"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"
![Picture](/uploads/1/0/5/2/105201129/editor/77970-full.jpg?1494204484)
AND ITS IMPACT
In the 1967 film, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? written by William Rose, an interracial couple seeks the approval from the girl’s liberal Californian family. Tensions run high as the family finds it hard to accept their daughter is dating a black man and even harder to accept her intent to marry him as soon as possible. The movie’s comedic relief is found from the other people and family members trying to get a “sneak peak” of the couple and their different ways of accepting the couple’s interracial relationship. The film shows the obvious as well as subtle examples of racism of the 1960s, and the contrasts of what America actually looked like through the middle of its integration period. It shows that black men and women were not seen as equals no matter the credentials (John was a “described as a noble, rich, intelligent, handsome, ethical medical expert who served on United Nations committees.”). Additionally, the movie depicts the white power complex, white hero complex, alternative discrimination and a misrepresentation of equality.
SUMMARY:
John Prentice and Joey Drayton, the starring interracial couple of the film, both visited Hawaii separately and met on their vacation. They fall in love. They then fly to San Jose, California to seek approval from Johanna or “Joey’s” family, so they could leave for Geneva as soon as possible and start a life together in the country where John works. The mother, Mrs. Drayton, has her reservations at first because she is worried for her own and Joey’s reputation. She then states how her daughter “has always been a happy girl, but has never looked happier than when she is with Dr. Prentice.” She becomes emotional and a slow pan in close to her face shows this as one tear falls down her cheek showing that Mrs. Drayton’s sentiments are genuine. The camera then sweeps to Joey’s father’s face, which is twisted as though he just ate something sour, indicating the inner struggle he is facing about his daughter’s relationship. The mother ends up granting her permission very quickly into the movie, and the rest of the movie focuses on whether Joey’s father will give his permission to the couple’s union. This feeds into the “white hero complex,” which is white character rescuing people of color from their plight. Which then feeds into the “white male complex,” which means that the father in the end is the one who will decide the situation for the household. The white male will decide the happiness of this interracial couple. The mother’s (the female) opinion became irrelevant and was always irrelevant because her approval was pushed to the side and disregarded once she consented to the marriage.
THE CLASS DISTINCTION:
Class distinction becomes a center focal point in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, between the African American positions, the Draytons standing, and their friends’ standing. Daytons are a well off family that are able to send their daughter to Hawaii and the mom is able to work at a job that she loves rather than work due to necessity. John was a doctor with outstanding credentials. He not only graduated from an Ivy League School, he then went on to work for human rights and have several papers published. The movie focuses on this aspect of John by reminding the audience of his credentials at every opportunity it can: when ever John is introduced; when ever John is mentioned; or as part of the phone calls John must make. The movie attempts to place John on a higher ground intellectually and financially than the Draytons to show that the Draytons have a higher currency (social standing) and that is their white skin. The Draytons are able to have the upper hand even though John is obviously a great guy with great qualities, but because they have the white skin there is instantly a class distinction between them and John.
The Draytons consider themselves liberal democrats that are accepting of all people. Mrs. Drayton says to her husband, “We taught her to not place herself above anyone else by the color of her skin.” This is a vital detail to the plot because it shows that even though they are supposed to be the “political accepting” group, they have a hard time accepting that their daughter wants to marry a black man. The mother continues on by saying, “and Joey took that and fully became color blind.” The mother says this in a condemning tone as her shock is settling in, but this line is supposed to provide sad comic relief. The movie is trying to point out that it is okay to declare that all people are equal regardless of skin color, but when it comes to something like marriage, there are still different skin colors and the different skin colors matter.
THE PERFECT SITUATION:
In the article, “Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?: A Clash of Interpretations Regarding Stanley Kramer's Film on the Subject of Interracial Marriage," it is pointed out that John and Joey are extremely lucky in how easy it is to convince these two families and others to accept and approve their interracial love life. In the 1960s, integration was just beginning and many people still had the mind set, “separate but equal.” That is why this movie was so pivotal because it showed you what America was heading towards –Interracial couples- true integration. Yet, in the article, Harris believes that the struggles of the interracial couples was not shown brutally enough in the film. John was the “perfect black man”; he was well off, great job, very intelligent, and gives back to the community. All this would have been very difficult to accomplish when blacks were not yet seen as equals. Also, Harris points out that its very idealistic that the film was located in one of the most liberal and accepting parts of the country. In the 1960s, families would not have been warmed up to the idea of an interracial couple in uthe span of a dinner time meal. Harris points out that they seem to make light of the situation, but in reality this man and woman might not even see tomorrow. They would have been harassed by strangers, cut off from loved ones, and been the targets of a lot of awful hate and abuse.
