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This is a scene that I’ve had kicking around in my head for years now, but it didn’t come together quite like I’d intended. At first I had Walter trying to reason with Bennett and his cronies, which makes sense, because he’s not a violent guy, and he’d rather avoid a fight if possible. But he ended up coming across as weak, rather than reasonable. Then I hit upon this idea that Walter has been through this kind of thing many times in the past. He knows how bigots think, and that he’s either going to end up fighting or groveling. He may be willing to sacrifice his dignity for his country, and hide his race as the Bombardier, but he’s not going to give it up for a bunch of bullies. So he accepts the inevitable and gets ready for a fight.
The only problem with that approach is that I had to be careful not to make Walter end up looking like the aggressor. The bullies’ intentions had to be clear before Walter put up his dukes, and that led to Walter walking Max through the process of racial intimidation.
Anyway, it’s not quite what I had originally envisioned, but I think it works for the most part.