Many people are still fighting and protesting to show the need for change today. In the film, The Defiant Ones, Johnny asks Cullen, “Why are you getting so mad?” and Cullen replies, “I ain’t getting mad. I’ve been mad my whole life.” (Kramer) In this scene Cullen expresses his built-up anger from dealing with the way people have always treated him for being African American. Even though this film came out in 1958, people in the United States are angry with the racists that fill our world with negativity and ignorance. Not a whole lot seems to be different considering the mass amount of racist people that flood the United States. For example, white supremacists commit disgusting hate crimes such as Dylann Roof, who shot and killed nine people
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“Ya'll can't lynch me! I'm a white man!” (Kramer) John expresses clear racism in the scene and shows that he feels he is above Cullen because of the color of his skin. John thinks he shouldn’t receive the same punishment as Cullen would get because John is a white man. Although they both were trying to rob people, he felt he had the right to live in that situation because he is not African American. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (King) We aren’t any better, yet we put ourselves up to standards that make people think they are above others, causing minorities to be treated differently. A problem with people’s egos is it gives a false sense of importance. Martin Luther King Jr. was expressing his frustration with injustice and people getting away with crimes that minorities for which wouldn’t get the same …show more content…
You're a monkey on a stick. That cracker mob back there, they pull the string and you jump.” (Kramer) Cullen is referencing the disparity of power between races at the time and lack of control of the situation. Johnny doesn’t seem to comprehend what Cullen would be going through because he had lived his entire life as a white man. This still holds relevance today considering the amount of privilege white men have as opposed to minorities. We don’t face the prejudices that are still held over them such as being immediately disliked for being different than the average white Christian man. I have witnessed this problem first hand with a relative who is extremely openly racist and prejudice towards anyone outside of his bubble, which is always uncomfortable.
Prejudice overwhelms the world with hate and ignorance when we could all be the equal human beings we are. “Bugs or people? Nobody understands anybody.” (Kramer) Regardless of what you are nobody can truly understand one and other. At this point in the film, all they have is each other to fight for their lives. They must be on equal grounds to survive otherwise they’d just end up with a mess. It’s comparing bugs to people, where people find themselves to be more important than bugs, but, the bugs don’t even have the same consciousness to think in that
“Ya'll can't lynch me! I'm a white man!” (Kramer) John expresses clear racism in the scene and shows that he feels he is above Cullen because of the color of his skin. John thinks he shouldn’t receive the same punishment as Cullen would get because John is a white man. Although they both were trying to rob people, he felt he had the right to live in that situation because he is not African American. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (King) We aren’t any better, yet we put ourselves up to standards that make people think they are above others, causing minorities to be treated differently. A problem with people’s egos is it gives a false sense of importance. Martin Luther King Jr. was expressing his frustration with injustice and people getting away with crimes that minorities for which wouldn’t get the same …show more content…
You're a monkey on a stick. That cracker mob back there, they pull the string and you jump.” (Kramer) Cullen is referencing the disparity of power between races at the time and lack of control of the situation. Johnny doesn’t seem to comprehend what Cullen would be going through because he had lived his entire life as a white man. This still holds relevance today considering the amount of privilege white men have as opposed to minorities. We don’t face the prejudices that are still held over them such as being immediately disliked for being different than the average white Christian man. I have witnessed this problem first hand with a relative who is extremely openly racist and prejudice towards anyone outside of his bubble, which is always uncomfortable.
Prejudice overwhelms the world with hate and ignorance when we could all be the equal human beings we are. “Bugs or people? Nobody understands anybody.” (Kramer) Regardless of what you are nobody can truly understand one and other. At this point in the film, all they have is each other to fight for their lives. They must be on equal grounds to survive otherwise they’d just end up with a mess. It’s comparing bugs to people, where people find themselves to be more important than bugs, but, the bugs don’t even have the same consciousness to think in that