White Flag

Before the "Cell Block Tango" Mama Morton says, "I ain't never heard of a man gettin' killed when he didn't get just what was coming to him." Does this mean a woman killing a man is innocent of committing a crime? Far from it. It just points to the fact that in a world like Chicago pretty much everyone is a scumbag.

But this bleak view of humanity is moderated a bit in the "Cell Block Tango." During each of the six musical vignettes, a woman talks about how she killed a man. The murder is illustrated in a dance, and the murder itself represented with a red ribbon. Good ol' red, doing its stereotypical duty as the color of blood, sin, and crime.

But when The Hunyak, who professes her innocence, illustrates her crime with a dance, she pulls a white ribbon—a ribbon of innocence. Should we believe her? And if we do, does that mean that the other women, including Velma (who has two red ribbons) are guilty?

Since the "Cell Block Tango" takes place in Roxie's imagination, we can only assume that Roxie believes that five of the six women are guilty, and she takes the Hunyak's declaration of innocence at face value. But imagine if Roxie were performing in the "Cell Block Tango." Would she pull a red ribbon from Fred Casely, or a white one? In other words: is Roxie guilty in her own eyes, or does she actually believe that she's innocent?