Night thought

[capncnut]

After watching Autopsy, I gave Night a viewing yesterday with the missus. Now this has probably been raised a billion times before but I can't find it anywhere so apologies. When Ben is awakened by gunshots the morning after his ordeal, he leaves the cellar, creeps into the living area, spies on the posse from a window and... ...why the fuck didn't he shout, "SURVIVOR!!! HELP!!!"

[MoonSylver]

Does he actually SEE the posse? I don't think so...I always got the impression he heard the gunfire,was creeping up to the window to sneak a peek & *BOOM* lights out. I always kinda figured he was being cautious..didn't know it was a full blown posse...could have been one or two survivors getting over whelmed. Plus when he went to sleep the house had been overrun, another reason to be cool. Also, he just woke up & has had a long night/been through quite an ordeal...could have been a little groggy/fizzy headed & may not have been sure WHAT was going on.

[capncnut]

Does he actually SEE the posse? I don't think so...I always got the impression he heard the gunfire,was creeping up to the window to sneak a peek & *BOOM* lights out. While Russo's novelisation would agree with this, from yesterdays viewing I noticed Ben was definitely taking a ganders, hence the close up of his face taking a ganders for a good few seconds before he popped his clogs. Dunno about you but if I heard those gunshots in the cellar, I'd be running up the steps, shouting "SURVIVOR" with my arms flailing like a madman.

[krakenslayer]

While Russo's novelisation would agree with this, from yesterdays viewing I noticed Ben was definitely taking a ganders, hence the close up of his face taking a ganders for a good few seconds before he popped his clogs. Dunno about you but if I heard those gunshots in the cellar, I'd be running up the steps, shouting "SURVIVOR" with my arms flailing like a madman. It could be simply that caution was the instinctive response of a black drifter in the 1960s when presented with an army of white guys with guns and dogs walking towards his house. Bad memories maybe. Maybe the image of that was enough to make him hesitate for just a few seconds, long enough to... BAM! The American Nightmare documentary actually makes this comparison explicit, combining shots of the Night posse with shots of police and civilian lynch mobs during the civil rights movement, with shots of Ben looking out the window and hesitating.

[bassman]

I've always thought he was playing it safe to see if he could show himself. After his standoff with Cooper, he was playing it slowly and carefully.

[Ghost Of War]

It could be simply that caution was the instinctive response of a black drifter in the 1960s when presented with an army of white guys with guns and dogs walking towards his house. Bad memories maybe. Maybe the image of that was enough to make him hesitate for just a few seconds, long enough to... BAM! The American Nightmare documentary actually makes this comparison explicit, combining shots of the Night posse with shots of police and civilian lynch mobs during the civil rights movement, with shots of Ben looking out the window and hesitating. That's my take on it. A black man running out of a house with his arms flailing, at that time of racial tension, might have had to duck a bullet or two, especially with the undead wandering about. Don't forget, he was shot without the posse bothering to find out if he was alive or not.

[DubiousComforts]

...why the fuck didn't he shout, "SURVIVOR!!! HELP!!!" Nobody ever asks, "why didn't the posse shout 'stop or we'll shoot'?" Almost every ghoul they are shown gunning down is a fair distance away. The posse assumed that everyone stumbling around was a ghoul when it could just as easily have been an injured or disoriented person. There's a very good reason that Romero doesn't draw much distinction between the ghouls and the posse in NIGHT except for the posse possessing superior firepower. Nobody ever wonders why the ghouls actually flee from the posse, either. Perhaps it's because the real monsters have arrived!

[capncnut]

The racism element of Ben's death has been brought up before but was trashed by Romero. Nobody ever asks, "why didn't the posse shout 'stop or we'll shoot'?" Good point actually. Or better still, "ANYONE THERE!"

[sandrock74]

I always thought Ben was worried about straggler zombies being around (I would have been worried!), so he was keeping quiet, staying low, and checking out the situation. For all he knew, he might have to bolt for the cellar again. The whole racism thing never occured to me until after I read it here. If I'm one of the posse, I'd want all the people with me that we could get, Ben certainly included! A zombie outbreak is no time to be worried about what color someone is...not that there is really a "correct" time. You know what I mean.

