Training Day
Training day was a present version of a bi-racial buddy cop film. The setting for the movie was
Alonzo is the black cop in this bi-racial film and also the law breaker. But he claims his corrupt method is the only way that his type of business can ever get done. Jake Hoyt does not agree, but he goes along with everything Alonzo tells him, fulfilling the sidekick role. Denzel stands out as a strong black man in which no one should mess with and the audience must recognize his blackness. But the relationship between Jake and Alonzo is not really about race but about their levels of experience, with a similarity to Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt in Se7en. It is also like a role reversal of Virgil and the police where instead of the black man with no respect and little support, Alonzo has most whipped under his control.
Jake Hoyt transforms from the timid sidekick to become the hero at the end of the movie. While Alonzo’s role shrinks from his pedestal of cop greatness to a rogue cop that eventually becomes the enemy for all that respected him when the film began.
posted by Anonymous at 3:40 PM
7 Comments:
I just question whether or not Jake ended up a hero in the end. The whole film he wanted to do the right thing, play by the book, log the evidence, take people's statements. Everything caught up to him in the end and he realized he had to take the situation into his own hands. but he relied on street justice instead of following his typical "by the book" tactics. wouldn't being heroic mean that he stuck by his morals all the way through opposed to giving into a corrupt system?
I agree that Jake and Alonzo’s outlook and way to deal with the law is completely different from one another. The setting definitely plays a large role in the film because it really displays the dominant race in the society and their views on white people. I also agree that their relationship is based on experience, but in addition to police work experience, I think it’s also about street experience. Contrary to the cop duo in Se7en, though, Jake did not have much experience as a cop and was unsure of himself. In Se7en, Mills was the younger cop, but knew what he was doing and had more knowledge and experience than Somerset had assumed.
I want to ask about the following statement that Nick blogged:
"But the relationship between Jake and Alonzo is not really about race"
Is that entirely true? Why then does Alonzo call Jake "My nigger"?
Yeah Jake was definitely ORIGINIALLY playing the sidekick role, but what about at the end. To me, Jake was THE MAN and did not even have to manipulate, threaten or scam anyone to get that power; Denzel had to. I feel this is why Denzel was betrayed at the end because he was not in the elite anymore, Jake was, and he was also no longer a sidekick, but a leader. In other words and in relation to the movie, Training Day itself, Jake became the wolf, not the sheep!
I think that the race issue played a big factor in the realtionship between Alonzo and Jake. The constant name calling ("my nigger") most likely was written into the dialouge to make Jake feel like the outsider and weak. He was being taken into a predominantly hispanic and black neighborhood where he was not wanted. Also you bring up a good point about how the hero sidekick roles were switched, however I towards the end of the movie I didn't think that Jake became the hero because he just walked away without bringing Alonzo to the police station to book him for his crimes. However I think the reason for this is one he knew that he was going to be killed by the Russians because he did not have the money and also because he would have been at risk of losing his job because Alonzo would most likely say that he had been smoking pot, drinking on the job, and had shot and killed a man for no reason
I think that the race issue played a big factor in the realtionship between Alonzo and Jake. The constant name calling ("my nigger") most likely was written into the dialouge to make Jake feel like the outsider and weak. He was being taken into a predominantly hispanic and black neighborhood where he was not wanted. Also you bring up a good point about how the hero sidekick roles were switched, however I towards the end of the movie I didn't think that Jake became the hero because he just walked away without bringing Alonzo to the police station to book him for his crimes. However I think the reason for this is one he knew that he was going to be killed by the Russians because he did not have the money and also because he would have been at risk of losing his job because Alonzo would most likely say that he had been smoking pot, drinking on the job, and had shot and killed a man for no reason
I agree with Syd that race did in fact play a huge role inthe movie. Like they said, calling Jake "my nigger" seemed to be a constant reminder that he was black, and Jake was not. Alonzo also seemed to think that his race was the dominant race in the world they were working in, he treated Jake with a "you're in my world now" kind of attitude. Also, when Jake was with all of the Spanish guys they kept calling him "ese" and "homes", once again showing that he was in their world, and he would play by their roles. They also kept calling him "white boy" in a discriminatory way, once again trying to show that he was inferior in their house.
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