Silent Beats

Streaming video - 2000

A young African-American man tap dances in a studio lined with mirrors. He enters an Asian-American-owned convenience store. Images that reinforce racial stereotypes are shown, representing the thoughts of the owner, as well as those of the protagonist and an elderly Caucasian customer. The store owner is suspicious that the young black man is a hoodlum. The white woman thinks of street beggars. The protagonist thinks of the convenience store owner in stereotypical images (e.g. wearing a “coolie” hat). In flashback, we see images of the young man caring for his mother, who has breast cancer. Back in the store, he buys a bottle of water. The tension eases as he leaves. Unnoticed by the store owner, the elderly Caucasian woman steals a ca...ndy bar. Back at the dance studio, the protagonist dances an intricate and energetic tap dance. He stops and drinks from his bottle of water and stares into the camera. more