ices that there are not any pictures of African-Americans on the wall. As he argues with Sal to put up some pictures of blacks he says, "Rarely do I see any American-Italians eating in here, all I see is black folks. So since we spend much money here, we do have some say." To this Sal replies, "You want brothers on the wall, you can open your own place." Both Sal and Buggin' Out refuse to back down and accept each other and their respective cultural values. As Barnlund states, "What seems most critical is to find ways of gaining entrance into the assumptive world of another culture, to identify the norms that govern face-to-face relations(63). By hanging the pictures of only American-Italians on his wall, Sal is setting up barriers that are stopping him from gaining entrance into Buggin' Out's "assumptive world." Sal is proud of who he is and where he comes from or more generally, his culture. I think he is unwilling to change his views because he still sees himself as a tourist or a visitor in the black community. He works to get along with his customers and looks for mutual respect but he is still not able to see them as friends or neighbors.I think the underlying problem that is demonstrated in the film is the failure of people to look past the faultlines of color and culture. I think this is well portrayed when Mookie asks who Pino's favorite celebrities are and Pino recites a list of mostly black athletes and entertainers. When Mookie asks him, "Why do you always say nigger this and nigger that when all your favorite people are black?" Pino replies, "To me they are not black, they are more than black." Why does he see these famous people as more than black when they probably grew up with the same people he calls niggers? He does not associate them with the black culture that he is surrounded by. He sees them as part of the same elite culture that includes all the white and Italian entertainers. He figures that they m...
