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• presumably an addict (classic “deadbeat mother“)

• lived alone

• does not take care of herself

• heavily relies on others

• had a falling out with Peter and now wants to reconnect with him.

• tasks Graham to find Peter (who is involved in gang violence)

• assumed it was Peter who brought her groceries

Peter seems to be her favourite child

• Blames Graham and his job for Peter’s death

• has a very minor role, mainly to show det. Graham’s personal struggles

• is extremely hard on Graham

--> She represents the overwhelmed lower-class single parent; neglected by society/ government

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Key characteristics:

LAPD cop

Racist, always blaming Black people

Fearless and heroic

Short temper

feels like someone owes him

Power hungry

Has a sick Dad

Has no chill, he insults black people personally and on the phone.

Sexually assaults someone and abuses his power.

He is very brave, as he saves someone he assaulted from a burning car.

He represents racial bias

He represents how people are capable of complex and contradictory actions.

He represents the fact that all actions have consequences.

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Key Characzeristics

irritable

sulky / moody

angry: Projects this anger onto other people, especially people of colour, while one major reason for her anger is the fact that she is lonely

distrusting

realises that Maria is her only real "friend"

Characters connected to:

Rick Cabot: Husband

Maria: her loyal Salvadorian maid

Represents...

...the challenge of dealing with racial prejudices

--> carjacking episode deepens her suspicions of all colored people

...the wealthy and luxurious life in America

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-successful

-Works as a detective at the DA

-was offered a new leading position at DA by superior

->wanted a black person to represent the communities

-rejected because of criminal record of brother

->"blacks can't keep hands out of the cookie jar"

-inner conflict

->caring for his mother (but talks to her in a disrespectful way on the phone)

->is not appreciated

->Brother is seen as better by mother (he fills fridge)

-honest (reports large amount of cash to superior)

-struggles to balance work and family

-serious

-Context

-represents to some degree the American dream

->through hard work was able to escape poverty

->mom and brother less fortunate

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Politician/District attorney, who tries not to appear as racist to the public and keep his good PR. This he does by not wantig to share too many bad news about "other races".

He is a person who is slightly biased ( eg. when he said the mexican firefighter was basically black) but does not want to be seen as such.

Aka. He represents the political aspect of manoeuvring through the difficult theme of racism, while trying to please all people for example:, whites, blacks, racists, ...

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Key Characteristics : Cameron Thayer

Wife: Christine Drayer Thayer

Cameron Thayer is a successful television director. He drives the same model of car as the Cabots, and he and his wife, Christine, are pulled over during the night of the carjacking. It is significant that both he and Christine are light-skinned—their appearance further complicates their relationship with their racist society. After he fails to intervene as Christine is sexually assaulted by Officer Ryan, Cameron’s marriage begins to deteriorate. We learn that Cameron faces discrimination in his professional life, and he attempts to hide his frustrations in an effort to conform to his white-dominated workplace. After Christine’s assault, we begin to see Cameron’s anger. When Anthony and Peter attempt to carjack his vehicle, his fury explodes—he is willing to risk losing his life in order to fight back against his aggressors. While Christine tries to confront Cameron about her racial identity, Cameron remains unable to voice his true feelings. In this regard, Cameron is characterized as possessing feelings of both rage and shame.

He believes in peace over conflict at first

Cameron represents how Black professionals often feel forced to suppress anger to survive

challenges racial stereotypes

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Key characteristics:

Married to Cameron

sensitive to racism

confident and educated

Emotionally vulnerable and traumatized

sexuallly assaulted by officer John Ryan

Represents: Resistance to Racial Submission

Shows how racism can tear marriages apart (submission vs. resistance)

Shows how women (of colour) are mistreated by authority figures while they are part of the most vulnerable parts of society (and need the most protection)

Shows how victims of sexual assault need support (e.g. by her husband, who is unable to provide this because of his own internal conflicts)

victim of police brutality

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LAPD officer

believes in fairness and doing the right thing

Is Ryan's partner (he was there when Ryan treated the Thayer couple unfairly but didn't do anything against that)

Later let's Cameroon go when he was stopped by the police

He tries to treat people fairly and is aware of people's racial bias, like when he helps Peter with a ride, but ends up shooting Peter due to moment of fear and racial bias.

Scared / Quiet

He does not turn himself over

His story challenges the idea that "good intentions" are enough in a racist system (e.g. police department).

He wants to be different, but his enviornment shapes his thoughts and actions (= shows the impact of one's environment).

