In the documentary blog explaining the reasons and background of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," the director/producer, Stanley Kramer and writer, William Rose took a tremendous risk filming a movie about interracial marriage in the racially charged civil rights time. Kramer and Rose wanted to shine a light on stereotyping and prejudice. Popular stars who actually believed in human equality were hand picked and a handsome, successful black man, Sidney Poitier was a perfect lead to get the message to the masses. There was also the question; would Spencer Tracey live long enough to finish the movie? The movie celebrated the best of human nature and was a box office hit in 1967. I believe there were a lot of reasons the film was such a hit. People were curious about such big stars playing a role about a taboo subject. Also Americans were being shown nationally on TV the injustices towards Black Americans with Martin Luther Kings march on Washington and eloquently and peacefully spoke of racial inequalities. Extremely important cases were coming to the Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education in Kansas banned segregated public schools in the US giving black children equal education. Right before the movie, the Supreme Court case Love v. Virginia invalidated state laws restricting interracial marriage. These fights validated Karl Marx's Social-conflict Approach that shows inequality creates conflict and causes change. The conflict of marches and court cases supporting civil rights brought about equal education and marriage and the ability to make a movie about interracial marriage successfully. Grandma005
There really is no better way to state this than how you have here. What these two gentlemen did with the advent of this film was, as you stated, nothing short of being a huge risk, but also ground breaking. The film gave us such a broad view of the problems that were confronting the younger generation during this era and how much of the country was trying to cope with all the inequality. Racial, social, and gender, not to forget, sexual inequalities, were making headlines, and topping news stories daily. This was the time to open people’s eyes to the problems that were beginning to make society stop and take notice. Our world was coming out of one major conflict, struggling with another unresolved conflict that continues even today, and edging closer to yet another that seemed to split society apart with the atrocities that were reported daily on television and in headlines. What I believe the film gave us was a little bit of an idea of what was to be expected in the coming decades, as we faced each new challenge and learned of the capabilities of the human spirit to adapt and overcome these situations. Without these conflicts and changes we might never realize the true capacity of the human spirit and the capabilities of people to learn from these challenges and make our world just a little more enjoyable for everyone. We can only grow as a society if we are willing to begin accepting and learning about each other without the “colored glasses” that our past generations seemed to use way too often. Seoulman005
I really enjoyed reading how you worded this. spot on. Making this movie was a huge risk, but it during this time period it was definitely worth it. During this time people were judging people based off of skin color and that was absolutely not the right thing to do. I believe Spencer Tracy wanted to create a long lasting message before he eventually passed and he was able to do that. Tracy and Hepburn were able to create this message that love can happen between any two people and race should never be a factor. PAWW005
I believe that a key message in which you decided to discuss was ‘taboo topics’ during the 1960s and other times that were similar. The level of ‘taboo’ along with most aspects are defined by society. With that being said, I found it to be important that actors and actresses of such fame were hand-picked to play these roles, because media serves as messages. If media were only controlled by those of power, then only certain things would be addressed and evolution would have been probably nonexistent. From example, during the Russian Revolution Hitler, Stalin, and others used propaganda in their favor by only exploiting things they wanted to be addressed. As a result, this led to some individuals conforming and others to revolt. Ultimately, nothing changed and everything returned to has it originally was, which did not allow civilization to prosper.
