Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

by

Anna Deavere Smith

Tom Bradley Character Analysis

Tom Bradley is the former mayor of Los Angeles. In his monologue, he describes working with his staff to draft separate messages to deliver depending on the outcome of Rodney King’s Simi Valley trial. He and his staff created a message to deliver in the event of a not guilty verdict, though they doubted they’d need it. The not guilty message voiced Bradley’s outrage, while at the same time urging the public to refrain from responding to the unjust verdict with violence. Bradley acknowledges the disingenuousness of this message, given how obvious it must have been to anyone who saw the video of King’s brutal beating that a not guilty verdict was a grave miscarriage of justice.
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Tom Bradley Character Timeline in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

The timeline below shows where the character Tom Bradley appears in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Your Heads in Shame
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Justice, Perspective, and Ambiguity  Theme Icon
Individuals vs. Institutions Theme Icon
Action vs. Symbolic Gesture  Theme Icon
...the block but proceeded to film his house. He remembers watching on TV as Mayor Bradley and President Bush condemned the jurors’ verdict. He felt as though he and the other... (full context)
Messages
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Smith interviews Tom Bradley, the former mayor of Los Angeles. They sit in his City Hall office. A woman... (full context)
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Justice, Perspective, and Ambiguity  Theme Icon
Individuals vs. Institutions Theme Icon
Action vs. Symbolic Gesture  Theme Icon
When they received news of the acquittal, Bradley addressed the public directly to express his outrage. However, he urged people not to erase... (full context)