekick roles. First off, i like how it addressed not just black and white, but also latinos. As we have seen throughout the films, one side of the buddy system is always coming into someone elses territory. Here the white boy is coming into the black man's world, which even though Mills comes into Somersets world, the reason race isn't exactly an issue is because that particular city isn't about race, its about humanity as a whole. Here, the continuous scenes and streets are filled with minorities, "the jungle" is basically the black jungle, and then there is the latino community. Both of these are tough and hardened, and Alonzo relates to that and believes it is his world and even tells Jake not to come there without him. The way that Alonzo calles Jake "my nigga" means that he is coming into his world, since in his world it looks to us like whites are the minority, and its good to be a "nigga". By calling Jake "my nigga", it shows that Alonzo is trying to relate to him, make them the same, and it almost makes Alonzo feel better about his corrupt self. This definitely goes back to King's point that the cop and criminal are similar, and Alonzo definitely gets a rush beating up people rather than simply arresting them. The reoccuring question "Do you wanna go to jail or you wanna go home?" shows Alonzo's arrogance, placing the role of judging and justice in his hands. That's why the comment "King Kong ain't got shit on me" fits so well later in the film. His arrogance is what makes me happy to see him finally die at the end (by a million and one bullets).