A Critical Discourse Analysis of the movie Heist ( 2001) Directed by David Mammet Stereotypical Presentation of Other ( Black character )

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the movie Heist ( 2001) Directed by David Mammet

Stereotypical Presentation of Other ( Black character )

David Mammet’s ‘Hesit’is about professional criminals, who wanted to seize their criminal activities but cannot. It is not because of the but the mastermind criminal ‘ Danny Devito’ who forces ‘Gene Hackham’( Joe Moore ) and his companion ‘Delory’ ( Bobby) to do one last job. The plot moves through the intricate levels of double cross. The movie begins with the robbery of a high jewellery store ‘Gene Hackham’ and  his companions ‘pinky’ and ‘ Bobby’ successfully rob the jewellery store and escaped, ultimately they are forced to commit another crime to rob gold bars from cargo plan.

            According to Aan.Dijk’s socio cogntitive model of critical discourse analysis , an analysit primarily studies the way how social domination is created and resisted through text and talk. Stereotyping of blacks is a conventional mean of domination, the white majority dominates black people to achieve certain motifs.

            The most important element of the movie is a conventional stereotypical presentation of other ( Black character ‘Bobby’ ). The complete cast or characters of the movie are white male and female actors with only one exception of a black character ‘ Delory Lindo’ ( Bbobby , Bob).it is not surprising that his character is presented in a conventional manner. He is aggressive , violent and submissive and completely dependent on his white friend ‘ Joe Moore’ the protagonist of the movie , ‘Bobby’ trusts him blindly and follows his commands throughout the movie even in the Gun shot scene he puts his own life in danger to protect ‘ Joe Moore’. In other words this friendship of a white man and a black character can be analysed in terms of a master slave relationship.

In this assignment I will discuss the presentation of  other ‘ Delroy Lindo’ ( Bobby ) is a conventional stereotypical portrayal of a black character in popular media. We have studied in Critical discourse analysis that the best way of social abuse is to control the mind because actions are determined through mind so if somehow one is capable of controlling others mind he is in a better position to exploit others and achieve his own unique benefits. An example of this control of mind can be observed in this movie `` Heist ``. the protagonist ‘ Joe Moore’ controls the action of the movie he is a white man and his friend ‘ Bobb’ acts just like a subordinate. The white protagonist plans the robberyalways leads the action takes the command of all the important incidents in the movie whereas ‘ Bobby’ the black character just follows his commands and acts submissively. We can say ‘Bobb’s mind was controlled by the white protagonist and he was not able to take the command or make his own decisions.

            Stereotypical presentation of black characters in popular media is a well known phenomenon. The practice of racial stereotyping through the use of the media is carried throughout contemporary history by different factions to achieve various goals. A historical example of this stereotyping can be taken from the Republican party’s use of the`` Willie Horton`` image in the 1988 presidential campaign, ‘ willie horton’ is a black murderer convict who raped a woman and stabbed her companion while on a weekend furlough from Massachusetts prison.

Historically stereotypes were developed from literature than from radio. ‘Donal Bogle’ in his book gives a list of historical portrayals of blacks in American cinema. `` Toms, Coons, Mullatoes, Mammies and Bucks. Bogle maintains that these images of blacks characters have been used in early cinema and continue to be used today both in cinema and television.

We can analysed the character of  ‘ Bobby’ in the light of conventional characteristics or traits ascribed to Toms and The Bucks in popular media. Donal Bogle maintains that toms in conventional media are portrayed as the slave like individuals who keep their faith and never turn against their white masters and remain Hearty and submissive, stoic , generous , selfless and oh-so-very kind.

The Bucks are always big, brutal oversexed black men. In the movie ‘Heist’ we observe that the character of black actor ‘Bobby’ has all these qualities or inherent character flaws listed by Bogle.

