“Please Save James” – Moral Negotiation of Racism in Rosewood

By Katherine Prosswimmer

Introduction

[1] One of the most engaging and appealing aspects of John Singleton’s Rosewood is its unforgiving exploration of human character. The featured characters in this story are not simply black and white, both literally and figuratively speaking. Singleton presents multi-dimensional characters that show human strengths and flaws alongside each other. In the context of Rosewood, a film that explores the interaction of a white town and a black town during the early twentieth century, the human capacity for practicing and combating racism is a major theme. By depicting characters who clearly struggle with the morality of racism, as seen through their vacillation between acting on and against their racism, Singleton portrays a realistic account of characters’ unique relationships with racism. It is easy to assume that Americans simply were or were not racist and that those who chose to help African-Americans were free from prejudice. In reality, it seems safe to assume that many opinions existed about racism, just as varied opinions emerge around any major social issue. Rosewood presents several characters that fall on different levels of the racism spectrum, including the deeply racist Duke Purdy (Bruce McGill) and the somewhat conflicted Sheriff Walker (Michael Rooker). Perhaps the most important of these characters is John Wright (John Voight), arguably the most honest and impactful portrayal of the moral struggle with racism. Singleton uses the mis-en-scene and dialogue in the scene titled “Please Help James” to demonstrate the significance of Wright’s moral struggle.

Background

[2] Leading up to this scene, the white residents of Sumner have burned the African-American town of Rosewood and hunted its occupants, killing men, women, and children at will. Dead bodies are everywhere, hanged, beaten, or burned. The massacre was incited by the rumor that Fanny Taylor, a white female resident of Sumner, was raped by a black man. The surviving residents of Rosewood have either been hidden in the Wright home by Mr. and Mrs. Wright or are hiding together in the swamp. The scene begins when Mann, an African-American outsider who has returned to aid the residents of Rosewood, arrives at the Wright’s doorstep with three other African-Americans: James Carrier, his wife, and his daughter Jewel.

Analysis

[3] Singleton uses dialogue and strategic camera angles and positioning to help convey the intensity and significance of Wright’s moral struggle. This is first made apparent through Wright’s refusal to admit James and his family into his house. When Mann first arrives with James and his wife and daughter, the camera switches from Mann and James’s faces to Wright’s face. When the camera is focused on Mann and James, the zoom is much closer than when the camera is focused on Wright. Wright is standing guard in front of his house, holding a gun and trying to wave them off. The distanced camera angle suggests that, at this moment, Wright is separated from James and Mann. He is an almost threatening figure, a physical barrier between James’s family and safety. The close focus on James and Mann’s faces allows the viewer to observe their facial expressions more closely, and encourages more of an emotional connection with James and Mann. Their fear of being found by the other townspeople is almost tangible, and Wright’s resistance is incredibly frustrating and seemingly pointless. The distanced camera angle emphasizes Wright’s desire to keep himself distanced from James and his family, but his reasoning is inaccessible. It becomes clear through the tension created by the varying camera focuses that Wright is conflicted.

[4] It is not until James refuses to enter the house saying “John Wright, I know what you’ve been doing with my daughter” that the camera’s focus on Mr. Wright zooms in to the same distance as its focus on James and Mann and the source of Wright’s inner conflict begins to be revealed. Here, James asserts his knowledge of the sexual relationship between Mr. Wright and Jewel, James’s daughter. The equal distance between the camera and James and Wright signifies that the two are now on an even playing field. They both hold reservations about the other, as a direct result of Wright’s racism. Wright’s racism allowed him to objectify Jewel, using her as a sexual outlet outside of his marriage. As a result, Wright does not want to let her family into his house out of fear that it will jeopardize his marriage, and James does not want to enter the house because of the dishonor Wright brought to his daughter. Here, Wright is facing the morality of his racism on multiple levels; his racism allowed him to act immorally towards his marriage, and now he faces the choice of condemning three more African-American’s to death by denying them protection as a direct result of his immorality.

[5] The effects of Wright’s racism can be seen further through the speech Mann uses to convince Wright to hide James’s family. After Wright refuses multiple times to harbor James and his family, Mann says, “What’s ‘a matter, Mr. Wright, don’t he owe you enough to save his life?” Even though Wright is offended by this, demonstrated by the expletive he calls Mann in response, the viewer is aware that Mann is not incorrect in his accusation. Earlier in the film, Wright only agrees to harbor Bradley when he offers to give Wright the deed to his land in exchange for protection. Patronizingly, Mann begins to offer Wright money in exchange for hiding James, which demonstrates the low worth Wright attributes to the life of each African-American. This is affirmed when Jewel tries convince her mother to go into Wright’s house without her, saying “Go mama, I’m alright. Mama I can’t go in there.” Jewel knows that, even though she allowed herself to be used sexually, and may have even harbored romantic feelings towards Wright, she cannot be spared because Wright values his white family over a relationship with an African-American woman. Wright makes no move to save her but simply watches her as she turns to run back toward the woods.

[6] It remains unclear whether Wright is tempted by Mann’s patronizing offer, since Mary Wright intercedes right after Mann’s speech. She bursts out of the house saying, “Hide the man, John, for God’s sake.” It seems to be significant that Singleton chose to have Mary Wright refer to James as a “man,” signifying she sees him as a fellow human. The fact that Mr. Wright won’t give in until another white person intercedes demonstrates that he has yet to fully break away from the views he shares with the racist southerners.

[7] It is also significant that during the exchange between Mann, James, and Wright, Mary Wright remains visible, gazing through the window at the scene unfolding from inside the house. She can be seen when the camera is looking toward Mr. Wright, presumably from Mann and James’s point of view. By positioning Mary in the background of the camera shot, Singleton demonstrates the luxury of safety that whites enjoyed, even as the African-Americans were driven from their homes. At the same time, Singleton emphasizes what Mr. Wright is willing to put at risk by putting his racism aside to harbor at-risk African-Americans. This proves to be a very serious sacrifice when the Wright family’s harboring of African-Americans puts them in serious danger two times throughout the rest of the film. While much of this scene demonstrates the barrier Wright’s racism presents to helping protect James’s family, this scene also demonstrates how Wright has begun to transcend his racism, taking many African-Americans into his house and telling Mann and James’s family to hide in the woods. Through mis-en-scene and dialogue, Singleton effectively portrays Wright’s moral negotiation of his racism.