La Haine

After we watched this movie in class, I was literally angry for the rest of the night for some reason! I did enjoy the movie, but conflict seems to make me not feel so hot, so I was a little shaken after. I didn't like how very disrespectful Vinz was to his family and other adults. Maybe it would be different if I were from the same background and country, but it threw me when he swore so much! My favorite part of the film was the story of the man falling, I felt it described the story and other aspects of the riots very well. So many things happened in this movie, it was difficult to keep track of it all at some points. The boys were very enthralled in the drama and rioting, yet they seemed numb at the same time. When they went to their friends house and he told them about how people burned his car, the one pride he really had, they laughed about it and were too concerned with watching the television. I found that shocking when I watched that. Concerning the lack of females in the film, I found it appropriate. The focus of males created a perfect environment for hate and masculine fighting. This idea goes with our discuss of gender codes from the first three weeks well. Men represent masculine fighting and "ruling" most situations. The women were home bound and filled the role of mothers and sisters. The one scene of Vinz's mother and sister depicts them bothering him as well as serving him. The women in the art gallery or showing were vessels for the boys' disrespectful banter. They thought they could "use" them for what they wanted, when in actuality they were making fools of themselves in front of a presumably higher class societal group.

I believe in the idea that "hate breeds hate". It was obvious during the movie that the boys actions were based on the others actions. They lived in an area that was ruled by hardship and older examples of hate. The parents supported the actions of their children and taught the kids that the fault lies on the shoulders of the officials and police. The fact that the rioters believed it was the police's fault and that they should be the people prosecuted seemed ridiculous, yet normal to them because of some seed planted in their minds. They witnessed the cops trying to reprimand against the riots and law breakers, and they saw that as the cops as the "bad people" or antagonists. Vinz was angry that his friend, Abdel, was comatose. He directly blamed the cops or the "pigs" as he referred to them, for the state he was in. Instead of visiting hhim in the hospital and working to help end the small war, he spent his day smoking weed, cussing, drinking, and doing absolutely nothing beneficial to help himself or his society. His character was a coward who would rather assimilate with society, than do what was right.