Twilight

Anna Deavere Smith very effectively reveals her purpose in compiling the accounts of individuals whom she interviewed following the race riots in Los Angeles in the early '90s. She moves from vivid accounts of physical encounters and victim narratives to anecdotes that indicate a sense of helplessness at achieving a desired goal. A movie producer hoping to achieve greater racial unity on her set notes how, "It was a fake euphoria we all felt. It was the euphoria of, 'Look at what's possible not what's real'" (212). This comment seems to press a certain urgency upon the reader to address racial tension or inequality the second it arises.

A few pages later a Democratic senator from New Jersey notes how, "the moral power of those institutions have to be brought to bear in the public institutions, which in many places are not fair. To put it mildly. Right? And the application of the law before which we are all in theory equal" (217). The discontinuity between the dream of a multicultural region without tension, riots, and violence and the reality of what lies outside this man's window speaks clearly to Deavere Smith's purposeful selection of personal accounts for inclusion in this larger narrative. She presents reality, as defined by the individuals who experience it. This honest portrayal of perception speaks more loudly than statistics, legislation plans, or police goals.