We know that the Toms are conventional stereotype characters who are overtly devoted to their white masters. In the opening scene of the movie ‘ Heist’ we come across to watch ‘Bobby’s devotion for his white friend ‘ Joe Moore’. Some unavoidable circumstances forced ‘Moore’ to expose his face to surveillance cameras during their robbery of a high jewellery store. ‘ Pinky’ their third companion a white character is busy in robbery so is ‘ Joe Moore’

But ‘Bobby’ is also considered about ‘Moore’s plight and suggests him to find the security tape as he knows that ‘Moore’ has been exposed to surveillance cameras. ‘ Pinky’ uses a light hammer to break the glasses to steal gold ‘Moore’ is finding security tapes but ‘ Booby’ uses a big drill machine to open up a locker, he has been assigned to perform this role because he is a black man and he should be showed as using physical strength rather than logic.

            Another instance of the conventional stereotypical portrayal of a black character comes when we watch that it is ‘Joe Moore’ who negotiates with  the mastermind of robbery ‘Dany Devito’ and at the same time ‘Bobby’ remains silent all the time during this negotiation. The superiority of a white man is shown when ‘Danny Devito’ refuses to give them their share from the robbery and forces them to commit another crime another robbery ‘Joe Moore’ remain calm and ‘Bobby’ having all the characteristic of a conventional Coon becomes aggressive fights with the companions of the mastermind pulls out his gun and snatches the bag of jewellery and again ‘ Joe Moore’ who has to deliver the logical dialogue says `` The Bag is Empty`` . on the road ‘Bobby’ punches the nephew of the mastermind ‘ Jimmy Silk’ the police officers watched this incident and followed them but here again white protagonist show his ability to act wisely and creates a situation which distracts the police officers attention to a road accident.

Since white protagonist has to make all the wise decisions and the black character like a conventional Tom has  to follow the commands of his master, ‘Joe Moore’ realizing their vulnerable condition must finds escap form the country as a last resolution of their problems convinces ‘Bobb’ to make a call to ‘ Danny devito’ that he can make a deal with him and they can go away. He has been exposed to surveillance cameras at jewellery store and they can be recognized and arrested by the police therefore ‘ Danny devito’ the master mind of the robberies is their last hope.

There are several other incidents in the movie that show us the white protagonist has to arrange and organize all the criminal plots and the black character has just to follow his commands or work like labourer. ‘ Joe Moore’ traps the girl ‘ Betty croft’ a security in charge at the Airport where he has to carry weapons to complete the robbery of the gold bars in the plane on the other hand ‘ Bobby’ just waits in van to follow the orders of the white protagonist. To act wisely according to situation is trait that has been assigned to the white protagonist only by the filmmaker for instance ‘ Joe Moore’ plants an explosive device near the Airport and a police officer stops nearby while he is a on a routine patrolling. Here  ‘ Joe Moore’s wisdom and his ability to control the situation helps them to get out of the problem and the black character ‘Bobby’ has only to assist his white master like friend don’t have to  play any significant role.

‘Joe Moore’s ability to act smartly enables him to breach the security of the Airport, he could easily deceive the security officer and puts his small gun in his coffee cup and carries it inside the Airport. Now while we have discussed ‘ Joe Moore’ wisest and smartest contribution in the second robbery, let us have a look the contribution of the black character ‘ Bobby’ in this robbery. We observe that while the white protagonist is  busy in breaching the security control of the Airport ‘ Bobby’ is just sitting with ‘ jimmy silk’ in the van and waiting for ‘Moore’s call to move in . ‘Joe’  controls all the events on the cargo plan, he convinces the pilot that they have been stopped for a security reason and the same time ‘Bobb’s contribution is what we can expect from a conventional Tom. His job is to work like a labourer he searches for the gold bar boxes on the cargo plan. And similar to his contribution in the first robbery again he breaks the lock of the locker, since he is tall force full and brutal like a conventional Coon he can easily perform such kind of tasks.

