Friday, March 29, 2024

‘3 1/2 Minutes, 11 Bullets’ Punctuates A Persistent Problem

jordan davis 3-and-half-minutes

*To say “3½ Minutes, 11 Bullets” is timely is sickeningly redundant. Racism and injustice are timeless issues. Just this year it was revealed a “Seinfeld” script was nixed because George [Costanza] said, “You know, I have never seen a black person order a salad;” and the film “Project Almanac” has an Obama chicken joke. The systemic racism that is endemic in a society feeds heavily on ignorance. Executive producer Diane Weyemann says in the production notes that “The issues of race in America and in the criminal justice system are very much part of the story.”

British director Marc Silver also pointed out that “Michael Dunn sees himself as a victim. Dunn provides a chilling portrait of racism in America today. In fact, Dunn went as far as to say he potentially saved someone else’s life by killing Jordan Davis. He was so blind to his own racism that I felt he became a metaphor for how the U.S. is far from being a ‘post-racial society.’ America does not want to admit it has a racism problem. If you cannot admit there is a problem, you cannot solve the problem.

3 & a half minutes 11 bullets

“I have no doubt there are many people who see black men as Michael Dunn sees black men. This perception is based on a combination of ignorance, stereotyping and bias, which ultimately is dehumanizing. This isn’t about a few bad apples; this is about a country that was built on racism, that values whiteness above blackness. Essentially, I think it is fear. It’s a fear that is constructed and perpetuated by the mass media.”

Minette Nelson added, “Bias is still within the minds of many in a supposedly post-racial society. There may be voting rights and affirmative action, but policy can’t dictate what’s in people’s hearts. And the judgment many don’t even know exists within them is easily triggered—and too often acted on. We’re a long way from racial equality. This country is embroiled in a struggle that it has long refused to acknowledge [racism]. Now we’re up against the wall, and it needs to be addressed”

Father Ron Davis and  mother Lucia McBath at Rally.
Father Ron Davis and mother Lucia McBath at Rally.

The “3½ Minutes, 10 Bullets” revolves around the trial of Davis’s killer, Dunn, and gets its name from the approximate time it took from Dunn driving into the parking lot at a gas station to when he fired 10 bullets into the SUV Davis and his friends were fleeing in. Paramount parts of the film, as well, are interviews with Davis’ parents, along with his three friends, that were in the car with him when he was killed.

A similar scenario to the Dunn situation is the Trayvon Martin case in which an unarmed teenager was stalked and shot dead. However, Dunne, after a second trial, was charged with first-degree murder. On the 2013 day after Thanksgiving in a parking lot, Dunn complained to the teenagers that their music was too loud. After an argument, Dunn fired 10 shots into their SUV even though they put the vehicle in reverse and was trying to get away from his fusillade of bullets.

Syndicated Entertainment journalist Marie Moore reports on film and TV from her New York City base. Contact her at [email protected]

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