During this time, the civil rights movement was beginning to take on new challenges and working to overcome much of the social issues that were being shown daily on national television. Many times, these same stories were demonstrating how media was giving the public access to what was happening, at that moment in time, and sometimes showing the world that change was present, but that many were still refusing to face this truth. The writer, William Rose and the producer/director, Stanley Kramer were banking on the theory that the American public was ready for a film like this to begin, hopefully, opening society’s mindset to these changes. I attribute much of the success of this film to the brilliant storyline. Depicting two “people”, not two different race of people. Two people who have chosen to see each other as a man and a woman, without any barriers, prejudices, or constraints as to who they are with. Just a man and a woman, falling in love with the other. Both Kramer and Rose were spotlighting the stereotypical prejudice that was rampant in the world and wanted to show people how society, was, ready for the changes. So much was happening in the “Public Eye” with Martin Luther King’s march on Washington, peacefully demonstrating and poignantly speaking of racial inequalities. The Supreme court case of Brown v. Board of Education in Kansas, banning segregation in public schools in the U.S. The Supreme Court ruling for Love v. Virginia Invalidating state laws restricting interracial marriage. These conflicts gave validation to Mars’s Social-conflict Approach, showing that inequality creates conflict and change. The fact that these changes and conflicts were being shown to the public to raise awareness of these issues helped begin making the changes needed to make the opportunities more conducive for making such a film. Seoulman005
This is beautifully worded, your point is displayed well. I didn’t think about what was going on in real time when this movie came out—this was a revolutionary time in the history of America in terms of our civil rights movement. The producers of this movie were smart in the way they displayed their themes of “love is love” and the fact that the couple sees themselves as no more than man and woman. This shows that Joey and John are the face of the future, and the producers predicted that; look at where we are now as a society. We are so diverse in some parts of our country that it’s absurd to think we used to be a segregated people. Puppies005
My thoughts on the making or documentary of the film ( a special kind of love) goes in to good details on the setting of the movie cast and their feelings and emotions as they knew he was sick and may not live to finish the movie. The cast also had to come together and bring light to portray the movie in a time when interracial dating nor did many people have any respect for African Americans so the movie itself would have been the first of it's kind to face contraversary as well as any stereotype since at the time blacks were not accepted by most, so for Sidney Poitier to have a leading role in a major movie that also brought light to what people faced rather it was those who accepted or those who didn't accept both. The video clip shows how the couple interaction among each other as well as the remainder of the cast. I myself don't know how much I would been able to actually portray the character knowing my love for this individual was being tested each andeveryday I couldn't even possibly imagine how she dealt with that on screen let alone off screen. To even be in the making of the movie rather it was cast, production, and any other crew on set to mentally prepare themselves day to day of the unknowing of Spencer health to wonder if the last scene he shot for the day was the final scene. Leathas005
Perhaps the very fact that Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy knew that he was dying and still made the choice to make such a controversial movie, shows their commitment to the message that all people should be treated equally. Their passion showed in their performances. I think the message was particularly important to the ruling majority white society because the black Americans already knew there was a big social problem. I witnessed mixed students at Woodruff being treated badly by both white and black students. Black students ridiculed them for being too light skinned or talking white and white students thought it was disgusting. They were simply a beautiful new race confused as to which race to identify or socialize with. Some became more determined to succeed and some continued to let society sway their life decisions. May we all learn to accept ourselves as God made us and be the best we can be. grandma005
It’s nice to see that there were people during this time period who looked beyond color when it comes to looking at who a person really is. I like how this documentary portrayed their beliefs towards how everything was during this time. No, not everyone may have believed in the same thing, but they were all able to come together and make a wonderful movie portraying love between two races. I have a feeling that during this time this movie took a lot of criticism as it portrayed a social topic that wasn't quite tolerated, and it goes to show that the actors and actresses and those involved in the movie really wanted to get the message out regarding relationships among different races, and how everyone including minorities all deserve to be treated equally and with the same respect as white people. We didn't see very much of that during this time and it shows that Hepbum and Tracy were committed to getting their message off before Tracy eventually passed. Everyone involved in this movie was apart of something special in the making of this movie. A lot of people probably didn't like it, but it had a clear message and I bet it changed the way people view interracial relationships. PAWW005
I will definitely agree with you there that it’s always nice to see that there are people that look beyond color especially in those days. Even now today some people still can’t look beyond color. In society many people still judge by color and not by who a person is. I love the way this documentary was played on the beliefs of those days and time. I know that movie took a lot of criticism because it was a big culture shock and you're absolutely right it wasn’t tolerated. It is amazing how even back then all these people came together to show society that there should not be a difference between the color of someone’s skin. Everyone should be treated equally with the same respect no matter the race. Yes this movie has a very special message even still today and it’s very clear. This movie probable opened up the eyes of many to be more accepting of biracial relationships and marriage. Cupcake005...
