Character Analysis
Troubled Waters
Peter Waters tags along with Anthony, robbing white folks and making fun of Anthony's insane rants. We're not sure why he hangs out with Anthony, but it seems that when he isn't, Peter enjoys listening to country music, playing hockey, and ice skating. He's basically Anthony's sounding board, listening to and disputing all the crazy things Anthony says.
At the end of the movie, Officer Hanson, off duty, gives Peter a ride, and Peter says this:
PETER: That's some good music. […] Love the ice skatin'. When I was a kid I always wanted to be a goalie.
Hanson thinks Peter is making fun of him. Why? Is he racially stereotyping Peter, thinking that Black people can't like country music? Or ice skating? At the same time, we have to consider why Peter is laughing. Is he laughing because Hanson is racially stereotyping him? Because he's been around Anthony so long that he's forgotten what a real sense of humor looks like?
Their conversation is awkward, like many in this movie. Peter keeps laughing. Hanson wants to know why he's laughing. Peter laughs more. Hanson, chill out. Peter, stop laughing. But they don't do that. Their awkwardness escalates until it ends in Peter's death. Yikes.
This movie wants us to think about race and ask certain questions. Would Peter have died if he were white? Would Officer Hanson have found Peter's behavior as strange if Peter had a different skin tone? Or is this whole confrontation—and its fatal consequences—the result of two people who are so awkward they literally can't have a conversation to save their lives?
Peter Waters' Timeline