Nick Nolte says that most of the dialogue between him and Eddie Murphy was improvised.
Which means that when Nick Nolte’s character calls Eddie Murphy an n-word three times, maybe that was just improvised?
Which begs the question: is that more or less racist than if it’d been written in the script?
And what about the three times he calls him Reggie–Eddie Murphy’s character’s actual name?
Does that even it out–minus three plus three equals 0?
But then there’s all the other names he calls him when not calling him the n-word or Reggie: boy, convict, low-life, shit-head, spear-chucker, et al.
Nick Nolte’s character being a cop who lets Eddie Murphy’s armed-robber character out of prison for 48 hours to help him chase down Eddie Murphy’s old armed-robber buddies who have since murdered multiple cops while breaking out of prison.
Nick Nolte at one point telling Eddie Murphy’s character: I thought maybe you were a smart boy. But I guess if you were real smart, you wouldn't be a convict.
And: I believe in the merit system. So far you ain’t built up no points, boy.
And: I didn’t know you darker people went for foreign cars.
And: Class ain’t something you buy. Look at you you got a five-hundred-dollar suit and you’re still a lowlife.
And: If you ever switch from an armed robber to a pimp, you’re all set.
And: You're not even a goddamn name anymore. You're just a spearchucker with a number stenciled on the back of his prison fatigues.
At one point Eddie Murphy retorts sarcastically: Oh well I'll be real good from now on, Massa!
According to IMDB, Eddie Murphy’s character was supposed to be named Willie Biggs but Murphy pushed back because he argued that sounded too much like a made-up Hollywood name for a black guy.
By which he meant: a racist made-up Hollywood name for a black guy.
At one point, Eddie calls Nick Nolte Jack, and Nick Nolte gets angry and says don’t call me Jack to which Eddie Murphy apologizes, sincerely: It's just an expression, all right? I don't mean nothin' by it.
To which Nick Nolte says: I don't give a damn. It happens to be my name.
To which Eddie Murphy says: What the hell you complainin' for? At least nobody callin' you shit-head.
To which Nick Nolte says: I may call you worse than that.
Which is obviously foreshadowing that shows the writers were clearly aware of all the problematic names they call Eddie Murphy’s character over the course of their movie.
If you look up the most popular quotes from 48 Hours they use the n-word nine different times without censoring it.
i.e. without calling the n-word the n-word.
Including the following quote from Nick Nolte’s lieutenant commander, who happens to be black:
You goddamn waste of a cop. You lost a stolen bus. I got five deaths related to Ganz and you blow it for a lousy [n-word] convict.
That’s right I called him an [n-word]. You bet I did. I seen the report on that little piece of shit and if he spent one legal day in his life it’d be a record.
The first time Nick Nolte calls Eddie Murphy the n-word he says: Let me explain one thing to you, n-word. I fight dirty.
And then he punches him in the face.
Eddie Murphy calls himself the n-word once.
It’s in the scene in a redneck bar where he’s pretending to be a cop, and one of the racist rednecks calls him out for being a bad cop.
He says: I don’t care what your badge says, n-word.
Then another character says: What kind of cop are you?
And Eddie Murphy says: I’m your worst nightmare. I’m an n-word with a badge.
Then Eddie Murphy says: Oh you a big tough country f-word, huh?
As in: the other f-word. The gay f-word.
In Eddie Murphy’s standup show Delirious (shot one year after 48 Hours came out), he adamantly declares: I ain’t no f-word.
For which he apologizes fifteen years later for any pain his standup act had caused.
Based on my research, no one from 48 Hours has ever apologized for any line of dialogue from 48 Hours.
At one point in 48 Hours, Eddie Murphy makes fun of Nick Nolte’s character: It takes a real-skilled cop to kick in the bedroom door of a couple of d-words.
As in: the other d-word, the lesbian d-word.
At no point in 48 Hours does anyone ever call a woman a woman.
They are girls, girlfriends, pussy, trim, mogambo, and d-words.
To be fair, at one point one of the female characters tells Eddie Murphy:
At least I didn’t end up with a colored loser like you.
At one point, the head bad guy orders prostitutes for him and his Native American partner in crime and specifically requests a Native American prostitute.
To which he has to clarify: No not Turban, I mean squaw.
On the IMDB page for Sonny Landham who plays the Native American partner in crime named Billy Bear, it says: Sonny Landham is an actor with a powerful physique, booming voice and who has played several Native American characters.
Except they put Native American in quotes.
It’s unclear why Native American is in quotes.
Do they mean he is a so-called Native American?
Because according to IMDB, Sonny Landham is actually a descendant of the Cherokee and Seminole Nations.
As opposed to one of the many Native American-looking actors who’ve played offensive Native American caricatures.
So maybe they mean he plays so-called Native American characters?
It is unclear if the Native American prostitute is Native American or not, but to make it clear to the audience that she’s supposed to be Native American, she has dark braided ponytails and a beige top and bottom made to look like it was taken from the pelt of an animal the way they dressed every female Native American ever caricatured in a cartoon or a Cowboy Western.
To be clear, the movie at no point calls a Native American a Native American.
At one point, Nick Nolte says: You think that big Indian would go down to China Town to hook up with his girl?
To which Eddie Murphy says: Billy Bear’s girl ain’t got no interest in his crotch jack. She wants to put some bullets in his butt.
Referring to one of the earlier d-words that Nick Nolte had kicked down the door of.
Minutes later they end up tracking down that big Native American’s girlfriend anyway and Nick Nolte immediately grabs her by the throat, starts choking her, puts a gun in her face, and says: If you don’t tell me where your big Indian boyfriend is I’ll rip your throat out.
To which she tells him where her big Native American boyfriend is and then Eddie Murphy’s character shoots him eight times.
But before all that, Eddie Murphy sneaks out to a bar to get some trim and walks up to a woman he has never met before using the following pickup line: Hey, it’s 10:05. By 10:20 I want to be into some flesh.
To which, she says: What’d you say?
To which he says: You know, trim, mugambo, sex?
To which she does not respond positively.
At first.
Then thirty seconds later she eagerly walks across the street to a hotel and has sexual intercourse with him.
After which, Eddie Murphy offers her fifty bucks and says: Here’s a little something for you.
To which she says: I told you I’m not a pro.
To which Eddie Murphy laughs his Eddie Murphy laugh and kisses her and she smiles back and takes the money anyway.
But before Eddie Murphy hooks up with the girl, Nick Nolte first apologizes for how racist he has been the whole movie.
He says: N-word and watermelon… I didn’t mean that stuff. I’m just doing my job, keeping you down.
To which Eddie Murphy says: You know doing your job… that don’t explain everything.
After which, Eddie Murphy cuts the tension by giving him his signature Eddie Murphy laugh: heh-heh-heh…
And Nick Nolte shakes his head: Yeah. I know.
Which is about as close as 48-Hours gets to any commentary on race and the the police.
But before all this, there’s that scene where Nick Nolte’s black lieutenant says: You goddamn waste of a cop. You lost a stolen bus. I got five deaths related to Ganz and you blow it for a lousy n-word convict.
And: That’s right I called him an n-word. You bet I did. I seen the report on that little piece of shit and if he spent one legal day in his life it’d be a record.
And the part I didn’t tell you earlier was that then Nick Nolte gets mad and yells back: Let me tell you something about this man. He’s got more brains than you’ll ever know. He’s got more guts than any partner I’ve ever had.
And then Eddie Murphy tells the black lieutenant: Don’t you think you’re being a little hard on the guy?
To which the black lieutenant says: Fuck you.
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