Advertisement
The next four months are to be the most intensely self-conscious, galvanizing, awkward, crazed, humiliating, uplifting, maudlin and surreal period in American racial history. A black man will or will not be chosen as the next President of the United States. My fingers tremble as I type this. As a black-and-white racial spectacle, this is bigger than black Jack Johnson casually beating the living shit out of white Jim Jeffries before all of Anglo-America in 1910. This is bigger than Bigger Thomas. This is bigger than Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Paul Robeson, the Edmund Pettis Bridge, Emmet Till, the March on Washington, OJ, Rodney King, Willie Horton, Jeremiah Wright, the riots, the assassinations, the aggregate of four centuries of two races trading hostilities while building up this nation. This is it. A partial descendant of slaves* takes the helm of the American Empire. Or not: Maybe McCain plays into enough fears and received notions to convince his base and those volition-less swing voters that we can have morning in America once more.
Those geniuses at Criterion Collection have anticipated the moment andplan to give it something special. Their new high-definition restoration of Sam Fuller’s White Dog is due on DVD in December, just when all hell should be breaking loose. Fuller’s 1982 adaptation of the Romain Gary novel about a dog trained to attack and kill black people is a nightmare of the Reagan Era. Told with the broad earnestness of a sweeps week Diff’rent Strokes episode, White Dog is easy to dismiss as Public Service Announcement on hate crimes. Ennio Morricone’s somber score captures the heartbreak of racism but also emphasizes the movie’s cuddly, Benji-esque sentimentality. The presence of aging teen starlet Kristy McNichol as the dog’s unsuspecting Hollywood-liberal owner is also good for a snicker to anyone over 30.
But Fuller’s mise-en-scene has never been more precise, operatic or unsettling. White Dog’s visual scheme is less about racism than about the panic and dismay that grips witnesses of racist violence and the loved ones of violent racists. Just as the real horror of Brian DePalma’s Carrie adaptation was not her satanic power but th casual cruelty she lived with daily, White Dog’s main subject is not the dog’s bite but its ugly, irrational bark. And a la DePalma’s slo-mo bucket of pig blood showering a prom dress, Fuller attenuates moments of shame and distress far longer than the initial or subsequent act of violence. Cinematographer Bruce Surtees covers the mayhem with the dynamism he brought to actioners like Dirty Harry.
With its comic book compositions, this flick is virtually a graphic novel about national character and destiny, like 300, A History of Violence and The Dark Knight. But Fuller’s vision is a lot less polished, much more dreamlike–closer to Lynch’s Blue Velvet in its surreal flourishes than today’s all-business Big Idea pop spectacles. Never released theatrically and shown on cable TV sporadically over the years, White Dog is finally rearing it’s snarling, snapping head at the perfect time in American history.
If the Blue Velvet comparison sounds a bit extreme for those who have seen the movie and found its metaphors (not to mention the acting) pretty crude, I’ll let Sun Ra carry the argument further, from beyond the grave (see video below). But don’t watch the video if you haven’t yet seen the movie–wait ’til December.
*UPDATE: A commenter named Dwight pointed out that this sentence in the post is confusing: “A partial descendant of slaves takes the helm of the American Empire.” Dwight is right.
As I responded further down in the comments section:
By “partial descendant” I meant to imply that Obama’s “black” face and very American (if worldly, educated) persona are linked in the minds of many with African-Americans– true descendants of slaves like me. His ascendancy is bound up symbolically with those blacks whose ancestors came over here in chains as much as it is with those who came over on Delta first class. He’s the whole diaspora– the whole world, as the NY Times tells it. But “descendant” is too concrete a term and “partial” doesn’t clarify it enough.
Thanks to Dwight for pointing this out.
Kevin Buist
FLAME + CITRON Review
Christopher Campbell
Happy Halloween Links. Today in Film...
Brandon Harris
5 80s Literary Adaptations Worse Than...
Kevin Kelly
John Krasinski, Brief Interviews With...
