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Alyssa Miree
07 April 2016
Race in Film
Prof. Nama
Race and American Cinema Midterm
The idea of blackness became a political conversation when it came to American
cinema in the late 1960s and 1970s. During this time the blaxploitation genre of film became
extremely popular and important in the film industry. Producing blaxploitation films saved many
studio companies from bankruptcy because of the low cost and high response rate. These films
were a hit in the black communities and generated a lot of cash flow back into the entertainment
industry. The films were painstakingly low quality but the black audience loved them. These
films gave the black community personalities or stars to look up to. These stars exemplified the
black community and what was considered black because they were the figures that represented
blackness to mainstream America. Of course this became political because the spectrum of what
is considered black to the black community is far more widespread than what could be quantified
by only a few stars. So the question became, who identified with the black audience more?
Essentially, who is more black?
For the purpose of this paper, two individuals in particular will be looked at by their
performances in their hit movies and how those performances contributed to the broader social
meaning they symbolized. The two movies are Guess Whos Coming to Dinner from 1967 and
Shaft from 1971. The plot lines of these movies are completely different which offers support to
the argument of which is more black.
In Guess Whos Coming to Dinner, the main character John Prentice was played by
Sidney Portier, who was a symbol for the black community because he was the first black male
to become a crossover hit between white and black audiences. He was also the first black person
to ever receive an Academy Award. This film highlighted social problems. These type of films
are designed to address issue in society which allows audience to transform their attitudes toward
the issues and are intended to receive critical prestige. This film is often debated if it can be
considered racist or not racist. In this film Dr. John Prentice, a successful black man, meets a
young white woman, Joey Drayton, from a wealthy background on a vacation and falls in love
with her. The two decide to take their relationship to a serious level by going to the San Fransisco
Bay Area where Joey is from to introduce Dr. Prentice to her family and announce their new
engagement. Of course there becomes an awkward conflict because of the racial differences of
the two and the societal attitudes toward interracial relationships in 1967. But Joeys confidence
in her parents liberalism and accepting ideologies leads her to invite John home regardless of his
skin color. Joey comes from the San Fransisco area which is known to be one of the most liberal
cities in the country. Her father is the publishing editor of a popular political advocacy
newspaper and her mother is an owner and curator of an art gallery, both are very progressive
professions in the 1960s. It was made clear on multiple occasions of the movie that Joey was
raised in a very liberal household. Despite his racial difference, Dr. John Prentice was very
distinguished himself. He came from a very humble household in Los Angeles. His parents were
not characterized as successful, his father was a mailman for 20 years. Dr. Prentice became a
very well-off and educated professional. Dr. Prentice was extremely respectful to Joeys family
and demonstrated his genuine intentions with their daughter to be pure. This man was practically

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flawless, and the Drayton family still had their reservations. They did not want to admit to
themselves it was because he was black, but it was obvious that was the reason why.
Now in comparison, the 1971 version of Shaft was created during blaxploitations high
moment, its most sharply defined and prolific phase, marked by the 1971 premiere of Sweet
Sweet backs Baasasssss song and the crystallization of the Blaxploitation formula in Shaft1
Shaft was an important film in the politics of black identity in America, so much so it was
selected in 2000 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of
Congress for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant2. The character John
Shaft, played by actor Richard Roundtree, also became a figure for the evolving ideology of
blackness between the 1960s and 1970s with the rise of the Black Power Movement. The
character John Shaft was the coolest detective in New York who is hired by the Black Mafia of
Harlem to help the leader find his daughter who was kidnapped by the White Mafia. The
character of John Shaft is very assertive, powerful and witty. He works with the white police
officers to fight crime against black criminals. This film used slang, music, fashion and a
particular attitude to define current trends and concerns within the African American movement
of the time. John Shaft was a character that challenged white authority while maintaining a cool
and respected demeanor, Parks hero, played by Richard Roundtree, looks like a confident,
independent man with his own sense of stye. Hes tall, athletic, well dressed in leather coat, sport
jacket, and turtleneck. He acts like the king of New York, striding through a variety of
neighborhoods with equal authority.3 Shaft was more vocal about his blackness and confident
with his urban background which became relatable to a wider black audience during the time of
Black Power. The black man was no longer held to a standard of perfection and submission into
white culture to be accepted into white society, John Shaft showed America that it was important
to see the representation of a strong black individual who maintained his urban roots, Shaft and
Superfly, both produced within the Hollywood system, show independent characters (one a
detective, one a drug pusher) functioning within current social reality [these] films were
commercially successful, indicating the black audiences hunger for a new-self image.4 This
shift in the ideal figure of the successful black man in film became political in black popular
culture.
It is obvious the characters of Dr. John Prentice and detective John Shaft are two completely
different black men. Both exemplified the image of what a black man was like during the times

