An Analysis of L.A. Confidential

Although not entirely uncritical in its portrayal of race, L.A. Confidential further

cements white as the “invisible norm” in film. The film makes a few points about police

racism and white—specifically Anglo—dominance in the LAPD, but the few critical

points the film makes are limited to the institutions portrayed in the film; the primacy of

whiteness throughout the film itself goes unquestioned. Furthermore, its stereotypical

representations of minorities sabotage any chance the film had to offer criticism of white

hegemony in either its historical setting, 1950s Los Angeles, the late ’90s world in which

it was made, or the universe of noir film. In this essay, I will show how L.A. Confidential

builds up whiteness as the ideal through its treatment of the three protagonists, the femme

fatale Lynn, blacks and Latinos, and whites belonging to minority ethnic groups.

When discussing race and ethnicity in L.A. Confidential, it is important to first

discuss the historical context of the film. Made in 1997, the film takes place in 1950s Los

Angeles, a time and place where police racism was extremely prevalent, as evidenced by

the 1951 “Bloody Christmas” incident dramatized in the film. On “Bloody Christmas,”

seven young prisoners, five of whom were Mexican, were savagely beaten by some fifty

(mostly drunk) Los Angeles police officers in response to false rumors of injuries

sustained by other officers at the hands of the youths. (Escobar, 171.) The incident was

indicative of widespread racism within the all-white police force and is just one of a

number of historical incidents that have caused tension between the LAPD and minority

communities. Although it takes place in the time of “Bloody Chri...

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...Spot in the Kaleidoscope: Black Images in American Film.”

The Kaleidoscopic Lens: How Hollywood Views Ethnic Groups. Ed. Randall M. Miller.

Jerome S. Ozer, 1980. p. 15-35.

Dyer, Richard. “White.” New York: Routledge, 1997.

Escobar, Edward J. “Bloody Christmas and the Irony of Police Professionalism: The Los

Angeles Police Department, Mexican Americans, and Police Reform in the 1950s.”

Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 72, No. 2, pages 171-199.

Grant, Judith. “Assault under Color of Authority: Police Corruption as Norm in the

LAPD Rampart Scandal and in Popular Film.” New Political Science 25.3 (Sep. 2003):

385. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Arizona State University library, Tempe, AZ.

16 Mar. 2009

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