Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner: A Message of Tolerance and Acceptance

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Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, A Message of Tolerance and Acceptance

The progressive movie Guess Who's Coming To Dinner was a liberal message that emerged from remnants of the historical Civil Rights Movement. The film was a riveting manifesto exposing how both black and white cultures viewed interracial relationships in the 1960s. The context of the movie was provocative and poised to push the parameters regarding one of our country’s major social problems and taboo subjects, racial prejudice and interracial relationships. Until June 12, 1967, miscegenation was illegal in most southern states until the case of Loving v. Virginia declared that laws against miscegenation were unconstitutional. However, according to ABC News.com, “many states left the unenforceable laws on the books, in fact, South Carolina did not remove its prohibitive clause until 1998” (Patria, 1). The theme of this film extends far beyond the black and white relationship; it's about tolerance and acceptance of different cultures, race, and ethnicity.

While writing the screenplay for Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, the writer William Rose knew that the theme and characters would test race boundaries in this country. He cleverly established Matt and Christina Drayton as two wealthy and cultured San Franciscans who considered themselves liberal and unbigoted people. When their naïve 23 yr. old daughter Joanna brings home her 37 yr. old Negro fiancé Dr. John Prentiss, the Drayton’s are astonished and aghast, not just by John being black, but because they’re forced to reexamine their personal beliefs regarding racism. Joanna’s character was portrayed as a gorgeous and vibrant bottle of sprite with a big heart, groomed by her parents to have a modern and unbias...

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McGillicuddy, Genevieve. "Articles for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." TCM Turner Classic Movies. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .

Poitier, Sidney. The measure of a man: a spiritual autobiography. San Francisco, CA: Harper San Francisco, 2000. Print.

Rich, Frank. "Op-Ed Columnist - Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. .

Stein, Ruthe. "Looking back at 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' - SFGate." Featured Articles From The SFGate. N.p., 28 Feb. 2008. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .

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