Review of The Brave One (2007) by Chads. — 22 Feb 2008

Nicole(Jane Adams) is only kidding when she refers to Erica's public display of affection towards David(Naveen Andrews), a man descended from Indians, as being "disgusting". The art gallery owner has an ironical lilt in her voice; she doesn't really hate her friend's coupling instinct to hug and kiss, after all, Nicole is east coast, a sophisticate, a card-carrying member of the intellentsia.

Inter-racial relationships aren't supposed to freak her out. But not all walks of life share the same live-and-let-live mentality practiced by the broad-minded; for some, the very sight of a non-white male with his non-white hands all over a white female's body, is disgusting, sans italics.

When "The Brave One" cross-cuts the couple's lovemaking with their savage beating, a correlation of cause-and-effect is made. They're being punshied. But by who? During the attack, no mention is made about either person's ethnicity by the perpetrators.

The crime might not be racially motivated. But there's an inherent assumption by the audience that it is. The depiction of on-screen coital relations between racial disparates are relatively rare in mainstream film, so the editing has an unintended(or intended) effect of punishing the couple for engaging in physical love.

As if "The Brave One" wasn't provocative enough, a cynic would suggest that David had to be non-white as a sort of license for Erica(Jodie Foster) to shoot black people in cold blood. She's not a racist because David was non-white.

"The Brave One" isn't a racist film because Detective Mercer(Terrence Howard) is black.