Line #1 Film/ASoldiersStory


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_soldiers_story.jpeg]]
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3	->''"The worst thing you can do, in this part of the country, is pay too much attention to the death of a negro under mysterious circumstances."''
4	-->-- '''Colonel Nivens'''
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6	A 1984 wartime drama/mystery film directed by Creator/NormanJewison, ''A Soldier's Story'' was adapted by screenwriter Charles Fuller from his own UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 1982 off-Broadway play ''Theatre/ASoldiersPlay'', which was also a loose SettingUpdate of ''Literature/BillyBudd''. The film stars [[Creator/HowardRollins Howard E. Rollins Jr.]] and Adolph Caesar, with a supporting cast that includes Creator/DenzelWashington, Dennis Lipscomb, Art Evans, Creator/LarryRiley, and Creator/DavidAlanGrier; Caesar, Washington, and Riley had all originated their roles in the play. Jazz great Music/HerbieHancock composed the film's score.
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8	The setting is the segregated black U.S. Army base of Fort Neal, Louisiana in 1944, during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Master Sergeant Vernon Waters (Caesar) has been murdered by an unknown shooter. Captain Richard Davenport (Rollins) is sent in from the JAG Corps to investigate the killing. At first, the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan or racist white soldiers are suspected of the crime. Through his investigation, Davenport discovers the truth that racism indeed played a part, but not in the way he was expecting...
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10	----
11	!!A Soldier's Tropes:
12
13	* AnAesop:
14	** Racism is destructive and blacks will get the worst of it.
15	** Racism not only elevates Whites over the Blacks, it drives Blacks as the second-class citizens to [[WeAreStrugglingTogether fight among themselves]] over who's really Black or not.
16	** Davenport angrily condemns [[spoiler:Peterson for killing Waters]] at the end of the investigation, but when left alone discovers to his horror that he's also judging [[spoiler:Peterson in the same way]], and suffers a minor HeroicBSOD for it.
17	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "Who gave '''you''' the right to judge? To decide who is fit to be a Negro... and who is not?"
18	* ArcWords: Sgt. Waters' last words, "They still hate you!"
19	* AssholeVictim: The film opens with Sgt. Waters' death, and there is initial shock, horror and concern at the event. As the story unfolds and his character is revealed, it shifts into this trope.
20	* BerserkButton: Sgt. Waters really ''hates'' "[[UncleTomfoolery geechies]]".
21	* BringIt: "You wanna ''hit'' ole Sgt. Waters?"
22	* BoomerangBigot: Deconstructed with Sgt. Waters. [[spoiler:He spent his life emulating the racist whites around him. He realizes the futility of it just as he's about to be killed.]]
23	* ButtMonkey: Wilkie is first seen being ridiculed (not maliciously) by the other men. Later his role is more dramatic when [[spoiler:he's dragged into framing C.J. by Waters.]]
24	* CombatPragmatist: Sgt. Waters gets the upper-hand in his fist-fight with Peterson by throwing dirt in his eyes.
25	* DeadpanSnarker: Davenport is more of the dry variety of sarcasm.
26	* DisproportionateRetribution:
27	** It turns out that [[spoiler:Sgt. Waters set up C.J. because he thought C.J. was being a stereotypical "Geechee". He even reveals to C.J. that he has done this before to others under his command.]]
28	** While the black soldier in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} accepting payment to dress up and behave like a monkey was an ignorant choice on his part that reflected poorly on the other black soldiers, [[spoiler:Sgt. Waters and some fellow soldiers decide to punish him by slitting his throat]].
29	* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Why Sgt. Waters was killed.]]
30	* DrillSergeantNasty: Sgt. Waters.
31	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:C.J. Memphis.]]
32	* DrowningMySorrows: Sgt. Waters [[spoiler: after driving C.J. to suicide.]]
33	* EurekaMoment: When Davenport learns that [[spoiler:no one but MP patrols were issued .45 ammunition]].