[AcesandEights]

After the home you've been sheltering in is surrounded by a horde of ghouls and portions of it virtually torn down, I think it's fair to say I'd want to make sure the people with the guns are both friendly and capable of handling whatever remains of the horde outside. I can see how, in such a circumstance, yelling wouldn't be everyone's first choice. With Ben's luck he'd yell out, just as a pack of ghouls come out from the underbrush and start to overwhelm the posse. Then Ben would be up shit's creek again!

[BillyRay]

I suppose that's the cruel irony about the whole film. Ben kept a cool head, came up with a plan, got evrybody organized (He even got Cooper to lend a hand with the Molotovs) - He did everything right. He comes up from the cellar (which really was the safest place), not shouting for help, not trying to draw attention, then - BLAM! - Done in by an overtired hillbilly with good aim. That was the most horrifying element of the original movie to me. Typically in the Horror movies I had seen up to that point; the rational, selfless character tended to live and the selfish, foolish characters tended to get their just desserts. But in this case, the guy that did everything right (or at least tried to) got killed stupidly at the very end. It seemed unfair. Like so many things in life. But it was true. This sort of thing would happen a lot in that sort of chaos. Regardless of Race. (although that coupled w/ Dr King's assassintion right before the premiere certainly resonated with audiences.)

[DubiousComforts]

I always thought Ben was worried about straggler zombies being around This is the most obvious reason given the way in which Ben cautiously unboards the cellar door. He hears the posse off in the distance and has no idea how many ghouls may be lurking between him and them.

[darth los]

The racism element of Ben's death has been brought up before but was trashed by Romero. Good point actually. Or better still, "ANYONE THERE!" Whether intentional or not the racism element is in the film, from the tension with cooper and him slapping a white woman unconcious to the incident with the posse. Let's see: Rednecks with guns, Check. German Shepards, check. The only thing missing from that scene was fire hoses. I'm sure that he didn't intend for racism to be present in Day of the dead either between the soldiers and John but believe it was there. It could be simply that caution was the instinctive response of a black drifter in the 1960s when presented with an army of white guys with guns and dogs walking towards his house. Bad memories maybe. Maybe the image of that was enough to make him hesitate for just a few seconds, long enough to... BAM! The American Nightmare documentary actually makes this comparison explicit, combining shots of the Night posse with shots of police and civilian lynch mobs during the civil rights movement, with shots of Ben looking out the window and hesitating. That's my take on it. A black man running out of a house with his arms flailing, at that time of racial tension, might have had to duck a bullet or two, especially with the undead wandering about. Don't forget, he was shot without the posse bothering to find out if he was alive or not. I agree with you both. if we would stop pretending that there is no racism in situations like this we would get much farther in the debate. As we all know the first step in dealing with a problem is to first admit you have one. This country has not done that which is why it continues to linger. Whenever people bring up an incident involves racism the person or group accused feign indignation, which is rediculous. This is not to say that racism is the beginning or end of it, just a part of it. The first 2 things most people notice about another person is: 1) Their gender. 2) Their race. There is just no way around that. Like it or not people make judgements off of those things the minute they meet you. With that being said there is no doubt that Ben heard those dogs barking and gunfire because that's what woke him up. Now, whether he was trying to discern exactly what the situation was before he made his presence known or if he was fearing the redneck posse would do to him, well... what redneck posses did to black men in those days is definitely up for debate. I look forward to a civil one.

[dracenstein]

My thoughts on Ben's caution was a mix of Who's out there? and Are the zombies still in the house?. He didn't know that it was a posse, but hoping so, but it could also be something similar to Dawn's raiders.

[darth los]

My thoughts on Ben's caution was a mix of Who's out there? and Are the zombies still in the house?. He didn't know that it was a posse, but hoping so, but it could also be something similar to Dawn's raiders. Very good point. That could be it as well. My point earlier is that all possibilities should be considered and not dismissed out of hand as rediculous.