Train scene with Mercy Swan and the rich kids? Opinions
What was the story there?
Simply seeing how the other half lives? I have a few other ideas, What is your take?
The end.
I like that scene. It's strangely moving in a variety of ways. Swan quietly standing up for Mercy, Mercy closing her eyes and imagining a different life (?), the rich kids being repulsed by our heroes (as it were).
I think it puts the whole film in perspective for the simple fact that the other half - the rich half - is completely unaccounted for until then. I think Swan's reaction is key, especially when they get to C.I. - he has come to realise, as we have, that the Warriors are a dirty, violent bunch, but he doesn't really mind it. Well, just a little.
That's my take. What other readings do you have in mind?
I'll bet she's still got that silver dollar.
One of my favorite scenes, similar but slightly different ideas on it.
See I think this is the scene where Swan finds a sense of pride in what the Warriors are. Prior to this scene Swan is more conservative, running rather than fighting if he can help it, talking his gang out of confrontation or arming up. Prior to this scene he is more than ready to defend but more defensive than offensive.
In the scene Mercy becomes self conscious about herself, reaching for her face maybe to fix her hair in an attempt to look prettier or just from being nervous. He grabs her hand in a way to say, don't be embarrassed about what we are. We have earned what we have and fight for what we think is right, these kids were given everything and it's them that should be embarrassed. I like to think she closes her eyes as to not see them anymore. She closes her eyes out of comfort, now she sees what Swan does.
I agree on the rich kids perspective. They look them up and down, focusing on several things but the dirty feet for sure. They are repulsed but lets also not forget scared. Swan conveys a sense of confidence and these kids, while repulsed and probably not ever considering trading places, are scared because the Warriors have been through adversity that clearly the rich kids have no clue about.
I think Swan leaves this scene proud of what he is. The Warriors are from the gutter, never given anything, had to fight and work for every meal they have had.
It's in the CI scene where we now see Swan go on the offense. He is justified and accepting of what the Warriors are. It's now that we see him switch to the offensive, now ordering his crew to arm up. No more running, this is who we are and we are the best at it, f those rich spoon fed kids and anyone else who doesn't like it. Let's go to war. Even when the Riffs get there, he doesn't immediately try to convince them that they were not responsible for the murder of Cyrus. He says, "you still looking for us." As in, it is what it is at this point, we made it this far and we aren't backing down regardless of being outnumbered or the obvious outcome.
Thoughts?
I'll lay another question on you if you are interested. Something that is left open for interpretation as well, one I am less sure about. Let me know.
The end.
More good stuff. Certainly, open to interpretation. He IS proud, proud of how far they've come (that night, and during their lives). The rich prom kids juxtapose their evening...frightful/dramatic vs frolicy/fun. Their lives intersect, cross, but Swan realizes how far they are apart. Mercy's hand-motion to her hair indicates her shame...she dolled herself up that night, and still looked like trash. Swan, however, lets her know that it's okay...to him, she's "proven herself", as she might say.
Like your notion of how Swan switches to the offensive--keen observation. Movie is freaking brilliant, so much there, in such a simple story. Swan, in one night, was challenged by the police, 5 other gangs, his own soldier, the Rogues, and finally, the Riffs. Crazy night.
"You know it..." Snake Karate Kid III
Dude, I couldn't disagree with you more and no disrespect, I just saw if differently. And also one of my favorite scene's ever.
I see that Swan is like don't bother, we are who we are. As if he tried once to better but failed at that part of his life. But also don't show them(prom kids) that we're weak or feel inferior. But I felt the whole time Swan felt vulnerable, inferior but wanted to put up a front.
I love that it's a scene that makes us all interpret it differently.
Well said!
One item lost on the OP, Those kids from the prom were not rich. Rich kids do not take the subway to and from their prom, they take limos. In fact I know many middle class who took limos to their prom. The fact that they are taking the subway shows that the are from meager backgrounds.
That is what makes the scene even more powerful. Swan is proud and not ashamed despite the fact that he could be the one wearing the tux and going to prom. He makes the kids who stayed in school feel uncomfortable and switch trains.
Smart middle and working class kids in New York take a taxi to and from a formal dance.
shareI had the feeling that the kids who were going home from the prom felt that they were the most vulnerable, and feared that one or more of the The Warriors would attack them.
share"I think Swan leaves this scene proud of what he is. The Warriors are from the gutter, never given anything, had to fight and work for every meal they have had."
I agree with most of your post, but not this sentence. Remember the scene that follows immediately after this one: the Warriors step off the train, having finally arrived back at their home turf of Coney Island, and Swan's very first statement is to express distaste, if not contempt. "This is what we fought all night to get back to? Maybe I'll just take off." He's not proud of what he is, or where he's come from. Just the opposite really, he gets how squalid it all is.
Not that he's ashamed of it in any way. You're absolutely right about his gesture to Mercy: he's wordlessly telling her not to be embarrassed about who she is, to hold her head up and never let anyone make her feel inferior. That's just pure, healthy self respect. But seeing the rich kids, Swan has a glimpse of a life that is not just a desperate, hardscrabble, dog-eat-dog existence the way his is. And when he steps out onto the train platform, and sees the poor neighborhood he comes from, he realizes how limited the opportunities are there, and what a dead end the life there for him will be. I think he's motivated to go and find something better for himself. He's the only one among the group who consistently shows foresight and the ability to put his immediate desires in check. I think those few words show how Swan, perhaps uniquely among the Warriors, has it in him to rise above his circumstances and make something of himself, and aspire to more than just a life of petty crime in a street gang. When Mercy indicates she'd like to come along, I think it's because she sees this quality in Swan, and realizes he's the only man she's met who might possibly help her find out of the dead end life of inner city poverty she explicitly described and rejected in the earlier scene in the subway tunnel when she came onto him.
Decided to just post my other question: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/board/nest/239394190
The end.