Karina Longworth
SpoutBlog, Now Available in Book Form
Paul Moore
October 31, Karina’s Last Day
Lauren Wissot
Sasha Grey Interview
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
filmcouch-114
“A partial descendant of slaves takes the helm of the American Empire.”
Could you clarify this statement? I assume you mean something broader than American slavery. I don’t know everything of Obama’s biography…but I was confused by that statement. Just wondering.
First: that lead image, man — wouch.
Next: But Fuller’s mise-en-scene has never been more precise, operatic or unsettling. White Dog’s visual scheme is less about racism than about the panic and dismay that grips witnesses of racist violence and the loved ones of violent racists.
One time, when I was pretty young, a family member muttered something about “niggers” from behind his minivan steering wheel and I wanted to shrink from the world. Another time, in 3rd grade, I was beat up by a pack of kids from the public school across the street from our private Catholic entrenchment and my friends, all black, just laughed. Still the hardest ethical space to navigate. When I was living in NYC, I worked in Queens and got an egg sandwich and coffee every morning from one choice deli. As I walked out and down Elmhurst, I saw a “thug” standing sentinel, unwrapping his own sandwich. There was a healthy margin between us and empty space on the sidewalk all around. As I approached, he stepped forward, blind, and almost walked into me.
–What the fuck, dude?
–Nah, you don’t want to start, son.
–No? What the fuck?
–I said don’t start.
A cop bolted into the picture. –Get stepping, kid.
–What the fuck?
The cop gave me a knowing look, like, you know you don’t want to get beat, so step along, and, hands thrown up, I walked on, cussing, –fucking pricks.
Now I know this story doesn’t have _much_ to do with “racism” but the fact that I was white definitely made it develop, right? What’s a goofy white boy wearing Chucks in February supposed to do? Always defer? Fuck that. An asshole is an asshole, flat brimmed or horn rimmed.
Great stories, Ry. That’s what I’m talkin bout: Let’s have a Dialogue on Race minus any of the starchy PBS-CNN connotations of that phrase. Just survivor accounts of folks enduring racist bullshit from “thugs” of every stripe.
I just think this election year and financial collapse are cracking the can open in ways not seen since Reagan’s reign. The 50’s point to the 80’s point to the 00’s in many ways.
I’m trying to remember films that capture the sadness and strain of so-called “reverse racism.” Are there any good ones? I vaguely recall a Ken Loach-ish British film called Love + Hate, beautifully shot by Loach’s frequent DP….
Dwight,
You’re right, it is confusing. I meant to imply that Obama’s “black” face and very American (if worldly, educated) persona are linked in the minds of many with African-Americans– true descendants of slaves like me. His ascendancy is bound up symbolically with those blacks whose ancestors came over here in chains as much as it is with those who came over on Delta first class. He’s the whole diaspora– the whole world, as the NY Times tells it.
But “descendant” is too concrete a term and “partial” doesn’t clarify it enough. Thanks for catching that. Coffee time…
I already saw the movie at Film Forum, some time back. It’s got some powerful moments, but it doesn’t really tackle racism all that directly–in the entire course of the film, you meet exactly ONE racist–the old white guy who trained the dog.
There is no such thing as a racist animal, of course. The dog is PREJUDICED–his trainer conditions him to believe this type of person represents a threat, and of course he believes it–he’s got no basis for believing otherwise. What’s our excuse? We rationalize our faulty emotional reactions, but a dog can’t do that, so a dog can’t be racist.
The Romain Gary book is much better–and shows you all different kinds of racism. Fuller didn’t really confront the problem fully–which is that racism begets racism. If the ending of Fuller’s movie makes no sense–and it doesn’t–it’s because he knew he couldn’t get away with the ending from Gary’s book. In any event, Fuller only uses Gary’s semi-autobiographical work as a jumping off point–all that’s left is the idea of a dog that hates black people. Who btw, was not a White German Shepherd in real life.
