In recent news, Twilight has been credited with being one of the first popular films to present Native Americans in a natural light within modern popular culture, that is without using stereotypical character references, costumes or dialogue. Check out this earlier post for details: Twilight - Breaking Down Racial Boundaries
This got me thinking of other films which have stepped outside of racial stereotypes and bridged cultural gaps - sometimes even unintentionally - and how film, as such a popular and accessible form of entertainment has the power to change social construct with each push of the play button.
Here are the top 5 I have come up with to start with:
1. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
This film is one that intended to cause controversy. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is a drama which explored interracial romance and marriage never before seen on the big screen at that time, between a young African American doctor and the daughter of a self-proclaimed ‘liberal’ couple. The film was inherently politicised from the beginning as interracial marriage was illegal in the US up until around that point, although popular attitudes were already changing. Starring Sidney Poitier and Katherine Hepburn as the young engaged couple, the film dealt with not only the prejudices of white America but also addressed the class system by further exploring the relationship between the upper middle class parents of Katherine Hepburn’s character and their maid.
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Although there have been many influential Asian films that came before this one, I chose it specifically as its groundbreaking cinematic technique employed by director Ang Lee saw the film, originally released in Mandarin become an international success (the highest grossing in US history). The film also featured Chinese actors and although the film is laden with traditional Chinese practices, art and mythology – it is essentially a love story, and one that managed to surpass the unfortunate prejudices of western audiences who refuse to watch films in any language other than English, to be a cinematic landmark.
3. Samson & Delilah (2009).
An Australian film which follows the story of 2 ostracised teenagers in indigenous central Australia. It is essentially a love story, told with very little dialogue between Samson, petrol sniffing lost soul and Delilah, a caring young girl wrongly blamed for her grandmothers passing. The two find a strange solace in each other as the film deals with their exploitation and isolation they experience drifting away from their own community and not really fitting in anywhere else. In essence they are normal teenagers trying to find their way in the world and the audience feels all the way along with them. Racial issues and exclusion are present but only as an undercurrent, which makes an even more powerful statement. One of the best Australian films ever made.
4. Babel (2006)
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (21 grams), Babel is a multi-faceted film with intertwining story lines all set in different parts of the world: Morocco, Japan, Mexico and the US and in different dialects. Problems ensue in each of the 4 different corners, largely due to culturally stereotypical attitudes resulting in a communication breakdown. Fear and finally tragedy follow for some of the individual characters involved (almost a metaphor for international relation on a larger scale, especially following 9/11). Babel however, did offer some resolutions and did leave audiences with a sense of optimism by cleverly showing how connected we all are, no matter where we are from.
5. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Although this film did receive some criticism from India, especially as the cast, ands especially the key protagonist spoke in British-English instead of Hindi (as slum boys normally would) it was an international box office hit and won a swag of Oscars, including Best Picture. It was essentially a film made for Western audiences, (once again taking the issue of race out of the picture), its strength lying in the uplifting portrayal of underdog Jamal and his ability to fight through incredible hardship to realise his dreams. Although British director Danny Boyle did present a stylised insight into the Mumbai slums, he employed and all-Indian cast, including real children from the slums which revived the often ignored global issue and placed it back into the consciences of the populus.
Others films to note include:
Waiting to Exhale: the first box office drama to feature an all-African American cast in its genre. It dealt with real women and their struggles in life on a romantic level, deliberately making race a non-issue.
Can you think of any others? Let us know!
