The video by Randy Yang revolves around racial discrimination and racism as its major theme. The film portrays some confrontational drama displayed by two black girls who have just spotted a racist lady who identifies herself as a lawyer. The Lady is spotted by the two ladies making some racist remarks to a black street beggar. The Lady isn’t ready to help the black man with a few coins and instead wants him to go far away from the streets since she views him as a source of embarrassment within the neighborhood. As the drama unfolds, the two black girls, Brianna and Shantell, record the Lady’s act and threaten her to post the video online. In return, the Lady confesses to the two girls to the point of offering them $500 each so that they can delete the video. During the entire drama, each character portrays some self traits that make it quite easy to identify the modern hero (https://www.asiancinevision.org/interview-director-randy-yang-video/). In the American short film, it is very easy to note how each character plays their roles and displays their traits. The lady lawyer is so mean from how she addresses the homeless black man. Brianna and Shantel get agitated and, without hesitation, records the Lady’s act. It is at this point that they both display their different traits. Brianna is so bold and courageous while addressing the Lady. Shantell, on the other hand, seems naïve and easy to coax. When the Lady comes up with the idea of offering them $500, Shantel falls for that so easily. Some of the traits portrayed to be connected to a modern hero are courage, truth, and compassion. In the video, Brianna is the character that exhibits the three traits of the modern hero.
During several moments of the film, the character Brianna acts compassionately. Brianna takes her time to look at things deeply and understands the situation at hand quite well. Brianna is so compassionate about discrimination that has been going on from time to time and feels like there are things that need to be done to end racial discrimination. When the lady lawyer approaches them to confess her mistake, Brianna does not seem to be convinced since she believes the Lady is only doing that after finding out that she has been recorded. When the Lady offers them money to delete the record, she views it as being some form of discrimination. On the other hand, Shantell seems to be excited when the Lady comes up with the deal. She easily forgets that there lies a big issue at hand that really needs to be looked into. Brianna feels that racial discrimination is a matter of much importance that should not be taken for granted (Rowe). She gets so surprised when Shantell gives in so easily when the Lady comes up with the idea to offer them money.
Brianna also displays courage during many moments in the film. Her courageous trait is conveyed through her attitude, actions, and speech towards the other characters. In the beginning, she seems protective and confident when she advises her friend Shantell to stop going out with a guy who claims that he does not have any cash to pay for her movie ticket. Her courageous trait is also displayed when they come across the racist Lady. She gets verbally aggressive by referring to the Lady as a ‘bitch’ and lets her know they are recording her acts. She gets much courageous when she becomes physical and defensive when the Lady tries to cover the phone camera. From how she behaves, it is easy for one to identify that she is not ready to take any offense. At first, she refuses to give in to the Lady’s demand since she has the urge to post the video and shame the Lady. After the Lady insults the homeless man and tries to walk away, she yells at her, “Lady! We got you on camera, Uh! You are way past the line.” She does all these out of courage to let the Lady know whatever was going on and get to see what the Lady was going to do about it (https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2016/09/19/video/). When the Lady replies by stating that it irritates to pass by the guy every day, she boldly asks the Lady why she cannot take another road and leave the man alone. She tells off the Lady of their intention of posting the video on YouTube to let the whole world know that she is racist. In the end, her courage seems to have done a thing to Shantell.
Lastly, Brianna is a person who seeks the truth even when the truth is painful. She insists on getting an answer from the racist Lady why she treated the black guy in such a manner. When the Lady gives in and starts apologizing, she retorts back at her, “You are not sorry; you are only sorry because you got caught.” She plays hard at seeking the truth when she insists on posting the footage (https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2016/09/19/video/). She keeps demanding Shantell’s phone to post the footage because she finds it hard to believe the Lady. The Lady claims that she does not want her reputation damaged since she has black friends that she highly respects and values. Additionally, she tells the teenagers that she has worked her way up on her law career to get to where she is right now and would not wish to see her career get ruined. Also, Brianna believes that lawyers make way a lot of money and finds it ridiculous when the Lady tries only to offer them $200. The negotiation gets to a point where the Lady finally decides to offer the $500 each. She stands to her ground by telling Shantell that they still must post the video online despite receiving the money.
Conclusion
Racial discrimination occurs due to overt bias and prejudice, as seen from the video by Randy Yang. Prejudice is illustrated when the Lady persists in giving the two teenagers money. According to her, she feels black people are way poor to easily accept bribes of as low as $200 just to give in to their demands. Brianna’s stand at the end seems to have awakened Shantell’s way of thinking. In the end, it is only Brianna that walks away with the Lady’s cash offer. On the other hand, Shantell does not take the Lady’s money but still gives in to her demand (Rowe). She only persists in asking the Lady what she sees when she looks at her. She seems to hurt by the discrimination displayed by the Lady.
Work Cited
Goodman, Simon, and Lottie Rowe. “Arguing about Racism in Discussion Forums about Gypsies: A reflective account of a discourse analysis study’.” Analysing Qualitative Data in Psychology. SAGE Publications, 2016. Appendix-2.
https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2016/09/19/video/
https://www.asiancinevision.org/interview-director-randy-yang-video/