But apparently there really was such a dog. In the book, he doesn’t actually hurt any black people. And in the end, he’s the real victim–you wind up feeling like dogs deserve better than humans–regardless of color, we are a pretty messed-up species.
But some of us are a little more than that–some of us can see beyond those categories–and I think Obama is one of those people. Hard to believe he could actually become President. Being sane and all.
I guess I still am white, and haven’t stopped being white since that encounter happened. But, yea, I think there’s got to be some “reverse racism” on screen. Haven’t seen that Loach picture but I’ve seen _Do The Right Thing_… does that count? I think the Bird fan has it coming — what the fuck do you expect, son? — but that’s pretty tame… I don’t know. Spike is a weirdo. I saw _Half Nelson_ a little while ago because my friend insisted and I was struck by how present it felt, how the complexities of negotiating those (convoluted, kinda silly) relationships didn’t feel _too_ forced. That and I just liked any scene with Anthony Mackie. Isn’t he a star yet? He should be; he’s the realness. Even in those weird Spike thudders he starred in, he shined bright enough to buoy the wacky tactics of the filmmaking. —-This has strayed. The point, maybe, is that it’s about singular experiences. PBS-CNN starch is only ever a generalization coupled with a furrowed brow and a “knowing” nod. Fuck that. Faces get slapped, punched; shins get kicked. Words don’t make sense. You just try to navigate.
pisher,
I wouldn’t look to White Dog to “tackle” anything in a literal or even coherent manner. To me, in 2008, it plays as a dream. It’s bonkers, man. Just as cracked/ludicrous as the bald, brawling hooker in Naked Kiss, as the nymphos and loons in Shock Corridor, as Gene Evans zombie-staggering through the gunsmoke in The Steel Helmet, as Vincent Price slithering through the entirety of The Baron of Arizona. And just as piercingly “true.”
In that sense, Ry, I always thought Spike shared some genes with Fuller: A tabloid style, every moment in capital letters, never a whisper when a shriek will do. A penchant for ripped-from-the-headlines screen stories, America in chaotic microcosm, etc. Just that Fuller’s madness always seems more purposeful, thoughtful and less opportunistic than Spike’s– Do the Right Thing notwithstanding. I always thought that flick and Shock Corridor belong on an eternal double bill.
Steven, I’m a longtime Fuller fan, and there’s much in White Dog I admire–but it does NOT work the way Shock Corridor does, and I’m sorry–it just doesn’t connect the way Gary’s book did–White Dog the book was a best seller in American and Europe.
Shock Corridor and Fuller’s other best films are pure cinema–his technique is wonderful, his scripts are (let’s face it) hokey, and somehow it all comes together, and you ignore the failings for the virtues.
White Dog just wimps out in so many ways–it’s all about racism, but WHERE ARE THE RACISTS? The dog has to carry all the weight of hate, and the dog is just a victim. In the book, he’s actually portrayed as very noble being, who has had a horrible trick played on him.
There is reverse racism, Ryland, but that doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to suffer from racism, because we still live in a world (our little piece of it anyway) where being white is ‘normal’, and everything else is ‘ethnic’.
So anyway, the movie is worth seeing, but the book is something nobody should miss out on reading. It shows you the very worst in human nature, but it also holds out some hope–some people are immune to the virus. And dogs–man, dogs love everybody, given half a chance. It’s the most horrible betrayal to try and make them hate. We need to let them train US.
Partial descendant of slaves? Obama’s father was directly from Kenya, as I’m sure you know. To clarify, Obama is half white, half African not half black American which makes him not a descendant of slaves.
cap4life,
Yes, this misleading sentence continues to give me grief. Yes, like the rest of the world, I know Obama’s heritage well. (Incidentally, my own Kenyan brother-in-law keeps me up on the country’s history, politics and culture, compounding the irony.)
See the addendum at the bottom of the post . Finally, we just decided to strike through the offending phrase instead of changing it, in the interest of transparency.