Guess Who's Coming To Dinner Essay

The 1967 motion picture “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” written by William Rose was a controversial film that touched on the subject of interracial marriage between two lovers, John Prentice a successful upper-class black man and Joanna Drayton an upper-class white woman in the 1960’s, the message depicted was that love conquers all as shown through the characters, John and Joanna, the setting in upper-class San Francisco, CA, and the theme of man v. society.

During the 1960’s the most prominent event that occurred was the Civil Rights Act, which made it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, or nationality. This event tied in with the film’s message because of the racial controversy that it brought up. Even though racial discrimination was illegal and dated there was still some racial tension between John and Joey and both of their parents. “That was the year interracial marriage made headlines. Just take the Hollywood classic “Guess who’s coming to Dinner”. The film was a new kind of love story for Hollywood. The movie was about a black man who wanted to marry a white woman — a huge taboo at the time.” (Kellogg). The film might have been influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and the intense racial discrimination occurring throughout the country at the time; for the time period “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” was a

It location serves to place a background for the reasons of all of the reactions and disapproval that Joanna gets from friends and family about here marrying a black man. Even after the Civil Rights Act there was still racism present in the U.S., mainly seen in rich white folk. “The film embodies the time in which it was created and continues to do so by serving as a resource in understanding racial perspectives during the 1960’s.” (Film Analysis of Guess Who’s Coming to