In this movie the women are strong and courageous. This movie has feminism all over it. A feminist is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. The women in this movie were very feminist due to the fact that they stood up for what they believe in and how they felt about the matter at hand. They did not fall into the society's roll of patriarchy that women have been playing for many years. In today’s society there are many different kinds of feminist but back in the day of the movie it was a form of deviant for a woman to go against the male in the home. Nowadays it’s more of the norm if this happens to occur. Patriarchy played a very big part in this movie. The father’s ran their households and definitely had the first, finally, and the lost say so in everything. They were so worried in this movie about how the father was going to react. The wife’s knew that their husbands were not going to be supportive at all in the decision of the biracial marriage. Back in the 1960’s the women were suppose to follow behind their husbands on whatever the matter was. Patriarchy is cultures and societies deemphasize gender as a basis for decision making of the men. Nowadays patriarchy is still a part of society but just not as much. The woman are now stepping up and making more of the decision and doing many more things that the husband use to. Women were discriminated against when it came to positions of power and influence,and many other things. Culture is the way of people’s lives. There are many different ways people live so there are many different types of cultures. These families definitely come from to different cultures. Back then it was very obvious that you did not marry or fall in love with a different race. I feel this was a very big culture shock to everyone. Neither families or society was ready for such a big shock. Back in those days blacks and whites were not suppose to be together. It was forbidden and not to mention against the law. To be in love with a person of a different race was a big form of deviants. Cupcake005...
Well stated about feminism these to women showed their strength in this film whether it was deviant or not it does seem acceptable to me but that goes with the culture change that took place in this movie and that is still changing today. Mrs. Prentice was that of the type of woman that was seen of the time we did not see her once out mind her husband at all until she was alone with Mr. Drayton. Of speaking of patriarchy I’m sure there are guys in our society and definitely around the world who live in such ways, which just goes with the fathers of corporations’ way of thinking which is why woman on average make less than men. But they are most likely married to women along the lines of Real Wives of Atlanta that would rather spend money and have brunch every day. Versus the average American woman that would rather bring in another income because they can’t afford such luxuries or because they would rather stay busy and work than what I call exiled in modern times, stuck in the house to clean, cook, and take care of the kids. You got race and ethnicity mixed up but I see what you are saying in fact in that time it was against the law in several states to perform in miscegenation. Although there have been many reports of such actions from Euro-American men conducting themselves in the same manner all through history and many married which goes against many religions. BHL005
My thoughts on the video overall was that it was okay. Ive seen the new guess whos coming to dinner and its the same concepts. It really shows what you would expect back then with the different issues that were occurring. Even though things were forbidden this movie shows that they didn’t let that them bother them and went beyond what what was “expected” for them to act and do. Of course we know the main concept of the movie was the interracial dating and how it wasn’t allowed and so forth. Another thing was not really caring if the behavior they were doing was deviant. During this time things were changing and what was accepted earlier was becoming different. Overall the movie was okay -kyw005
Was there a special kind of love, after viewing this clip I would have to say absolutely in more ways than the spouses love for one another? This was Spencer Tracy’s’ last film and they all knew it from the start of the production of this movie. Instead of taking it easy for the last 2 years he decided to complete this film knowing that it was his niece’s debut says a lot about the love he has for his family. He also had a lot of chances in this film to express the love he had for Katherine Hepburn that she could go back to and relive those words once he was gone. 2 weeks after the film was completed he passed away and never even got to see the impact that this movie had on the society. Spencer in his life had done 73 films and the fact that his 73rd was Guess who’s Coming To Dinner, meant that he spent his entire life making films that kind of tells you he had a huge love for the business. Tracy felt that her aunt was being hard on her, that she had to worry about Spencer’s health and that she had to keep up with her professional appearance. Could it be that Katherine was also looking after Tracy’s appearance as she was just starting out and might have been a little uninformed of such appearances. Possibly thinking that Spencer was doing all this for Tracy maybe Katherine felt that she didn’t want him putting himself through all this for nothing. Obviously we can see in this film and most likely others that Spencer and Katherine really loved each other and that the closer this film came to an end meant that their time together was growing shorter. Most people associate death with the elderly but that is simply just not the case, nobody is promised tomorrow and death will come at any age, I don’t know the statistics but I feel as that more youths die per day than the elderly. BHL005
