#82712

Thinner

Snatch

In [Snatch], stereotypes reduced Irish Travelers to dirty caravan dwelling, thick accented, dim, brutal bare-knuckle boxers. Despite this, many Irish Travelers celebrated the Mickey O’Neil character (played by Brad Pitt) as a hero, as he was strong, attractive, an excellent fighter, possessed a strong concern for the welfare of his family, and, perhaps most importantly, he is victorious in the end, defeating the English, avenging his mother’s death, and making off with a lot of money. As for how Irish Travelers contend with the virulent stereotypes, geographer David Nemeth relates a relevant point regarding another nomadic minority group, the Roma/Gypsies: More traditional Gypsy power-brokers . . . may prefer being portrayed by the media as hustlers, even predators, than as the pathetic prey of Nazis and other racists. (cited in Hancock 1999a) As the quote reveals, many will prefer the criminal stereotype over the romantic or victimized image as they would rather be associated with some sort of power, albeit stigmatized and illegal, which commands respect and/or allows one to be left alone due to the fear such stereotypes elicit. This also allows Irish Travelers to avoid, what Fanon describes in the postcolonial context, the psychological internalization of inferiority.

Thinner

Perhaps the point is this: the angry white man of the mid-1990s (the Limbaughs, the Gingrichs, the Oliver Norths, etc.) really doesn't have very much to validly be angry about, except the possibility of losing dominance in the American culture at some nebulous future date. Accordingly, the overall point of Thinner indeed seems to be that America is a mean country that favors the rich, the powerful and the violent, and that the only way to get "justice" is to be brutal about it, to bully and intimidate your enemy into submissions. Ultimately, Halleck shows now mercy to his wife, his doctor, or Lempke's family. Yet he is the first one to whine and beg for mercy.