18 years of America's Racial Climate
Racial Influences Seen on Film
Over the last decade or so, there have been some very good films that have come out in theaters all around the country. Especially in 2018, these movies are becoming more and more frequent in the United States. These feature prominent roles with actors/actresses who are minorities. Some examples such as Crazy Rich Asians and The Hate U Give, both adaptations made from the novel of the same name, have been big box office hits with good reviews. The media and related pictures can be seen below, with some plot synopsis and box office/review results to help.
The Hate U Give is a movie about a girl named Starr. Star grows up in a poor black neighborhood but lives a double life when she goes to a predominantly wealthy and mostly white populated private school. After her best friend is fatally shot by a police officer, she must choose what she feels is right as she is caught in the middle of both sides - the concerns of her black community and the thoughts from her fellow school mates. This movie tackles the current situation in America of racism and tensions between police and minorities. It got a 7.5 Million box office weekend and an A+ score review.
Crazy Rich Asians is a novel adaptation of the same name by a man named Kevin Kwan. It is about native New Yorker Rachel Chu who goes to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family, as her boyfriend's friend is having a wedding. What she does not know is that her boyfriend is very rich and is one of the most desired bachelors in Singapore. She must quickly figure out how to adjust to this revelation and impress the most biggest critic of all - her boyfriend's mother. This movie is one of the few movies that has come out recently - specifically this year - that has put an Asian cast in the spotlight without stereotypes or showing them as anything but average humans traversing through life. According to CBS News, this movie is one of the most successful rom-coms for box office in over 9 years. In a few days it had made about 22.2 million dollars total.
Directed by Spike Lee, this film is based on a true story. It is set in Colorado Springs, CO. Set in the early 1970's, Ron Stallworth is the first ever officer to serve with the Colorado Springs Police Department. He tries to make a name for himself by making a plan to infiltrate the KKK. He turns to the help of a more seasoned colleague named Flip Zimmerman to try and take out the hate group that is attempting to recruit people through promotion and disinformation. It made a box office of 87.1 million dollars and was reviewed quite well at 95% with Rotten Tomatoes. An interesting fact is that it was released on the same 1 year anniversary date of the infamous Unite the Right rally in 2017.
Coco is a recent movie that came out in 2017. It is one of the few animation movies recently that has come out with a protagonist of Latino origin. A generational ban on music does not stop the main character, Miguel, from wanting to grow up to be like his musical idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove himself to others, he ends up in a land on Day of the Dead. He meets a trickster named Hector, and together they try to unlock the history behind Miguel's family.
Django Unchained takes place two years before the Civil War. A slave named Jamie Foxx finds a bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz. Together they go to capture the Brittle Brothers, which they are successful with. They then free Django and try to hunt the most wanted criminals in the South. This ends up taking them to a plantation where a man owns Jamie's wife, a man named Calvin Candie, a cruel and sadistic man.
The Help is set in the 1960s. Southern girl Skeeter wants to become a writer. She turns to black women who have dealt dealing and taking care of white families. Only Aibileen, a black woman who is housekeeper with Skeeter's best friend, will talk first. However, as time goes on, it turns out that not only Aibileen but a few other women have many things to talk about and share with their experiences. This movie especially takes place during the middle of the Civil Rights movements, as well as the struggle of black domestic workers in the 60's.
Get Out is a movie from 2017 directed by Jordan Peele. It is about a man named Chris, going to meet his girlfriend Rose's family. Meant to be a simply meet the parents getaway weekend, it quickly starts taking a dark turn after a strange set of events. The overly friendly attempts with the interracial relationship is strange enough, but soon Chris has his suspicions after other more disturbing events bring him to realize that Rose's family has darker motives in store for him. The movie brings out imagery and comparisons with how self proclaimed liberalized suburb white families might participate in subtle racism themselves, even if they might not realize it or excuse themselves for "the good of things".