Films on Race Relations

Have you seen Bread and Roses? Story of illegal Mexican immigrants and their struggle to find work and sustain their families.... maybe not primarily on race relations.... though it's in there. Or inter-ethnic relations, rather. Very good movie, btw. We have to watch it (again)!

To spoil the results, there are more Black men in college than in jail. I would have guessed this, but I was shocked to see that the numbers were close!

I'll watch it. Maybe we can have a movie marathon on this theme?

sure. followed by movies with young Marlon Brando.

why?

because he was really hot when he was young.... but that's quite a diversion from race relations movies.


I bet none of you except for our resident Germans ever heard of the cult classic: Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. Friendship of an Apache and a..ummm...cowboy or something. It was shot in Yugoslavia, in German... It was (is) a big hit in Europe- east of Germany at least.

And Kozol is in the news today as well..... seems there's a movement afoot.

Kozol put out a documentary called "Savage Inequalities". He chronicles the inequalities in the school systems of America. It's shocking. He's got a new book out - I missed a speaking event in my neighborhood TODAY! Argh! New book is titled "Letters To A Young Teacher."

do you only want U.S. based movies? Cause I could think of a slew outside...

Europa Europa! Divided We Fall..... ya know, WWII, Middle East, India (Hindu Muslim movies - Mr. and Mrs. Iyer or Dev were both Brilliant! We should watch them both)..... many many options. In the U.S. i know less of them.

Only U.S.? Not for the purposes of this thread......

Well in that case, let me push Mr. and Mrs. Iyer a little. It's one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen.

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002)
In writer-director Aparna Sen's award winning film "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer", a Muslim man and a Brahmin woman get to know each other on a fateful cross-country bus trip to Calcutta. Introduced my mutual friends, photographer Raja Chowdhary (Rahul Bose) promises to look after Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sensharma) and her infant son.

Filled with singing teenagers, doddering old people, card-playing drunkards, freshly-married love birds and a crying baby, the bus suggests a mini-India. Just when noise and claustrophobia threaten to overwhelm the film, the ship-of-fools scenario is tipped by unforeseen violence: extremist Hindus are on a rampage looking for Muslim blood to avenge the burning of a village. There's a curfew, and the bus can't go on.

"Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" isn't your regular Bollywood fare--there is humor but no songs, and the seriousness of the subject matter always intrudes. In one of the film's most haunting scenes, Raja finds the dentures of an old man who had been dragged from the bus in a riverbed where others brush their teeth.

Violence erupts occasionally but stays on the edges of the picture, with references to hotspots like Northern Ireland and Israel-Palestine to drive its point home. But the menace can't obstruct the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is, at heart, a love story. The backdrop of strife and unrest allows the guarded affection between Raja and Meenakshi to grow. (The raffish good looks of leading man Rahul Bose, the traditional beauty of Konokon Sensharma, and the lush exotic countryside also don't hurt.) As their journey progresses, the two grow closer and closer, but nothing can change the fact that Mrs. Iyer's real husband is waiting for her at the end of the line.

Shorter than the three hour song-and-dance marathons Indian cinema is known for, "Mr and Mrs. Iyer" is still not without its long patches and at times, the filmmaking lacks sophistication. But given that we live in an age of hyper-glossy American product, a few rough edges are not necessarily a bad thing. "Mr. and Mrs. Iyers" convinces as a vibrant and pleasing portrait of thinking globally and suffering heartbreak locally. Its political perspective doesn't penetrate any deeper than "why can't we all get along?" but perhaps that simple question is worth repeating ever so often.

Re: Films on Race Relations

Am I correct in guessing that Boyz N The Hood is too obvious? It's about a circle of friends in South Central Los Angeles, and it hit the theaters just weeks before the riots of '91. If I was a teacher, I'd show it to my students in a microsecond -- but maybe not in America. There's a love scene in which you can see <gasp> boobs.

For a race relations film with a twist, you might consider Mississippi Masala. It's about an Indian family from Uganda that had been prosecuted by Idi Amin's regime of black racists, and that fled from this regime to Mississipi. When the daughter of the family chooses Denzel Washington as her boyfriend, a Romeo and Juliet story ensues. But unlike Romeo and Juliet, as best I remember, the ending is happy. The pedagogical advantage of this film would be that it shows some blacks as targets and other blacks as initiators of racism, undermining any notions that racism is an easy affair between classes of good people and classes of bad people.

And of course, most films by Spike Lee would be candidates, even if for my taste, he's a little too far on the paranoid side.

On second thought, Boyz N The Hood is about relations not between races, but between Blacks in a ghetto. Great movie though.

Here are two movies, one not on racism, but prejudice nonetheless.

