Questions about the ending (spoiler)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — L.A. Confidential
Superunknovvn — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 06:13 AM)
Why did only Exley get a medal? And why were they all like a great big family in the end? Wouldn't Bud White feel a little bit cheated for not getting honored? And Kim Basinger's character - she went from loving Bud for all the ways he's not like Exley to being something like a good old friend of Exley's who strolls down the halls arm in arm with him. (I guess, there's not so much a question here. I just think characters change their motivations and relations to one another way too quickly in this movie.)
Final question: Why would they honor Exley at all? They could just sweep everything under the rug, seeing how there's no hard evidence to support Exley's (and presumably White's) claims of what had happened, and pin everything on the two cops.
We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school -
Mickyfinn — 9 years ago(December 27, 2016 11:28 AM)
I believe they were revisiting 'Bloody Christmas' and 'Nite Owl' in regards to 'needing a hero' to have the public keep faith in the LAPD and deflect any notion of widespread corruption. That's why only 1 award.
I don't think Bud was the type to worry about awards anyway. And Lynn is friendly with Exley because Ed and Bud went from being bitter enemies to friends in working together on the case. They had to use both Ed's brains and Bud's fierceness to solve the case and ended up respecting each other very much.
As to why honor at all, there is a theme of both a 'needed hero' as I said above, and also that the LAPD was all about image and how the public viewed them. Its better and easier just to give out a medal and hide the truth.
You just have to be resigned-
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