Ethnic/Racial Movies

Ahoy folks, I have a request.

At school I'm starting a little something called "Dinner and a Movie". The idea behind this is that I'm in a diversity club and we basically share diversity and what not. Well the club has been lacking and I came up with this brilliant idea~!

Anywho, the idea is that we present a movie every other month that showcases ethnic related problems/issues in the US, or a movie that promotes well being among diversity and what not. It can be a bunch of things to be honest.

What I'm asking of you guys is to comprise a list of movies you find to be touching the theme I provided above. An exame would be Remember the Titans We have to keep it PG-13 and under as well. That's going to be the biggest pain.

So far I've got:

Remember the Titans
Hotel Rwanda
Gandhi (Haven't seen it)
School Ties (haven't seen it)
Coach Carter

Once again, we're targeting teens. So we have to get something that is both acceptable by them and by the schoo. Nothing like Schindler's List or American History X

Anymore help would be great guys.

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Sorry I can't think of any pg-13 or under racial rilms right now. but if I remeber correctly Coach Carter isn't really about racial differences its mostly about the basketball team and them being benched not racism

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Wasn't it more along the lines of these kids from slums that could only play basketball. A bit of a stereotype?

I forgot to clarify that the club is about diversity and spreading it. All that mumbo jumbo. So it ranges from idea to idea. As the go to guy of the club, I give it a thumbs up as to being viewable. I'm sure the school administration would too.

I have a few for you...

Glory (1989) Concerns the first black volunteer company during the American Civil War. Rating PG. It's an excellant movie.

X-Men (2000) Yes that is correct. Why? Well because of the X gene and persecution by us every day humans against the next evolution of humanity.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) It's all about racial prejudice, but you should know that of course.

An American Tale (1986) An allegory for the Russian immigration to America.

I would add Dances with Wolves (1990) concerning the systematic eradication of the native American populous but I highly doubt it will retain the interest of a bunch of teenagers. I love the film myself but I too get a little yanked into slumber watching it.

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Smoke Signals (1998)
The Doe Boy (2001)
Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
Lakota Woman (1993)


And if they didn't have to be PG, I would recommend:

Powwow Highway (1989)
Skins (2002)
Thunderheart (1992)
Black Robe (1991)

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This one might be a bit hard to find but I strongly recommend it: Louis Malle's Alamo Bay. A mid eighties film about a growing Vietnamese community in coastal Texas, where locals don't take kindly to what they see as an invasion by low wage, diaspora immingrants. Detailed and nonsensationalistic look at communal identity and identity within communities with also the best performance of Ed Harris's carreer. John Sayles has done a number of films along similar lines, albeit less focused specifically on ethnic identity, but which do look very closely at community as social construct: particularly Lone Star (Texas Border Town: various ethnic communities defining themselves through shared/conflicting historical narratives) and City of Hope (similar themes but in urban east coast setting). I recommend all of those, but with special emphasis on Alamo Bay. Sadly I can't think of too many good movies about this, just a lot of feel good human-interest pap and clumsy, generically packaged platitudes. Those sports ones are particularly offensive and should be avoided at all costs.

Gentleman's Agreement (1947 - Elia Kazan)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955 - John Sturges)
12 Angry Men (1957 - Sidney Lumet)
In the Heat of the Night (1967 - Norman Jewison)
Ragtime (1981 - Milos Forman)
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984 - Rob Epstein)
Au Revoir, Les Enfants (1987 - Louis Malle)
Matewan (1987 - John Sayles)
Hoop Dreams (1994 - Steve James)
4 Little Girls (1997 - Spike Lee)
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999 - Scott Hicks)
Focus (2001 - Neal Slavin)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002 - Phillip Noyce)


And Linespalsy recommended three great movies. Unfortunately they're all rated R.

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The Color Purple (1985)
Pocahontas (1995)
Black Like Me (1964)


And definately watch Rabbit-Proof fence. That's one of my favorites!

Rabbit-Proof Fence is a favorite of mine too... but I've never seen Pocahontas and probably never will… It caused a pretty big stir in the Native American community when it first came out… and was/is basically viewed as a slap in the face to the Powhatan Nation by us…

How is it a slap? (I haven't seen it, either.)



West Side Story

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Review: Cabin in the Woods 8/10

Unfortunately neither of my recommendations are in the right age category, but perhaps they could be used in discussion:
Mississippi Burning and La Haine, both very powerfull and moving films.
What certificate did Crash have in the USA?

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Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?

Rated R

The Powhatans have gone on record to say that the Disney flick paints an unfair and stereotypical view of all Native Americans. And despite claiming to be historically accurate, it is actually dramatically unfaithful to the supposedly true story that it centers around. For a more truthful account of the story, they recommend Terrence Malick's The New World.

I was thinking of this movie because of the issue of whites vs native americans...the unfair treatment of native americans. I saw this movie as more of an issue of ignorance of the whites to the Native community and the portrayal of the Powhatans is the exact ignorance I am talking about. You are right, Lance and Caity, this movie is an inaccurate portrayal, and strays from the "true story". But before watching this movie, tell the people to consider how the movie is depicting the natives inaccurately....do you understand what I mean?

It says on many cites that The Color Purple is PG-13. I don't have the movie in front of me to check for myself but I think all these cites are accurate. Now this doesn't mean I agree that it should be PG-13 since it is a heavy subject...

Bizzarely, Damien O'Donnell's East Is East (1999) gets an R rating in The States. It's harmless, funny and pretty good at pointing out the cultural differences presented to young Muslims in 70s England.



Last Resort (2000, Pawel Pawlikowski), unrated with you lot but 15 here (same with East Is East) goes quite a way to explain the hopeless plight of primarily Eastern European immigrants in English seaside detention centre.

It's got two strong central performances from the always excellent Paddy Considine and the always beautiful Dina Korzun.

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An interesting start and point of reference might be Birth of a Nation...

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I liked Amistad

and I think Last of the Mohicans (1992) can be really interesting if you discuss why Magua can be considered the hero.

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"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."- Groucho Marx

Glory Road

I was thinking the same thing.

I'd also like to add to the list that might be worth checking out...

A Patch of Blue (1965)