In "Gentleman's Agreement", (1947) a reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to be better able to cover a story. I don't think that many young people realize it, but in those years, there was as much institutionalized prejudice against Jews as against blacks. There were numerous communities, and places of business, where Jewish people were not welcome.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9E0DE7DE113AE233A25751C1A9679D946693D6CF&oref=slogin



In "Black Like Me" (1964), based on a true story, a man darkens his skin, and passes for black in the south. The film chronicles the problems that this man faced during his journey.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0CE5DD1F3AE13ABC4951DFB366838F679EDE

What Black Men Think
Watching C-SPAN's interview with the creator of "What Black Men Think" made me want to buy the film.

What Black Men Think (2007)
Starring: Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, Dr. Shelby Steele Director: Janks Morton
Actors: Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, Dr. Shelby Steele, Dr. John McWhorter
Directors: Janks Morton

Editorial Reviews

An In Depth View of How Myths, Stereotypes and Misrepresentations render Black Men Non-Necessities in their Communities and Families... In the most provocative Black film of the year, Janks Morton presents a searing examination of the role that myths, stereotypes and misrepresentations have played in the decimation of modern era black relationships, and how the symbiotic relationship between government, the media and black leadership perpetuates misinformation to further marginalize the role of black men in society.

Since the triumphs of the civil rights legislations of the early 1960's havoc and decimation has been wreaked on the Black family with a specific devastation on the Black man. With negative imagery of the media, the failed policy of the great society and modern era black leadership abandoning tenets that historically held the community together, a new form of mental slavery has perpetuated an undeclared civil war in the Black Community...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Wake-Up Call for the Black American Community, August 7, 2007
By Susan Tyson "Sue T" (Washington, D.C.)

WAKE UP! Not since ROOTS, the mini T.V. series of the 70's, has a movie generated so much dialogue within the Black American Community and the internet. "The revolution will not be televised", is an understatement when you see the negative images, cultured misconceptions, and antagonism toward black men inside their own community; including the naive carnage of children exercised by black women. Moreover, this movie illustrates how black people, once with an autonomous vision of the future, became reliant on government programs and broken promises.

Producer/Director Janks Morton narrates how some black organizations and self-appointed leaders profit from the negative data regarding black men; thus, generating government capital to support their organization or programs. Furthermore, Morton explores how the cultured misconception and negative images of black men generates millions of dollars for corporate America in the areas of music, television, and film [Hollywood]. As a result, the negative images are glorified making black male incarceration socially empowering and demeaning black women endearing. Because of this, black women have adopted negative black male stereotypes as the norm creating a civil social distance; to include not wanting to birth black children. Morton acknowledges this behavior earlier in the film by stating, "An Undeclared Civil War has been waged between black men and women".

In short, the movie "What Black Men Think', illustrates how the media, black leadership, and the entertainment industry profit from the negative metaphors about Black American men. The films key points are supported by statistical data and expert commentary from journalist and authors. I heard about this movie on satellite radio and various web sites throughout the summer; it's only a matter of time before this DVD makes national news.

I was worried that this was going to be another thread with just me and Dasha on it. Thanks for coming y'all. Spike Lee never did it for me so much. I should give them a fair shake.

These movies all sound good.

For young students in elementary school - this is a rather corny, based on a true-story Disney movie. The Color of Friendship. I warn you it is a bit corny and outdated clothes, etc., but my 8 year old and 4 year old love it. It is about a black American family that wants to host an exchange student. To top it off the dad is a senator who is fighting against apartheid. Well they host a South African girl - the kicker is the girl is a white South African.

I also remember seeing (another oldie) a documentary called Brown eyed Blue eyed. A teacher, from the looks of it in the 60s, did an experiment with her elementary classroom - all white middle class, I think they may have been from the south. One day she said blue eyed children are smarter, better, etc. Brown eyed children are dumb, mean, not as good, etc. She treated the blue eyed children to special privileges. The blue eyed children did better in school and on their papers. She then later reversed it and all of a sudden the brown eyed children did better on their work. She used this to teach the children the difference in skin color. The documentary ended with interviews with the children as adults - even as adults they vividly remembered this activity and they said it changed them. A very powerful documentary.

LittleK.

Speaking on the issue of bringing into the classroom (how come I didn't know you were a teacher? lol)

I think the purpose of bringing it into the classroom is an important factor in what films you wish to show. Race Relations, terminology wise, is such a wide concept.

My husband deals with this issue a lot, and has been reprimanded by the administration in our school district before for bringing in movies to discuss this sort of issue. However, if you have a clear idea of what it is you want to discuss with your class, I will ask him what films he suggests, both as a black man and a teacher.

*hugs*

although not specifically about race relations "Grand Canyon" is quite thoughtful about some race relation issues.

That blue-eyed student experiment is one to re-enact with the class. Maybe afterwards I'd show the video.....