            The Gun fire scene of the movie is also important to analyse the conventional characteristics and traits that have been assigned to a black character in this movie by the filmmaker. ‘Joe Moore’ uses ‘Bobby’ as his protection shield. ‘ Bobby’ hides until it becomes necessary for him to come on the boat to save ‘Joe Moore’ form ‘ Danny Devito’.

Like a convention Coon ‘Bobby’ uses his gun to fire at the enemies in his attempt to save ‘Joe' from the villains he himself becomes seriously injured. At the same time his white friend shows himself a wise person and tries to deceive the mastermind criminal ‘Danny Devito’ he tries to convince him that all the gold is in the boat the villain can keep the boat and let him go. Although ‘Bobby’ is a courageous character but the filmmaker can only show the white protagonist as the Hero of the movie, therefore when ‘Bobby’ falls down being seriously injured by a bullet ‘Joe More’ takes control of the action and kills the villain and his companions. This scene also portrays ‘Bobby’ the black character as a conventional Coon who believes in force rather than in wisdom, who is brutal.

            The denouement scene of the movie is also worth analysing. In this scene ‘ Bobby’ show his full confidence and trust in his white master like friend ‘ Joe Moore’. It is time to part both characters are injured and before going away ‘Bobby’ gives his white friend his address where he can send him his cut ( share ) from the robbery. All the gold is with white protagonist ‘ Joe Moore’ like a conventional Tom the black character blindly trust his white master like friend although the movie is full of intricate double cross plots. Nobody trusts anyone but it is not same for ‘ Bobby’ he trust his white friend blindly.

Another important element of the movie which distinguishes ‘ Joe Moore’ from ‘Bobby’ is his ability to smell the danger before it approaches. He cannot be deceived even his young beautiful wife who finally allies with ‘Jimmy silk’ and accompanies him to snatch all the gold from ‘ Joe’. But again playing wisely he can easily handle the situation and again deceives ‘Jimmy silk’ and his wife by giving then a van full of counterfeited gold and takes all the gold.

            From this comparison between the white protagonist of the film and the black character we come to know that the filmmaker has portrayed the black character in conventional manner , the black character has been given all the traits of a conventional Tom or a Coon that has always been presented in the popular media form the beginning  of the cinema to the  modern cinema and television.

This stereotypical portrayal of black characters has its roots in the beginning of the cinema, the first ever stereotypical presentation of a black character is depicted in `` Uncle Tom’s Cabin`` ( 1903 ). Griffit’s famous `` Birth of a Nation`` is also known for one of the most famous racist movies. The stereotypical  portrayal of black characters in the popular media has influenced the lives of the black individuals, internalizing stereotypes is one of its most disastrous effects .

One of the most famous example of the internalization of  stereotypes is the experiment first used in the case of Brown vs. The Board of  Education. In this case experiment black children were shown almost same dolls with the only of difference doll’s complexion one doll was fair and the other black all the features were identical. Surprisingly all the black student said that the white doll is more beautiful than the black and when children were asked which doll is dirty and ugly almost every child pointed at black doll.

Statistics have proven that black students and children have internalized the traits that have been depicted in the popular media. Fathers drunkards, mother living on social security, most of the times black characters unshaking believe in the use of force and violence and certainly achieving their goals with use of violence without any repercussions. Black children adopt such personality traits.

The notion of the stereotypical presentation of others ( Blacks ) is as old as history of modern America. Noam Chomsky in his famous essay `` Manufacturer of Consent``  maintains that the Red Indians were aggressor for Columbus and his successors therefore they have been massacred. This identity of the aggressors which have been ascribed to Red Indian since the time of Columbus is still continued in the popular media.Mammies are also an example of the conventional stereotypical presentation of black woman in the popular media. They have always been depicted as a fat woman who is happy to work in kitchen completely in contrast to the modern white woman who works in the factories, banks and super markets.

Works Cited

Heist: Dir, Mamet David , Warner Bros, 2001, Film.

            Gray.Steven, `` Recognizing Stereotypical Images of African americans in Television and Movies , www.cis.yale.edu. Web. 27-04-2014.