Very well stated I agree with you on several statements you made you know for sure that they did have a special kind of love, I couldn't imagine being in a personal situation like that too see the one you love so motivated and determined through his sickness to complete a great documentary/movie on Society's issue it's great that the Lord allow him to complete the movie but sad he didn't get to see how the movie changed society at that moment or too even see how society in most cases are accepting of interracial dating in how a lot has changed and most are accepting of not only interracial dating but other behavior that people viewed as deviant behavior our culture have come to accept LGBT community, same sex marriages, in many more boundaries that society have grown to accept. I also do feel that the elderly generation are out living the younger generation Leathas005
Kate, Joey’s mother of Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, was a very liberal individual, which opposed the father of Joey, Spencer, he was conservative. With that being said, both of these characters had to deliver to separate but equal performances. When delivering their own messages they had to be sure to get their points across without overpowering one another as a couples. This is important, because if one of the other attempted to overpower the next, then the message of one of the individuals would be lost, which could potentially dampen the entire meaning of the film. Also, later during this clip, Kate referred to her husband as the, “average, typical American man”. This is a key example of how discrimination was very lively and prevalent during this era. From this one is example to see that prejudice, racism, and discrimination was a norm. Later on Kate then states, “ I was a women”. It is essential to bring attention to how Kate referred to herself, because she decided to remove herself from the norm of society, which is also done so via her character in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. This exemplifies the qualities and capabilities of a women, despite whether or not she is consider to be the head of house or the face of the family. This also shows how she was an exception of society, and this was not the case throughout the nation. By realizing that she was an exception could have sparked an alteration, which is essential to this era due to the correlation of which it had with the Civil Rights movement.
One thing that strikes me about the contrast between Kate and Spencer is that it really brings them together. They do fight quite a bit during the movie, but that is because they are both very bull headed and hold different opinions of the marriage. Because I’m a neuroscience nerd, they remind me of the left and right brain. Spencer is trying to be very logical and take his time to think about the consequences and the benefits this marriage would reap- very similar to the logical left brain. Whereas, when Kate learns how much Joey is in love with John she goes all in with the marriage. At one point Spencer says something along the lines of how Kate has got caught up in her emotions; the right brain is known to be more emotional. Spoopy005
Very well stated I agree with you on several statements you made you know for sure that they did have a special kind of love, I couldn't imagine being in a personal situation like that too see the one you love so motivated and determined through his sickness to complete a great documentary/movie on Society's issue it's great that the Lord allow him to complete the movie but sad he didn't get to see how the movie changed society at that moment or too even see how society in most cases are accepting of interracial dating in how a lot has changed and most are accepting of not only interracial dating but other behavior that people viewed as deviant behavior our culture have come to accept LGBT community, same sex marriages, in many more boundaries that society have grown to accept. Leathas005
Wow, i had no idea of the backround of creating this film. This gives me little of an idea of the characters. It makes it even more cool im sure if you were to watch the film again with what you now know on what they experienced when creating and acting in the film. The actors all had shown real emotion when acting their parts. The one who played the mother, Mrs. Hepburn, im sure was a little more emotional because this was her niece and these were things that were faced in their real world. John may of played with more of a serious role and been more into character because he may have been dating a white woman himself at the time (later got married to one). The father character was actually dying and he put the rest of his strength, time and energy into finishing this film and making it as memorable as he could and according to the other actors and actresses from the youtube clip, he had. purplehearts005
