Fires in the Mirrors

• Blog – After finishing the film, what emotions do you feel? What do you think Anna Deavere Smith was trying to do in creating this piece?

After watching “Fires in the Mirrors” I had mixed emotions. There are parts of me that think it is the Jews fault but other parts that make me feel as though it is the African Americans fault. The only person who felt as though the whole thing was an accident was Roslyn Malamud in “Coup.” She was an African American who clearly stated that what happened was an accident. She said that everyone in the same neighborhood wants the same things. As I recall this is the only person who felt as though the entire incident was just an accident. There were feelings of sadness when the Jewish man was stabbed for just being Jewish but also when the young African American boy was hit by the car.
Anna Deavere Smith, the producer of the movie was trying to show people all the different views on the incident. There were people who were laid back and others who were constantly shouting. She interviewed all different types of people from a mayor to an anonymous young man on the streets. She tried to balance out who she interviewed, balancing out interviewing Jewish people and African Americans. I think that she succeeded in her movie because each persons view was different, even if it was in the smallest way. I don’t think that she was biased in any way. This is because she played the role of each person she interviewed and said and did exactly what the person she interviewed did. She didn’t manipulate anyone’s interview to favor one side or the other, only the side they supported.