The submarine sent out a ping and got an echo from a battleship.

One question these scenes pose for cultural theory is whether such depictions denaturalize rape and denormalize masculinist pleasure in viewing sexual violence.

The circumstances that far too many African-Americans face — the lack of paternal support and discipline; the requirement that single mothers work regardless of the effect on their children’s care; the hypocritical refusal of conservative politicians to put their money where their mouths are on family values; the recourse by male youths to gangs as parental substitutes; the ghetto-fabulous culture of the streets; the lack of skills among black men for the jobs and pay they want; the hypersegregation of blacks into impoverished inner-city neighborhoods — all interact perversely with the prison system that simply makes hardened criminals of nonviolent drug offenders and spits out angry men who are unemployable, unreformable and unmarriageable, closing the vicious circle.

When we described the 80-20 rule, we mentioned that 5% of the stores in Danvers, Massachusetts, accounted for 50% of the reported shopliftings.