What is the significance of the iconic imagery in the ending of Dredd

Question

There are two things that stand out visually at the end of Dredd. When Dredd finally confronts Ma-ma in her apartment there is a display of guns and a jacket on the wall. When Anderson is laying down on the ground there is a wired figure of a tiger.

Iconic Imagery Of The Jacket

The display on the wall is interesting as the jacket is hung as if it was a shrine. There appears to be a sleeve missing and a gang insignia of a clown.

Here is a close up of the jacket. I can't make out the words, but would be interested in knowing what it says.

Wired Figure of Tiger

During this end sequence we see a quick shot of Anderson on the floor with a wired figure standing near her.

There is a scene in the film were the computer hacker guy that Ma-ma used to control the building was making a wired figure. He is only shown once in the film doing this, but it's safe to say that the figure at the end of the film was likely made by him.

The Questions

• What is the significance of this imagery?
• Why was there a figure of a clown on the back of the jacket?
• Why was there a wired figure on the floor near Anderson?

Answer 1

I have a theory for the jacket, I noticed that in the initial part of the movie where they make the reference to three gangs who fought for control of peach tree namely

Peyote Kings

Red Dragon

The Judged

Its shown through a bunch of sequences as Mama clan try to fight for control and the last gang they eliminate is shown to be The Judged and Mama is shown to take the jacket from the last member of the Judged clan who was shot in the back multiple times especially around the logo area. Judging from the way she looked at the jacket i would assume that it was the same jacket and there is a bunch of different logos been shown for all three gangs with the bullets taken into account at the back of the jacket. I think the clown logo could be an addition Mama added to that jacket or it could be the logo they were trying to base for themselves.

As for the other 2 questions I am trying to wrap my head around those but i was unable to find anything on the extras of blu-ray pertaining to it. I will edit this post further more when i find more add on this. The only thing i can think of right now is Anderson let go of the hacker who made that wired tiger and when she lets him go she even remarks to dredd stating that its the only difference she can make and when she looked the tiger again I think she exclaimed recollecting that tiger from the hacker guy's mind reading process earlier.

I hope the theory for jackets works out ;)

Answer 2

Looks like the jacket kind of says "prop of" something or "proof of" something. Maybe the former. The way I hope it turns out is that's the jacket of the pimp she killed and he was one of the leaders in a gang. After she killed him she ran off to start her own thing so she could take on the rest of that gang. It would make sense since in the movie she spoke of expanding her power. For what? And she probably kept the jacket as a shrine. All speculation but yeah.

-Edit.

Turns out the jacket belonged to the leader of the "Judged" gang. In the movie it shows them gunning down one of the members and its the same jacket. His should have holes so i'm guessing the one mama has is the one she took from the leader.

Answer 3

That whole wall seems to be an imitation of judge's gear. Helmet, jacket, assortment of weapons. You'll remember the movie starts with Dredd putting on his gear.

The imagery hints that Ma-Ma is no different from the judges (a running theme in the movie) and given that judges aren't even around most of the time she's a more legitimate authority. The clown just underlines it: The justice system in Mega City 1 is a joke.

(I'm reading the text as "Proof of Liberty" but could be something else, too. "Price of Liberty" ? That'd make sense thematically.)

Answer 4

From [IMDB-Trivia][5]: In Ma-Ma's penthouse there is a Judge's helmet hanging on her wall with a length of gold chain attached to it, a nod to the comic design of Judge Dredd where the gold chain would link the badge to the uniform collar