In a movie dealing with race equality, one might think it would be about how white people felt about black people or how white people treated black people. In Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?, the movie explores these issues, as well as how the black characters feel about the white characters. More specifically, the viewers see how opposed John's parents are to the marriage of John and Joey. John has a terse exchange with his father when his father declares that John is making a huge mistake. John, like Joey, is colorblind, and thinks of himself as a man, unlike his father who thinks of himself as a black man. With similar feelings as John's father is Tillie, the black maid employed by the Draytons. Tillie is appalled that John would marry a white woman and accuses him of trying to "get above himself." Tillie's position as a maid may have a significant impact on her position that John should not marry a rich white girl. Perhaps Tillie has had no exposure to blacks that are equal to whites so she cannot conceive of blacks that are equal to the Draytons in terms of education, wealth, and social prominence. Perhaps Tillie is simply comfortable with the current roles of blacks and whites and does not want to see change or the conflict that comes with change. Perhaps she sees this marriage as the “downfall” of a girl she helped raise. Regardless of the reason, the movie demonstrates that both sides had problems with accepting racial equality on such a personal level.
IT'S IMPACT TODAY:
The movie was timely and controversial. It was controversial because it dealt with the latent racism of people who claimed to believe in racial equality. It also came out just two years after the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which prohibited voting discrimination. The movie was timely because it was released six months after the US Supreme Court's decision in Loving v. Virginia which held that Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, which prohibited marriage between two people from different racial groups, was unconstitutional. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? was a movie that pushed at the boundaries preventing racial equality. In the turbulent times of change regarding racial equality in the 1960's, this movie asked questions that America was soon going to be responsible for answering with the main question being: Can there be true racial equality when it becomes personal? While not all people, like Harris, believed the movie pushed the sensitive aspects of racial equality hard enough, it still garnered a lot of media attention and made people think about the consequences of racial equality on a concrete level rather than just something you heard about on the news. In idealistic fashion, it made us see that romantic love and family love could conquer racism, but it also showed us that sometimes love might not conquer all. Even though the movie was funny and had a happy ending, it showed the complexity of the issues involved. Hopefully, the big surprise that a black man is coming to dinner at a white girl's house as depicted in the movie is today no longer any surprise at all.
In the 1967 film, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? written by William Rose, an interracial couple seeks the approval from the girl’s liberal Californian family. Tensions run high as the family finds it hard to accept their daughter is dating a black man and even harder to accept her intent to marry him as soon as possible. The movie’s comedic relief is found from the other people and family members trying to get a “sneak peak” of the couple and their different ways of accepting the couple’s interracial relationship. The film shows the obvious as well as subtle examples of racism of the 1960s, and the contrasts of what America actually looked like through the middle of its integration period. It shows that black men and women were not seen as equals no matter the credentials (John was a “described as a noble, rich, intelligent, handsome, ethical medical expert who served on United Nations committees.”). Additionally, the movie depicts the white power complex, white hero complex, alternative discrimination and a misrepresentation of equality.
SUMMARY:
John Prentice and Joey Drayton, the starring interracial couple of the film, both visited Hawaii separately and met on their vacation. They fall in love. They then fly to San Jose, California to seek approval from Johanna or “Joey’s” family, so they could leave for Geneva as soon as possible and start a life together in the country where John works. The mother, Mrs. Drayton, has her reservations at first because she is worried for her own and Joey’s reputation. She then states how her daughter “has always been a happy girl, but has never looked happier than when she is with Dr. Prentice.” She becomes emotional and a slow pan in close to her face shows this as one tear falls down her cheek showing that Mrs. Drayton’s sentiments are genuine. The camera then sweeps to Joey’s father’s face, which is twisted as though he just ate something sour, indicating the inner struggle he is facing about his daughter’s relationship. The mother ends up granting her permission very quickly into the movie, and the rest of the movie focuses on whether Joey’s father will give his permission to the couple’s union. This feeds into the “white hero complex,” which is white character rescuing people of color from their plight. Which then feeds into the “white male complex,” which means that the father in the end is the one who will decide the situation for the household. The white male will decide the happiness of this interracial couple. The mother’s (the female) opinion became irrelevant and was always irrelevant because her approval was pushed to the side and disregarded once she consented to the marriage.