1Ed Guerrero. Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film. (Philadelphia: Temple

University Press, 1993), 838.

2 Robert Repine & Tim Allen. Blaxploitation, from Shaft to Django, Oxford University Press,

June 3, 2013, http://blog.oup.com/2013/06/blaxploitation-shaft-django/.

3 Peter Lev. American Films of the 70s. (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2000), 130.

4 Peter Lev. American Films of the 70s. (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2000), 128.

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of their releases, but the argument is, which one was more relatable to the black community in
terms of their political messages? The character Dr. Prentice played was obviously submissive.
He was non threatening to whiteness; actually he was protective over whiteness. He was often
paired with white costar because the lead characters he played were normally involved with a
romance. This has to do with the politics of sexuality in race in film. The romance in this movie
is strictly platonic implying John Prentice was an asexual man because he was with a white
woman. Previously, black men were depicted as sexual savages in cinema, so it was important to
create a conservative image with Dr. Prentice to demonstrate the intelligence and prestige he
held. Throughout the entire movie, John did not make any sexual advances toward his fianc
Joey. This shows that he was a black man capable of self-control so he was acceptable enough to
the white society he was trying to gain entrance into by being involved with Joey. There was a
particular scene where John checked out the young black female housekeeper, and ironically
Joey supported the flirtatious behavior. This scene shows that as a black man it is normal in that
he is attracted to both white women and black women and that he does not have a fetish for only
white women which was concerning with selling out to blacks. John was obviously attracted to
both women so he could not be considered a sell out. The black community became disinterested
in Sidney Portiers image of the black saint.5 The dissatisfaction Sidney Portiers star image
gave way to more assertive and macho black athletic film heroes.6 Thus, John Shafts character
gave the black community a relatable strong black hero figure. Because of his ability to
challenge the white authority while maintaining respect with them and the black community
simultaneously. In comparison to the sexual politics in Shaft, John Shaft eluded sexuality. In the
coolness of his character contributed to his sexuality. The sexuality of this movie was extremely
overt, the woman engaging in the first sexual acts with Shaft was black and the first sex scene
was in the first 30 minutes of the movie. The second sexual encounter Shaft had was with a white
woman and the sex scene was shorter with zero romance, purely physical. Throughout the movie
Shaft continues to repeat the line I got laid or Im getting laid which implies the evolution of
the comfortability of a black male role being a sexual man with women of all races. There was a
scene in the movie where a gay bartender playfully squeezes John Shafts butt. This was
significant because it reinforced the confidence of the black male in his own sexuality and how
the strong black male became desired by everyone: black and white women and gay men. This
also demonstrated how progressive the film was because Shaft did not react in an aggressive
manor, instead he accepted the sexual gesture with nonchalance which also demonstrated his
confidence and his acceptance as a progressive hero.
The production history of both of these films are also significant to consider when analyzing the
politics. Shaft followed the cheaply made Blaxploitation formula which generated a surprising
return of sales in the box office because the movie was strikingly low quality. In contrast Guess
Whos Coming to Dinner? intended to be a social aware film so the quality is better because the
financing was better and the topic of the film was more relevant and inclusive to black and white
5Ed Guerrero. Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film. (Philadelphia: Temple

University Press, 1993), 854.

6 Ed Guerrero. Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film. (Philadelphia: Temple

University Press, 1993), 838.

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audiences. Both films were political in demonstrating the evolving image of what the black man
character represented to blackness in America at large but also within the black community,
through the imagery of sexuality in the films, their interactions between and attitudes toward
their white costars, and their differences in socioeconomic classes in the black community.