I admire how she stated a lost generation on her part because she didn't see race as an issue. I believe women were more liberal than men were then and now. I believe the director also wanted the world to see humanism in people no matter the race. So I believe that's where the determination came into play for them to finish the movie while Stanley was alive. It was a trying time for the producer and actors in the film. The producer had to deal with the racism from people because he including a African man in the film. One of them stated a man or woman without including an attachment of race to it. It seems as if all the actors was mutual when it came to race and not falling into the norm of there culture and society. Kathy said her mother stood by her beliefs no matter what which to me shows a great deal of humanism.12mc-005
In the documentary blog explaining the reasons and background of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," the director/producer, Stanley Kramer and writer, William Rose took a tremendous risk filming a movie about interracial marriage in the racially charged civil rights time. Kramer and Rose wanted to shine a light on stereotyping and prejudice. Popular stars who actually believed in human equality were hand picked and a handsome, successful black man, Sidney Poitier was a perfect lead to get the message to the masses. There was also the question; would Spencer Tracey live long enough to finish the movie? The movie celebrated the best of human nature and was a box office hit in 1967. I believe there were a lot of reasons the film was such a hit. People were curious about such big stars playing a role about a taboo subject. Also Americans were being shown nationally on TV the injustices towards Black Americans with Martin Luther Kings march on Washington and eloquently and peacefully spoke of racial inequalities. Extremely important cases were coming to the Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education in Kansas banned segregated public schools in the US giving black children equal education. Right before the movie, the Supreme Court case Love v. Virginia invalidated state laws restricting interracial marriage. These fights validated Karl Marx's Social-conflict Approach that shows inequality creates conflict and causes change. The conflict of marches and court cases supporting civil rights brought about equal education and marriage and the ability to make a movie about interracial marriage successfully. Grandma005
ReplyDeleteThere really is no better way to state this than how you have here. What these two gentlemen did with the advent of this film was, as you stated, nothing short of being a huge risk, but also ground breaking. The film gave us such a broad view of the problems that were confronting the younger generation during this era and how much of the country was trying to cope with all the inequality. Racial, social, and gender, not to forget, sexual inequalities, were making headlines, and topping news stories daily. This was the time to open people’s eyes to the problems that were beginning to make society stop and take notice. Our world was coming out of one major conflict, struggling with another unresolved conflict that continues even today, and edging closer to yet another that seemed to split society apart with the atrocities that were reported daily on television and in headlines. What I believe the film gave us was a little bit of an idea of what was to be expected in the coming decades, as we faced each new challenge and learned of the capabilities of the human spirit to adapt and overcome these situations. Without these conflicts and changes we might never realize the true capacity of the human spirit and the capabilities of people to learn from these challenges and make our world just a little more enjoyable for everyone. We can only grow as a society if we are willing to begin accepting and learning about each other without the “colored glasses” that our past generations seemed to use way too often. Seoulman005
DeleteI really enjoyed reading how you worded this. spot on. Making this movie was a huge risk, but it during this time period it was definitely worth it. During this time people were judging people based off of skin color and that was absolutely not the right thing to do. I believe Spencer Tracy wanted to create a long lasting message before he eventually passed and he was able to do that. Tracy and Hepburn were able to create this message that love can happen between any two people and race should never be a factor. PAWW005
DeleteI believe that a key message in which you decided to discuss was ‘taboo topics’ during the 1960s and other times that were similar. The level of ‘taboo’ along with most aspects are defined by society. With that being said, I found it to be important that actors and actresses of such fame were hand-picked to play these roles, because media serves as messages. If media were only controlled by those of power, then only certain things would be addressed and evolution would have been probably nonexistent. From example, during the Russian Revolution Hitler, Stalin, and others used propaganda in their favor by only exploiting things they wanted to be addressed. As a result, this led to some individuals conforming and others to revolt. Ultimately, nothing changed and everything returned to has it originally was, which did not allow civilization to prosper.
