"Emergency": Three College Guys, One Dead Girl

 

Emergency, on Amazon Prime, sounds like a reboot of the 1970s tv series about paramedics, but actually the plot is more akin to the "dead hooker in the bathroom" comedies.  Here it's three college guys stumbling across a dead girl after a party.  They should call the police, but there's a problem: they're black, and the dead girl is white.  The police will shoot first, ask questions later.  

This is 2022, so doubtless one of the three guys will be gay.

Scene 1: Establishing shots of an elite college.  Sean (Donald Elise Watkins) encouraging Kunle (RJ Cyler) to go after a girl: "She like your big head.  Or small dick."

Kunle has been established as heterosexual from Line 1.  But Sean is rather feminine, and devotes himself to his buddy's romance, a standard "gay friend" trope.  So he must be the gay one.  

They discuss the possibility of Kunle  just having sex with her, not starting a romance.

Scene 2: Class.  The standard university lecture hall.  The professor notes that there's a trigger warning in today's reading, but the guys aren't paying attention: Sean is texting, and Kunle is gazing at the Girl of His Dreams, Bianca.  

The professor continues: "Today we're going to talk about hate speech." Suddenly her powerpoint slideshow displays the N-word.  She begins a lecture on the word's "unique space in American vernacular.," and says it!  "What makes the word so powerful?"   

Having not heard her introduction, the guys sizzle.  "She can't say that.  It ain't right!  She don't know shit!"

Professor asks them to comment, but they are saved by the bell.  Wait -- class just started!  And there are no bells in college.

Scene 3:  After class, Bianca (the Girl of Kunle's Dreams) approaches the guys to ask if they want to protest to the Student Senate.  They skip over all of that and tell her that tonight they were be going on the Legendary Tour of nine parties.  They will be the first black students to be invited to all nine, which will get them immortalized on the Wall of Fame in the Black Student Union.

She leaves.  The guys discuss the N-word again, interspliced with how much Bianca is into Kunle.

Scene 4: In the lab, Kunle examines his bacteria cultures, while Sean criticizes him for doing school work.  They're in college!  They should be partying, not studying!

Sean leaves, and approaches the third friend, Leo (Amar), for the tickets to the various parties on the Legendary Tour: "You're lucky.  I was about to give these to a cute freshman chick, but she was getting too attached.  I ain't into romance, bruh."  

Leo is identified as heterosexual in his first line, too.  What's up what that?  Oh, well, there's still Sean.

Whoops, Sean isn't paying attention -- he's busy gazing at the Girl of His Dreams!  He rushes over to flirt.

Three out of three identified as heterosexual, and it only took 10 minutes.  I'll fast-forward to see if there are any gay couples at the parties.

The dead girl -- actually just unconscious -- appears in their apartment before they can even get to a party.  They have no idea how she got there.  If they call 911, the police will come, and they'll be "shot first, arrested later."  But how can they get her to a hospital? Two black men driving a car are bound to be stopped....

The third guy is not Leo, but Kunle and Sean's other roommate, Carlos (Sebastian Chacon).  He doesn't express any heterosexual interest, at least none that I could tell from fast-forwarding.  And he almost hugs Kunle -- maybe a minimal gay subtext.  Otherwise it's the same old story -- movies can depict black characters, or gay characters, but never both.