This Arab father and son should live in a ghetto. Think about the way the police treat them: they are arrested without evidence at all, and locked in the back of the police car where the prisoners are supposed to be. The first reaction to seeing this shot is very strange, how can this be without any evidence? It later became clear that it was probably just because they were Arabs in the slums. A Frenchman would certainly not suffer such treatment.
Although the father and son were later released because there was no evidence, the male protagonist believed them in his heart. The father proved his innocence by suicide, and the male protagonist moved the suspicion to his son. Evidence or not, it doesn't matter. I think it's you, it's you. When you're dead, I'll assume it's your son—this deep-seated prejudice is discrimination, and it can be passed on from generation to generation. People are unpredictable, and throughout the whole film, I can't think of any solution.
The male protagonist George is a person who has hurt others himself, and doesn't believe that the people who are hurt by him will not hate him. Because he can't do it himself. So he decided that the Arab father and son wanted to hurt him. It's easy to understand, but it's also a black hole that can't be broken through - I hurt you, so you must want to hurt me, because if someone hurts me, I will hurt him too. George didn't understand that not everyone was like him. After being hurt, he digests himself without thinking about revenge. This kind of thinking is beyond George's understanding. Discrimination comes from its own limitations.
Magee proves himself innocent by suicide. You will never be able to convince you of my innocence unless I die. Ironically and desperately, when Maggie died, George doubted his son. So, Maggie's death doesn't solve the problem either. The difficulty of breaking through discrimination is evident.
If George represents the French or the rich, Magee represents the Arab or the poor. So how terrible is the racial or class discrimination that comes from it!
What happened to Maggie? Magee's parents were long-term workers in the George family. George's parents are a pair of good people. It is conceivable that their lives were originally harmonious and peaceful. Suddenly one day, the parents inexplicably disappeared forever in an unseen carnage somewhere far away. This was the first blow to Magee. George's parents are willing to adopt Magee, as if a silver lining. But he never imagined that George, who was only six years old, would frame Magee, who is also a child, out of jealousy. This is the second blow. The Georges believe their son's lies, not believe him, and don't want him anymore. This is the third blow. The world has been turned upside down. What was the situation in the French orphanage where the massacre had just happened, Magee's son explained. But Magee has been thinking about George's parents, saying he is grateful to them. I guess George's parents are the only source of Magee's kindness. However, when George went to visit his mother and asked her if she thought of Magee, she said never, because it wasn't a pleasant thing. They don't want to think about or care about Magee because it makes them very unhappy. Years later, George visited Magee, not out of concern or even remorse, but again with slander and threats, even bringing the police to the door. Maggie faced a person like George, put himself in his shoes and thought about it, and he really wanted to ask God's law!
Magee's son is a breach. He said: "In the orphanage, people learn hatred instead of politeness. But my dad gave me a good education. Because of you, I can't forget this." As you can see from Maggie's son, Maggie Ji Ben is such a kind person. When I think about it, I almost cry, but the film is very restrained. The son said, "I just want to know how it feels when one person always feels sorry for the other person." The son inherited his father's wisdom, breaking through the limitations of George's retribution, breaking through the estrangement between people, and reaching out to each other's In my heart, I understand that George actually "always feels sorry for another person", and he has been tormented by his conscience. This is the only breakthrough for breaking discrimination. If the discriminator does not break it, it will be broken by the discriminated. Hate, up to me, you can hate me, but I will never hate you. This reminds me of the title of the article about the terrorist attack discussed by the Midnight Book Club, which also happens to be French: "You Can't Get My Hate".
George and Magee each have a crying scene. George was tormented by conscience and fear. Magee suffers from injustice and despair. Tears are the pearls that wash the soul. I think people who cry sincerely have a conscience, and the consciences of human beings are interlinked with each other. No matter how deep the estrangement is, in the deepest part of the heart, we can actually understand each other. It's just that taking the first step is too difficult, too difficult. And anything that is not difficult is not worth doing.
The understanding of two symbols: vomiting blood, is George's presupposition of Magee's demonization, self-deception and self-suggestion, and the precondition of prejudice and discrimination. The camera is the conscience, the inner eye that George can't hide from anywhere.
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