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Key characteristics: Professional and confident, assertive and proud, emotionally controlled but not passive

Why she matters: Power reversal & Racial tension: black women in a position of power and authority

Her role highlights how frustrating it is to be a woman of colour and blame often fall on the nearest person. Officer Ryan takes his frustration about his father’s health out on her. She stands strong and she refuses to be belittled and racially insulted.

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easy-going, humorous (joking during tense moments)

Often intimidated (racial stereotype)

-> uses sarcasm and humor to deal with it

Less aggressive than Anthony

He does not want to hurt people

He is attached to Anthony (who is his role model)

involved in carjackings

Tragic turn of events (strong message of racial injustice through his death)

victim of racial profiling (gets shot by Hanson)

Represents a large group of (unaccepted/ unsupported) people in the U.S. who "fall through the cracks" and end up committing crimes

Represents innocence, also regarding racial stereotypes

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Key Charctristis : Cautious, protective (of her parents), responsible, intelligent, soft-spoken but firm

What she represents : voice of reason -she has a calm, rational perspective opposite to emotional and irrational reactions of other characters

Symbol of miscommunication - her warning to her father about the broken door (which he ignores) is misunderstood, fueling Farhards paranoia and revenge

Connection to theme of fear and protection- buys a gun (concerne for father's safety)-showing fear pushes even peaceful people to violence

Hope and redemption- gives father blanks instead of real bullets (prevented a tragedy)- shows that people's complex (possibly unintended) and small actions can have powerful, unintended consequences

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Key Characteristics:

Hot-tempered

protective

paranoid

biased towards other people of colour/ Mexicans

Connection to other characters:

Daniel Ruiz: he is the locksmith Farhad hired to replace the lock, but he misunderstands him. He also blames Daniel for not "protecting" his shop, thinking he wanted to mislead him.

Dorri: she is his daughter

Why he matters/ what he represents:

miscommunication and misunderstanding

the immigrant experience

redemption

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Latino locksmith

Personality Traits:

Calm, soft spoken and respectful

Family-oriented, protective of his daughter

Honest and hardworking

Events/ connection to other characters:

Was presumed to be a “thug” when by Jean when he was fixing her lock

Gave his daughter an “impenetrable magic cloak”

Fixes Fahrad’s lock but gets yelled at after advising him to get a new lock

Moved to a new safer neighbourhood

Was blamed by Fahrad for the shop’s vandalism

Was saved from being shot by Fahrad by his daughter’s “magic cloak”

Symbolism:

Shows how racial bias can turn into violence

Highlights the reduction of working-class minorities to racial stereotypes

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Character Traits:

seems to be a victim

defensive, has a temper, has a shell (probably because of many negative experiences as a person from a minority group and as a woman in a male-dominated field)

does not want to appear as "weak"

racist towards other ethnicities

Ruthless due to her involvement in human trafficking

Role in the Movie

Beginning of Movie:

Kim Lee is introduced as a driver involved in a minor car accident with Detective Graham Waters and Ria ->Ria and Kim Lee become involved in a verbal fight and exchange racial insults.

At the end of the Movie:

-> Anthony finds a white Van -> that belonged to Kim Lee and her husband.

-> Anthony finds Cambodian Immigrants in the Back of the van -> links Kim Lee and her husband to human trafficking

-> Her character changes from being a victim to being a criminal involved in human trafficking

Effect on the movie:

-> Kim Lee raises concerns about morality and what people seem to be.

-> She first seems like a victim, but turns out to be a criminal

-> showing that people aren't always simply good or bad

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• half puerto rican half salvatorian (latina)

• gets called a white woman by Graham

• det. Graham‘s lover

• passes as white

• argued with kim lee due to getting rear ended

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When being run over he seemed like a innocent victim

later found out he was a human trafficker

first depicted as a Korean minority, later shown how he treats immigrants as something less and is involved in human trafficking

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key characteristics :

-walking stereotype of a criminal

-armed robber -> steal cars then sells them

-poor

-thinks everything is always against blacks (prefers to rob white people), feels judged by white people

-hesitated shooting Cameron only robs white people

-acknowledged the government -> took bus

-heroic -> freed the trafficked Thai kids in a van

-spews crazy conspiracy about white and black

-always lecturing Peter about racial "rules"

--> He embodies contradictions - criticizing racism while reinforcing it. He shows that change is possible.

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1. Literal car crashes (begins and ends with a car crash)

2. Social commentary: People from different ethnic backgrounds and with different ideologies are forced out of their bubbles and collide/ "crash into each other"

3. Car crashes as symbols for racism and conflict

4. Social commentary on Los Angeles: in a city like L.A., people are often isolated, but their lives still intersect suddenly and violently.