THE CLASS DISTINCTION:
Class distinction becomes a center focal point in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, between the African American positions, the Draytons standing, and their friends’ standing. Daytons are a well off family that are able to send their daughter to Hawaii and the mom is able to work at a job that she loves rather than work due to necessity. John was a doctor with outstanding credentials. He not only graduated from an Ivy League School, he then went on to work for human rights and have several papers published. The movie focuses on this aspect of John by reminding the audience of his credentials at every opportunity it can: when ever John is introduced; when ever John is mentioned; or as part of the phone calls John must make. The movie attempts to place John on a higher ground intellectually and financially than the Draytons to show that the Draytons have a higher currency (social standing) and that is their white skin. The Draytons are able to have the upper hand even though John is obviously a great guy with great qualities, but because they have the white skin there is instantly a class distinction between them and John.
The Draytons consider themselves liberal democrats that are accepting of all people. Mrs. Drayton says to her husband, “We taught her to not place herself above anyone else by the color of her skin.” This is a vital detail to the plot because it shows that even though they are supposed to be the “political accepting” group, they have a hard time accepting that their daughter wants to marry a black man. The mother continues on by saying, “and Joey took that and fully became color blind.” The mother says this in a condemning tone as her shock is settling in, but this line is supposed to provide sad comic relief. The movie is trying to point out that it is okay to declare that all people are equal regardless of skin color, but when it comes to something like marriage, there are still different skin colors and the different skin colors matter.
THE PERFECT SITUATION:
In the article, “Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?: A Clash of Interpretations Regarding Stanley Kramer's Film on the Subject of Interracial Marriage," it is pointed out that John and Joey are extremely lucky in how easy it is to convince these two families and others to accept and approve their interracial love life. In the 1960s, integration was just beginning and many people still had the mind set, “separate but equal.” That is why this movie was so pivotal because it showed you what America was heading towards –Interracial couples- true integration. Yet, in the article, Harris believes that the struggles of the interracial couples was not shown brutally enough in the film. John was the “perfect black man”; he was well off, great job, very intelligent, and gives back to the community. All this would have been very difficult to accomplish when blacks were not yet seen as equals. Also, Harris points out that its very idealistic that the film was located in one of the most liberal and accepting parts of the country. In the 1960s, families would not have been warmed up to the idea of an interracial couple in uthe span of a dinner time meal. Harris points out that they seem to make light of the situation, but in reality this man and woman might not even see tomorrow. They would have been harassed by strangers, cut off from loved ones, and been the targets of a lot of awful hate and abuse.
In a movie dealing with race equality, one might think it would be about how white people felt about black people or how white people treated black people. In Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?, the movie explores these issues, as well as how the black characters feel about the white characters. More specifically, the viewers see how opposed John's parents are to the marriage of John and Joey. John has a terse exchange with his father when his father declares that John is making a huge mistake. John, like Joey, is colorblind, and thinks of himself as a man, unlike his father who thinks of himself as a black man. With similar feelings as John's father is Tillie, the black maid employed by the Draytons. Tillie is appalled that John would marry a white woman and accuses him of trying to "get above himself." Tillie's position as a maid may have a significant impact on her position that John should not marry a rich white girl. Perhaps Tillie has had no exposure to blacks that are equal to whites so she cannot conceive of blacks that are equal to the Draytons in terms of education, wealth, and social prominence. Perhaps Tillie is simply comfortable with the current roles of blacks and whites and does not want to see change or the conflict that comes with change. Perhaps she sees this marriage as the “downfall” of a girl she helped raise. Regardless of the reason, the movie demonstrates that both sides had problems with accepting racial equality on such a personal level.
IT'S IMPACT TODAY:
The movie was timely and controversial. It was controversial because it dealt with the latent racism of people who claimed to believe in racial equality. It also came out just two years after the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which prohibited voting discrimination. The movie was timely because it was released six months after the US Supreme Court's decision in Loving v. Virginia which held that Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, which prohibited marriage between two people from different racial groups, was unconstitutional. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? was a movie that pushed at the boundaries preventing racial equality. In the turbulent times of change regarding racial equality in the 1960's, this movie asked questions that America was soon going to be responsible for answering with the main question being: Can there be true racial equality when it becomes personal? While not all people, like Harris, believed the movie pushed the sensitive aspects of racial equality hard enough, it still garnered a lot of media attention and made people think about the consequences of racial equality on a concrete level rather than just something you heard about on the news. In idealistic fashion, it made us see that romantic love and family love could conquer racism, but it also showed us that sometimes love might not conquer all. Even though the movie was funny and had a happy ending, it showed the complexity of the issues involved. Hopefully, the big surprise that a black man is coming to dinner at a white girl's house as depicted in the movie is today no longer any surprise at all.