34	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Sgt. Waters may have been a cruel man who [[spoiler:framed C.J. But he never intended for the young man to take his own life.]]
35	* EveryoneHasStandards: Captain Wilcox stood by while Waters got shoved around by his friend and subjected to racial slurs (although he doesn't use any himself) and seems uncomfortable being questioned by a black man, but insists that he's a doctor, and that he didn't kill Waters, and takes his oath as a doctor seriously.
36	* HeroicBSOD: Davenport [[spoiler:when he realizes the tragedy of the case and how racism had driven C.J. to suicide, turned Waters into a hateful wretch, and turned Peterson into a murderer.]]
37	* {{Jerkass}}: Sgt. Waters was a strict general who didn't hesitate to insult his men.
38	* NiceGuy: C.J. was one of the nicest, kindest, and most sociable soldiers under Sgt. Waters. [[spoiler:Which made Waters' set up of C.J. even more detestable.]]
39	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Peterson calls Waters out early on for his DrillSergeantNasty treatment of the men, and Waters agrees to a "fair" fight with the other Colored troops to watch. Waters proceeds to cheat during the fight and pummels Peterson into unconsciousness.
40	* NoRespectGuy:
41	** Davenport is on the receiving end of this by some of the White officers, first with Captain Taylor who didn't like an outsider taking over his investigation and later with the officers suspected in Waters' death. {{Justified}} given the racist time period.
42	** Wilkie is this plus the resident ButtMonkey.
43	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Colonel Nivens is revealed to have kept crucial details from both Davenport and Taylor, due to not wanting to rile things up, and doesn't wan Davenport to investigate too much (especially if his investigation leads him to a white man) for the same reason.
44	* PosthumousCharacter: Sgt. Waters is already dead by the movie's beginning. [[spoiler:So is C.J.]]
45	* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Sgt. Waters was killed by one of his own men.]]
46	* ShutUpHannibal: [[spoiler:Davenport gives this to Peterson when the latter states that Waters deserved to die. Prompting Davenport to angrily ask what gave Peterson the right to judge who is Black or who isn't.]]
47	* StopBeingStereotypical: Sgt. Waters' reason for hating his men.
48	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Davenport is forced to work with Captain Taylor, the White officer in charge of Waters' platoon and initially in charge of the investigation. Taylor is dismissive of Davenport because Taylor suspects two White officers, one of them a known racist, of Waters' death and because Taylor knows a Black officer in the 1940s could never bring charges against them. Subverted in that when presented with evidence and testimony by the two officers, Taylor wants to arrest them, while Davenport is only looking for justice.
49	* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: C.J.
50	* TragicBigot: It's strongly hinted that Sgt. Waters' father is the reason for his hatred towards the black men he deems stereotypical. [[spoiler:The moment before he is shot by Peterson, Waters is plain weeping out his frustration.]]
51	* UncleTomfoolery: Waters despises this trope. He even tells a story of how he and some of his mates killed a black guy in France during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI because he allowed whites to dress him like a monkey and live out every racist stereotype.
52	* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Waters is seen drunk in the aftermath of C.J.'s suicide, and when he is about to get killed by Peterson he descends into a rant about how he'd done terrible things to establish respect for black people, even through alienating his own race, and it was AllForNothing in the end.]].
53	* WhamLine:
54	** In the ColdOpen.
55	--->'''Waters:''' They still... '''hate YOU!!!'''
56	** Wilkie on what Waters thought of C.J.
57	--->'''Wilkie:''' He '''''DESPISED''''' him!
58	** During the interrogation of Lt. Byrd.
59	--->'''Byrd:''' We've been short on [[spoiler:45 caliber ammo]] for six months. It's for [=MPs=] and special duty people only.
60	* WorthyOpponent: Turns out that [[spoiler: Waters respected Peterson for standing up to him, and despite giving him a beatdown had planned on promoting him.]]

Context Film / ASoldiersStory