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... Let's talk about Lieutenant Schrank.
What do you think of him? Is he flat-out nasty with no redeeming points? Is he racist? Is he just fed up with the gang wars to the point where he comes across as both of those?
I watched the movie again a little bit ago, for pretty much the express purpose of watching him. I wasn't sure what to make of him. But the script was included with our copy of the film, so I studied his scenes as described there. And that gave me a bit more perspective. What's more, I decided then that I liked the character and felt some sympathy/pity for him. I certainly feel he's better than a lot of the reviews I've been finding have been saying.
In my opinion, Schrank is a good person. He probably started out hoping to do some good in the NYPD. But his inability to get through to the rebellious, rambunctious teens and his witnessing of so many gang wars and deaths because of them has frustrated and embittered and jaded him. Rather than being outright racist, I think he may feel that the Puerto Ricans and their gangs have made an already terrible problem much worse and he blames them for that. Their gang is one of the two main gangs depicted.
In the infamous drug store scene, after he routs them out, he initially tries to get the other gang to believe he's on their side. But I highly doubt that he's on either gang's side; he was just trying desperately to learn where the fight was going to be held so he could try to stop it. He turned nasty/frustrated again when he realized that wasn't going to work.
In the script, it says that after the other gang leaves, he looks shamefaced to the drug store owner. After the other man just stares him down, not responding when he says they told him at headquarters to understand the gang members and he can't seem to, he finally blurts out (approximately), "Try keeping the hoodlums in check and see what it does to you!" The directions then are that he leaves, hounded by guilt. The drug store owner mutters, "It wouldn't give me a mouth like his."
Unquestionably, Schrank said some horrible things to both gangs. But look at it from his point of view: These punk kids insist on warring with each other, wreaking havoc all over the city, and ending up killing each other and sometimes innocent bystanders. It's understandable that Schrank would be angry, especially as it just keeps going on with more and more gangs. And the fact that he felt guilt and shame for what he said, I think, makes a big difference in his favor. Who hasn't said horrible things sometimes? At least he isn't beyond feeling.
The script also says that he has fear, and that, as well as his venom, contributes to his outbursts. It doesn't say what he fears, however. The gangs? That he can't protect the city from them? That he can't protect them from themselves? There are so many possibilities.
I almost kind of want to write a character analysis of him, as a fic. There are two categories for West Side Story on FF.net, one under Musicals and one under Movies (the latter of which is much more busy and is the one I'd be using, for several reasons). And no one's written an analysis of him before. I only see one story that may feature him at all. Naturally, he's not a popular character. The gang members and their girls are the ones everyone writes about. Schrank is probably widely disliked in the fandom for his abrasive comments. But I feel he does have redeeming points and that he's just a man completely at the end of his rope, not knowing what to do anymore and not being able to relate to the gangs' mindsets at all. Thinking of it in those terms, I can relate a lot better to Schrank than to any of the other characters. And I think he deserves some understanding. The gang members get that in droves from the fandom; why not Schrank too?
What do you think of him? Is he flat-out nasty with no redeeming points? Is he racist? Is he just fed up with the gang wars to the point where he comes across as both of those?
I watched the movie again a little bit ago, for pretty much the express purpose of watching him. I wasn't sure what to make of him. But the script was included with our copy of the film, so I studied his scenes as described there. And that gave me a bit more perspective. What's more, I decided then that I liked the character and felt some sympathy/pity for him. I certainly feel he's better than a lot of the reviews I've been finding have been saying.
In my opinion, Schrank is a good person. He probably started out hoping to do some good in the NYPD. But his inability to get through to the rebellious, rambunctious teens and his witnessing of so many gang wars and deaths because of them has frustrated and embittered and jaded him. Rather than being outright racist, I think he may feel that the Puerto Ricans and their gangs have made an already terrible problem much worse and he blames them for that. Their gang is one of the two main gangs depicted.
In the infamous drug store scene, after he routs them out, he initially tries to get the other gang to believe he's on their side. But I highly doubt that he's on either gang's side; he was just trying desperately to learn where the fight was going to be held so he could try to stop it. He turned nasty/frustrated again when he realized that wasn't going to work.
In the script, it says that after the other gang leaves, he looks shamefaced to the drug store owner. After the other man just stares him down, not responding when he says they told him at headquarters to understand the gang members and he can't seem to, he finally blurts out (approximately), "Try keeping the hoodlums in check and see what it does to you!" The directions then are that he leaves, hounded by guilt. The drug store owner mutters, "It wouldn't give me a mouth like his."
Unquestionably, Schrank said some horrible things to both gangs. But look at it from his point of view: These punk kids insist on warring with each other, wreaking havoc all over the city, and ending up killing each other and sometimes innocent bystanders. It's understandable that Schrank would be angry, especially as it just keeps going on with more and more gangs. And the fact that he felt guilt and shame for what he said, I think, makes a big difference in his favor. Who hasn't said horrible things sometimes? At least he isn't beyond feeling.
The script also says that he has fear, and that, as well as his venom, contributes to his outbursts. It doesn't say what he fears, however. The gangs? That he can't protect the city from them? That he can't protect them from themselves? There are so many possibilities.
I almost kind of want to write a character analysis of him, as a fic. There are two categories for West Side Story on FF.net, one under Musicals and one under Movies (the latter of which is much more busy and is the one I'd be using, for several reasons). And no one's written an analysis of him before. I only see one story that may feature him at all. Naturally, he's not a popular character. The gang members and their girls are the ones everyone writes about. Schrank is probably widely disliked in the fandom for his abrasive comments. But I feel he does have redeeming points and that he's just a man completely at the end of his rope, not knowing what to do anymore and not being able to relate to the gangs' mindsets at all. Thinking of it in those terms, I can relate a lot better to Schrank than to any of the other characters. And I think he deserves some understanding. The gang members get that in droves from the fandom; why not Schrank too?
