i love that analogy. instead of using the word black (and thank god not NEGRO) but colored, then including the pill analogy was great. i like the scenes btw dr. tibbet and Zeke. i liked zeke's recitation of the D.O.I. way to go!!
shareI couldn't stand this movie and I wanted it to be good. As far as that pill scene goes, he said they were equal but you could also make an argument that it was ment as separate but equal. The kid in one scene saying he wanted to be white and whenever Doc tried to make him happy with his fate and asking if he understood kept saying no, it was because he knew he was getting a load of well intending crap thrown at him.
shareThat's not how I understood the explanation the doctor provided Zeke. He was trying to let him know that, despite our obvious differences, all people matter and are entitled to the same things in life.
I don't think he was trying to sell the kid on separate but equal because the races weren't really separated. People in those days probably really believed the various races had very little in common and wouldn't be interested in socializing together but in other ways they interacted.
At that point they probably didn't have much in common but it was probably due more to socio-economic reasons rather than race. If you watch movies that depict life in the big cities, everyone lived pretty much the same existence - poor. They all co-mingled and thought nothing of it.
As these people attained wealth and moved up in the world they tended to separate themselves and connect with others in similar standing. It took a while for there to be full integration of races but, again, they probably didn't have a lot in common culturally and socially. Ironically, having those things in common require that people associate with each other socially and that wasn't happening.
When that did finally start to happen, people of different races sharing interests, that's when things got really volatile. That made some people very uncomfortable. People fear the unknown, that's typical of human nature. Parents feared their children might take a liking to people of other races and cultures if they went to school with them or shared space in other social situations. Some people feared losing their own rights and privileges if these were offered to other races. The fear was more than some people could take.