This is a great film that attempts to explore relationships, race, and confusion. It's also beautifully acted and has a strong ensemble feel to it.
The film begins on an honest note but ends on a false one. There's no way in real life that a cracker like Earl would embrace Ray's family towards the end of the movie. Pure fantasy. But it is still a moving film.
How would you know? Have you ever been in that situation? No, don't color and entire race by what you would do if in the same situation. You haven't been there so you just. don't. know.
shareI have to disagree. There are degrees of racism. I think you’re making the mistake of thinking that Earl is a racist on the level of being a 10 or near 10 out of a scale of 10.
People tend to be great at compartmentalizing. Once they know someone of a race even if they remain somewhat racist they tend to exempt the people they know from that racism.
This is a character who underwent a journey. We see the walls come down. The scene where Aunt T recounts Earl’s birth alone is more of a journey then we’d normally get in a typical Hollywood film.
Remember Earl’s mother is portrayed as not being racist and being very empathic. Earl is also older and of a time where racism in the US changed dramatically and his mother was likely a force insuring Earl was never as racist as many.
To call the movie pure fantasy undercuts your argument to the point of causing it to fail.
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Could you perhaps say more explicitly what it is you're trying to be wrong about.--Dr Adequate
Good post SeanMarshall.
Many times in real life people once they get to know someone start to see them as person and look past their differences.
Phrases like ‘those are good people’, ‘impressive how well he’s done’ and ‘he’s a credit to his race’ just goes to show how common compartmentalizing racism has been.
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Could you perhaps say more explicitly what it is you're trying to be wrong about.--Dr Adequate
with a name like schwartz what would you know about 'crackers"
geesh
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behold, sublime genius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXRYA1dxP_0
I can't call this an exact copy to the movie, but I had a babysitter when I was a child. In Mississippi no less. She was and is always my second mother and her son who is my age was and will always be my brother. We became best friends then and still are today. To hell with all the race talk and all the BS people spout about this race or that race. If you see color you need to take another look. Given the chance most people in this world will prove you wrong if you group people by race, where they are from, what they do for a living, the color of their hair, eyes etc. No good comes out of judging people.
shareI don't know why you felt the need to call names (cracker like Earl). Yeah Earl was a racist but honestly there are some racists that are worse than others. I got the impression Earl primarily thought and acted the way he did towards blacks because of where he was raised and not because that's how he actually felt. Judging from the storyline his mother was a nice woman and I never got the impression she raised any of her children to be racist. Now on the other hand, Earl's father was definitely a racist and I'm sure that's where Earl got most of his influence from, but it still doesn't mean he was anything like his father.
Earl had a bad habit of calling blacks the N word and probably racially profiled people. But let me ask you this, what black person don't you know that hasn't called a white person a derogatory name or stereotyped them (even if they didn't really mean it deep down)? I've met many black people who will claim they are not racist but will turn around and talk bad about a white person or a person of any other ethnicity just because(they usually think it's funny).
I don't see why it couldn't only take a matter of days for Earl to change his thinking. If he was so put off by having a black mother and a black brother he would have never made the trip to Chicago. Like any other true racist he would have buried the truth deep and denied denied denied if anyone found out.
The movie never showed Earl as a KKK member or harasser of blacks. He just came off as your stereotypical southern white man that was raised in a small town and stayed on his side of the tracks. That doesn't mean he hated blacks, he just didn't understand them.
Of course not all but do you really think NONE would?
But by the same token, do you really believe ALL Black Families would embrace Duvall; I say many would but not all?
I can only tell you from personal experience of the MANY White Friends I've met over the years and we'd discuss how we were raised, some were raised to H8 minorities, just as I know Black people that were raised to H8 Whites, Jews,...not that many but a few.
(some) People evolve is all I'm saying.
If you think it's too Hollywood; find an Interracial Couple with Kids, ask them (especially the Caucasian Side) "How did your family receive your spouse while you were dating,..early in your marriage?"
I bet many had bad beginnings but once the grand-kids start being born, many of the grandparents start evolving??
And yes I was lucky, I had a mother that despised H8ing people you didn't know, because they weren't like you, they were White/Asian/Latino,..