DeleteS&D005
During this time, the civil rights movement was beginning to take on new challenges and working to overcome much of the social issues that were being shown daily on national television. Many times, these same stories were demonstrating how media was giving the public access to what was happening, at that moment in time, and sometimes showing the world that change was present, but that many were still refusing to face this truth. The writer, William Rose and the producer/director, Stanley Kramer were banking on the theory that the American public was ready for a film like this to begin, hopefully, opening society’s mindset to these changes. I attribute much of the success of this film to the brilliant storyline. Depicting two “people”, not two different race of people. Two people who have chosen to see each other as a man and a woman, without any barriers, prejudices, or constraints as to who they are with. Just a man and a woman, falling in love with the other. Both Kramer and Rose were spotlighting the stereotypical prejudice that was rampant in the world and wanted to show people how society, was, ready for the changes. So much was happening in the “Public Eye” with Martin Luther King’s march on Washington, peacefully demonstrating and poignantly speaking of racial inequalities. The Supreme court case of Brown v. Board of Education in Kansas, banning segregation in public schools in the U.S. The Supreme Court ruling for Love v. Virginia Invalidating state laws restricting interracial marriage. These conflicts gave validation to Mars’s Social-conflict Approach, showing that inequality creates conflict and change. The fact that these changes and conflicts were being shown to the public to raise awareness of these issues helped begin making the changes needed to make the opportunities more conducive for making such a film. Seoulman005
ReplyDeleteThis is beautifully worded, your point is displayed well. I didn’t think about what was going on in real time when this movie came out—this was a revolutionary time in the history of America in terms of our civil rights movement. The producers of this movie were smart in the way they displayed their themes of “love is love” and the fact that the couple sees themselves as no more than man and woman. This shows that Joey and John are the face of the future, and the producers predicted that; look at where we are now as a society. We are so diverse in some parts of our country that it’s absurd to think we used to be a segregated people. Puppies005
DeleteMy thoughts on the making or documentary of the film ( a special kind of love) goes in to good details on the setting of the movie cast and their feelings and emotions as they knew he was sick and may not live to finish the movie. The cast also had to come together and bring light to portray the movie in a time when interracial dating nor did many people have any respect for African Americans so the movie itself would have been the first of it's kind to face contraversary as well as any stereotype since at the time blacks were not accepted by most, so for Sidney Poitier to have a leading role in a major movie that also brought light to what people faced rather it was those who accepted or those who didn't accept both. The video clip shows how the couple interaction among each other as well as the remainder of the cast. I myself don't know how much I would been able to actually portray the character knowing my love for this individual was being tested each andeveryday I couldn't even possibly imagine how she dealt with that on screen let alone off screen. To even be in the making of the movie rather it was cast, production, and any other crew on set to mentally prepare themselves day to day of the unknowing of Spencer health to wonder if the last scene he shot for the day was the final scene. Leathas005
ReplyDeletePerhaps the very fact that Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy knew that he was dying and still made the choice to make such a controversial movie, shows their commitment to the message that all people should be treated equally. Their passion showed in their performances. I think the message was particularly important to the ruling majority white society because the black Americans already knew there was a big social problem. I witnessed mixed students at Woodruff being treated badly by both white and black students. Black students ridiculed them for being too light skinned or talking white and white students thought it was disgusting. They were simply a beautiful new race confused as to which race to identify or socialize with. Some became more determined to succeed and some continued to let society sway their life decisions. May we all learn to accept ourselves as God made us and be the best we can be. grandma005
DeleteIt’s nice to see that there were people during this time period who looked beyond color when it comes to looking at who a person really is. I like how this documentary portrayed their beliefs towards how everything was during this time. No, not everyone may have believed in the same thing, but they were all able to come together and make a wonderful movie portraying love between two races. I have a feeling that during this time this movie took a lot of criticism as it portrayed a social topic that wasn't quite tolerated, and it goes to show that the actors and actresses and those involved in the movie really wanted to get the message out regarding relationships among different races, and how everyone including minorities all deserve to be treated equally and with the same respect as white people. We didn't see very much of that during this time and it shows that Hepbum and Tracy were committed to getting their message off before Tracy eventually passed. Everyone involved in this movie was apart of something special in the making of this movie. A lot of people probably didn't like it, but it had a clear message and I bet it changed the way people view interracial relationships. PAWW005
ReplyDeleteI will definitely agree with you there that it’s always nice to see that there are people that look beyond color especially in those days. Even now today some people still can’t look beyond color. In society many people still judge by color and not by who a person is. I love the way this documentary was played on the beliefs of those days and time. I know that movie took a lot of criticism because it was a big culture shock and you're absolutely right it wasn’t tolerated. It is amazing how even back then all these people came together to show society that there should not be a difference between the color of someone’s skin. Everyone should be treated equally with the same respect no matter the race. Yes this movie has a very special message even still today and it’s very clear. This movie probable opened up the eyes of many to be more accepting of biracial relationships and marriage. Cupcake005...
