near the end, on the farm as joe gives his we're not losers speech to the kids. he hauls off and whacks the kid (ernesto) square across the face. Holy sh*t, i couldn't believe it. i haven't seen this movie in about 20 years. that would never fly in a movie today, unless it was specifically to depict an evil character.
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Guess what...The Encore Channel as of 04-18-2008 just showed this movie as of this evening. It's not Richard Pryor's best work,but it is a classic that have him starred opposite Cicely Tyson and directed by Oz Scott. I haven't seen it almost 25 years since I went to the movies to see it the day it opened back in May of 1981 with a huge capacity crowd snaked around the theatre. There are some funny scenes with Pryor doing what he does best,but you get to see a gentle side of him too. But the soundtrack featuring Roberta Flack is horrifying!!!!
Yes,that scene toward the end of the picture where Pryor smacks the crap outta this hispanic kid across the face hard toward the end is haunting. Imagine if that were done today...social services,child welfare and the law would be all over his ass with the quickeness.
Do ya'll realized WHY he smacked him...Ernesto had heard part of what was going on and went back and blabbed about to the others causing an uproar, and while Joe was trying to get them to see how much Vivian risked for them, he kept on with it...so Joe smacked him to get his attention. As Buford T. Justice would say..."that was an attention getter." There was nothing wrong with him smacking him, he even felt bad about doing it, but he had to...the kids needed to hear the real truth and appreciate all that was beind done and risked for them.
Wayne Enterprises buys and sells companies like Stark Industries
DUDE - FIRST OF ALL - love the Smokey & The Bandit reference. SECOND, you're right the kids need to hear what he's trying to tell them, but my point is that you would never see that in a movie today. I also think, there's an alternative to get a kids attention so he'll listen besides smacking him around.
"everything i say, by definition, is a promise." CARMINE SABATINI -(The Freshman)
That kid who played Enesto went to my Junior High in the Bx,-He was a cool guy who probably got more girls in Junior High than I did in my who life-
Another alternative to get the kids attention would be, blow a whistle.
shareShe tried that earlier in the film - didn't do much.
Pryor's method seemed to get work far better.
And you're right - no way that ends up in a film today, but it was a great scene, and he did apologize to the kid pretty much immediately after losing it and hitting him. Quite real...
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Wait a minute... who am I here?
Watching this movie now, on broadcast TV, and that scene was edited out. RP screams at the kid,an he instantly falls down. No contact shown