#and the best actors in the world cant fix such a bad foundation

[corvussy]

I'm reading the queen and slim script (bc I have no intention of watching the movie) & I intended to read the script purely looking to analyze how the (obviously political) story elements held up to real life, as so often hollywood tends to fall flat in portraying the experience of oppressed racial groups, especially (and specifically) black Americans.

however, I could not help but just... really feel that this script is so obviously written by people who know nothing about even basic laws and resolutely did 0 research on the law outside of reading facebook infographics about citizens rights during traffic stops, and it seemed Queens character being a lawyer flew straight out the window the moment the throwaway lines of dialogue about her recent case came out her mouth.

the most egregious example was obviously the traffic stop scene. Queens role is quickly delegated to a passive observer who occasionally throws out quips about police brutality and does little to help the situation (and becomes actually a part of the escalating conflict). now, obviously no person can really expect to react rationally/perfect during a traffic stop. poor judgement/behavior is no excuse for murder.

HOWEVER, queens character is very much introduced to be no nonsense (wants to send back slims incorrect order, says she doesnt like people "not doing their jobs", etc.) and also very self assured & confident, combined with a very clear the knowledge of state law & a pretty well established attorney (as she handled a death penalty case, it's unlikely Queen was advertising on bus benches), I just dont think Queens actions correlated very well with the established traits from the date + the car ride

also the whole movie is a response to police brutality & subverting what usually happens so turning this scene into a sort of soap box for the message wouldnt be "unrealistic" so much as necessary in setting the movie apart from any other usual hollywood cashgrab for social issue points.

plus Queens profession could have actually gave the story & her character much more depth and this scene at the beginning of the movie is just a stumbling block that has everything else just go downhill.

Some more realistic proactive actions that I think align with Queens character:

having done the research, queen could have taken charge of the situation (as she wanted to do in the restaurant, which could have made for some good visual/dialogue juxtaposition with some tweaks to both scenes)

Queen is a lawyer, she could have very well turned into one at this moment, not letting slim give verbal consent for a search or even introducing herself as slims lawyer. maybe even chastising the officer for not running a check when he comes back with his license & registration and still asking if slim has any warrants (i.e. he wasn't doing his job).

Queen tends to be self righteous by nature, so I think she would definitely be affronted by the police officers accusations & continued/escalating misconduct. this would have been a good time to reassert her & slims earlier characterizations. Queen as very self assured & slim as someone who doesnt like to ruffle feathers

perhaps slim could have tried to get Queen to stop "provoking" the officer with the law, sensing that the officer didnt like being in the wrong, which is already present in the current scene, as he goes red when he doesnt find anything in slims trunk & concocts a violation on slims part to justify pointing a gun and shooting. tensions would definitely be running high as slim was a very nervous character already and the two were incompatible from the beginning, so it would be easy for the cop to escalate the situation and also serve as commentary that cops are worse than untrained civilians and are still given access to deadly weapons.

and finally, psa DO NOT FUCKING REMOVE BULLETS EVEN IF ITS "JUST UNDER THE SKIN" (god that paragraph pained me to read) THAT SHIT AINT A FUCKING SPLINTER

but queen removing the bullet honestly read like torture porn though so I highly doubt the scene was done in good faith or out of the characters ignorance