DeleteIn this movie the women are strong and courageous. This movie has feminism all over it. A feminist is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. The women in this movie were very feminist due to the fact that they stood up for what they believe in and how they felt about the matter at hand. They did not fall into the society's roll of patriarchy that women have been playing for many years. In today’s society there are many different kinds of feminist but back in the day of the movie it was a form of deviant for a woman to go against the male in the home. Nowadays it’s more of the norm if this happens to occur.
ReplyDeletePatriarchy played a very big part in this movie. The father’s ran their households and definitely had the first, finally, and the lost say so in everything. They were so worried in this movie about how the father was going to react. The wife’s knew that their husbands were not going to be supportive at all in the decision of the biracial marriage. Back in the 1960’s the women were suppose to follow behind their husbands on whatever the matter was. Patriarchy is cultures and societies deemphasize gender as a basis for decision making of the men. Nowadays patriarchy is still a part of society but just not as much. The woman are now stepping up and making more of the decision and doing many more things that the husband use to. Women were discriminated against when it came to positions of power and influence,and many other things.
Culture is the way of people’s lives. There are many different ways people live so there are many different types of cultures. These families definitely come from to different cultures. Back then it was very obvious that you did not marry or fall in love with a different race. I feel this was a very big culture shock to everyone. Neither families or society was ready for such a big shock. Back in those days blacks and whites were not suppose to be together. It was forbidden and not to mention against the law. To be in love with a person of a different race was a big form of deviants. Cupcake005...
Well stated about feminism these to women showed their strength in this film whether it was deviant or not it does seem acceptable to me but that goes with the culture change that took place in this movie and that is still changing today. Mrs. Prentice was that of the type of woman that was seen of the time we did not see her once out mind her husband at all until she was alone with Mr. Drayton. Of speaking of patriarchy I’m sure there are guys in our society and definitely around the world who live in such ways, which just goes with the fathers of corporations’ way of thinking which is why woman on average make less than men. But they are most likely married to women along the lines of Real Wives of Atlanta that would rather spend money and have brunch every day. Versus the average American woman that would rather bring in another income because they can’t afford such luxuries or because they would rather stay busy and work than what I call exiled in modern times, stuck in the house to clean, cook, and take care of the kids. You got race and ethnicity mixed up but I see what you are saying in fact in that time it was against the law in several states to perform in miscegenation. Although there have been many reports of such actions from Euro-American men conducting themselves in the same manner all through history and many married which goes against many religions. BHL005
DeleteMy thoughts on the video overall was that it was okay. Ive seen the new guess whos coming to dinner and its the same concepts. It really shows what you would expect back then with the different issues that were occurring. Even though things were forbidden this movie shows that they didn’t let that them bother them and went beyond what what was “expected” for them to act and do. Of course we know the main concept of the movie was the interracial dating and how it wasn’t allowed and so forth. Another thing was not really caring if the behavior they were doing was deviant. During this time things were changing and what was accepted earlier was becoming different. Overall the movie was okay
ReplyDelete-kyw005
Was there a special kind of love, after viewing this clip I would have to say absolutely in more ways than the spouses love for one another? This was Spencer Tracy’s’ last film and they all knew it from the start of the production of this movie. Instead of taking it easy for the last 2 years he decided to complete this film knowing that it was his niece’s debut says a lot about the love he has for his family. He also had a lot of chances in this film to express the love he had for Katherine Hepburn that she could go back to and relive those words once he was gone. 2 weeks after the film was completed he passed away and never even got to see the impact that this movie had on the society. Spencer in his life had done 73 films and the fact that his 73rd was Guess who’s Coming To Dinner, meant that he spent his entire life making films that kind of tells you he had a huge love for the business. Tracy felt that her aunt was being hard on her, that she had to worry about Spencer’s health and that she had to keep up with her professional appearance. Could it be that Katherine was also looking after Tracy’s appearance as she was just starting out and might have been a little uninformed of such appearances. Possibly thinking that Spencer was doing all this for Tracy maybe Katherine felt that she didn’t want him putting himself through all this for nothing. Obviously we can see in this film and most likely others that Spencer and Katherine really loved each other and that the closer this film came to an end meant that their time together was growing shorter. Most people associate death with the elderly but that is simply just not the case, nobody is promised tomorrow and death will come at any age, I don’t know the statistics but I feel as that more youths die per day than the elderly. BHL005
ReplyDeleteVery well stated I agree with you on several statements you made you know for sure that they did have a special kind of love, I couldn't imagine being in a personal situation like that too see the one you love so motivated and determined through his sickness to complete a great documentary/movie on Society's issue it's great that the Lord allow him to complete the movie but sad he didn't get to see how the movie changed society at that moment or too even see how society in most cases are accepting of interracial dating in how a lot has changed and most are accepting of not only interracial dating but other behavior that people viewed as deviant behavior our culture have come to accept LGBT community, same sex marriages, in many more boundaries that society have grown to accept. I also do feel that the elderly generation are out living the younger generation Leathas005
DeleteKate, Joey’s mother of Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, was a very liberal individual, which opposed the father of Joey, Spencer, he was conservative. With that being said, both of these characters had to deliver to separate but equal performances. When delivering their own messages they had to be sure to get their points across without overpowering one another as a couples. This is important, because if one of the other attempted to overpower the next, then the message of one of the individuals would be lost, which could potentially dampen the entire meaning of the film. Also, later during this clip, Kate referred to her husband as the, “average, typical American man”. This is a key example of how discrimination was very lively and prevalent during this era. From this one is example to see that prejudice, racism, and discrimination was a norm. Later on Kate then states, “ I was a women”. It is essential to bring attention to how Kate referred to herself, because she decided to remove herself from the norm of society, which is also done so via her character in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. This exemplifies the qualities and capabilities of a women, despite whether or not she is consider to be the head of house or the face of the family. This also shows how she was an exception of society, and this was not the case throughout the nation. By realizing that she was an exception could have sparked an alteration, which is essential to this era due to the correlation of which it had with the Civil Rights movement.
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One thing that strikes me about the contrast between Kate and Spencer is that it really brings them together. They do fight quite a bit during the movie, but that is because they are both very bull headed and hold different opinions of the marriage. Because I’m a neuroscience nerd, they remind me of the left and right brain. Spencer is trying to be very logical and take his time to think about the consequences and the benefits this marriage would reap- very similar to the logical left brain. Whereas, when Kate learns how much Joey is in love with John she goes all in with the marriage. At one point Spencer says something along the lines of how Kate has got caught up in her emotions; the right brain is known to be more emotional. Spoopy005
DeleteVery well stated I agree with you on several statements you made you know for sure that they did have a special kind of love, I couldn't imagine being in a personal situation like that too see the one you love so motivated and determined through his sickness to complete a great documentary/movie on Society's issue it's great that the Lord allow him to complete the movie but sad he didn't get to see how the movie changed society at that moment or too even see how society in most cases are accepting of interracial dating in how a lot has changed and most are accepting of not only interracial dating but other behavior that people viewed as deviant behavior our culture have come to accept LGBT community, same sex marriages, in many more boundaries that society have grown to accept. Leathas005
ReplyDeleteWow, i had no idea of the backround of creating this film. This gives me little of an idea of the characters. It makes it even more cool im sure if you were to watch the film again with what you now know on what they experienced when creating and acting in the film. The actors all had shown real emotion when acting their parts. The one who played the mother, Mrs. Hepburn, im sure was a little more emotional because this was her niece and these were things that were faced in their real world. John may of played with more of a serious role and been more into character because he may have been dating a white woman himself at the time (later got married to one). The father character was actually dying and he put the rest of his strength, time and energy into finishing this film and making it as memorable as he could and according to the other actors and actresses from the youtube clip, he had. purplehearts005
ReplyDeleteI admire how she stated a lost generation on her part because she didn't see race as an issue. I believe women were more liberal than men were then and now. I believe the director also wanted the world to see humanism in people no matter the race. So I believe that's where the determination came into play for them to finish the movie while Stanley was alive. It was a trying time for the producer and actors in the film. The producer had to deal with the racism from people because he including a African man in the film. One of them stated a man or woman without including an attachment of race to it. It seems as if all the actors was mutual when it came to race and not falling into the norm of there culture and society. Kathy said her mother stood by her beliefs no matter what which to me shows a great deal of humanism.12mc-005
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