Click Here to Return to ListAlthough the number of interracial couples has grown by the thousands in the last thirty years, the acceptance of such has not progressed in the same manner. Granted, social acceptance of these relationships has come a long way, but certain conditions plaguing our society have made it impossible for these couples to feel completely free of stereotypes and prejudice. Over the years, people have become more aware of interracial dating and marriages through different mediums of the mass media. One very influential way has been through film. For example, two directors, from two very different times in American history, attacked the issue of interracial relationships in their own feature films. The first film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, was made in 1967, and was directed by Stanley Kramer. The other film, Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, was made almost thirty years later in 1991. Both portrayals of interracial couples and the social ramifications of being involved in such a relationship are rooted in similar ground, yet it is obvious that both depictions were manipulated by the time period in which the films were made. Ironically, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner seems to present a much more hopeful view of life for interracial couples than Jungle Fever, which was made during a time when society presumably should have been more comfortable with such an idea. However, with deeper observation, it appears than Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is more of a safe, Hollywood depiction of how love conquers all rather than an example of racial consciousness, whereas Jungle Fever engages in the true realities and complexities of interracial dating and of race relations in general.
Both Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Jungle Fever depict couples in which the male is black and the female is white. In this portrayal, both black men involved in the interracial relationships are wealthy, successful, and extremely well groomed. Both are seen wearing expensive suits and other nice outfits that seem to denote their stature. John Prentice in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and Flipper in Jungle Fever hold careers which pay generous salaries and require sophisticated education. However, in Kramer's film, John is depicted as a doctor who has an unbelievable list of accolades ranging from professorships at Yale to being the author of numerous textbooks. He is also described as a wonderful humanitarian who has made it his life's work to bring medical relief to Africa and other third world countries. His description and observed demeanor make him appear as nothing less than a saint, and in this, he hardly seems real at all. Other than his obvious appearance, and the fact that those around him refer to him as a "Negro," John barely seems to be aware that he is an African American. In contrast to John's cinematic sainthood, Flipper is presented as a more realistic, naturally fallible human being. He is educated, well dressed, and held to some with high esteem, but he has flaws. This element shows that Jungle Fever took steps to ensure a certain realistic edginess so that its message would not be undermined. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, however, falls right into the Hollywood outline, making John's character so perfect that he would not offend any the audience, thus weakening the whole argument for the acceptance of interracial couples.
It is not surprising that those surrounding the couples in both films are shocked to learn of such unions due to society's preconceived notions about interracial relationships regardless of the time period. However, in Jungle Fever, the intense emotions felt by the couple's family and friends underscore the complexity of the situation as well as the need for awareness and understanding with regards to such racial issues. Flipper and Angie are confronted with far different reactions from their parents. Angie's father is so enraged and feels so betrayed at the idea of his only daughter sleeping with a black man that he literally attacks her. He beats her with such cruelty that his own sons have to tackle him to keep him from doing serious harm to her. Angie's father even yells out of the window after he kicks her out of the house that he would rather be dead than be the father of a "nigger lover." Furthermore, Flip's father tells him, as well as Angie, to their face, that he condemns them for what they are doing, and that in sleeping with Angie, Flip has been drowning himself in a "white cess pool." He goes on to relate a parable of sorts explaining that white women have always been put on pedestals to be kept far out of reach of black men, but that they have always wanted what they could not have. This unbelievably harsh treatment of their own flesh and blood reveals the extent to which interracial couples deal with extreme disapproval, fear, and hatred. The audience is confronted with these realities, and this aspect of the film brings out a greater awareness of the social conditions that lead to such feelings.
Yet, in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, approval for the couple is easily reasoned for and neatly packaged, giving an overall unrealistic idea of hope for them, and for interracial couples in general. In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the parents of both John and Joanna are extremely surprised, and in the case of the fathers, angered, to learn of such a relationship. Yet after much emotional and sentimental deliberation, the parents come to a nice agreement that everything will work out for the best. Both John and Joanna's father are initially firmly against their marriage, but all it takes is a simple reminder about true love and passion for them to suddenly "come to their senses" and give their blessings to their children. Both John, Joanna, and their mothers speak fervently to their fathers and husbands respectively about their irrational behavior, emphasizing the cruel injustice they will be committing if they do not permit the marriage of two people they see as being so much in love. This film presents a happy, easy solution to a problem, which was not then, and still is not, realistic. This aspect of the film does not portray the real struggles that are apparent in the lives of such couples. Everyone would love to embrace the happy notion that everything will work out for the best in this situation. But not depicting the real story only makes individuals believe that no change in racial perceptions is needed, and that is not the case now, nor was it thirty years ago.
In addition to that of the immediate family, the reactions of both couple's close friends also emphasize the lack of real racial consciousness in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and the presence of it in Jungle Fever. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner falls right in line with how Hollywood wanted to stay middle-of-the-road and not ruffle any unnecessary feathers. So of course, just as John and Joanna's parents become comfortable with the thought of the two of them as husband and wife, so are their immediate friends. Joanna introduces John to her best friends over drinks at a club. They do not even seem to notice that John is black, and neither does their waitress. John automatically gets on famously with both of them, and instead of discouraging them from being together, the two end up provoking Joanna to leave three weeks earlier than she had planned so that she could be with him. In Jungle Fever, on the other hand, Flip only willingly tells one person, his best friend Cyruss, that he is having an affair with a white woman. Cyruss immediately asks Flip if he is "on crack," and then goes on to explain the fact that he feels that nothing good could possibly come out of the situation. In a similar manner, when Angie tells her two best friends, although one seems happier for her than the other, they are both shocked at the thought of it. One of her friends even goes to the extent to tell her that the whole thing is "disgusting," and that Angie must never bring him to the neighborhood. Granted, in a perfect world, everyone would act as Joanna's friends did towards the idea of her being in an interracial relationship, and in the real world, not everyone would act as Flip and Angie's friends did. However, being that that perfect world does not exist, and the real world gets more real everyday, ignoring the fact that everything is not in harmony, as Kramer's film seems to do, will only prevent the change that could, in the end, make that ideal world more of a reality.
In Jungle Fever, Spike Lee does an excellent job of presenting pertinent racial issues of the times within the conflict surrounding Flip and Angie's interracial relationship, while Guess Who's Coming to Dinner merely gives a strong dose of morality with little racial implications. In Lee's film, strong ideas about black men being involved with white women, as well as black men in general are conveyed through the dialogue of the film. As Drew and her friends begin bashing Flip for having an affair with a white woman, certain notions about society and certain stereotypes become very apparent. Drew and her friends reveal common perceptions such as that all black men are either drug addicts, in jail, or uneducated, and the ones that are worth anything are aware of it and take advantage of women because of it. Drew says that she believes that there are some good men out there, but they are the bus drivers, garbage collectors, and janitors that could never deal with women like she and her friends, who are more educated and more successful. One friend goes on to say that she will date any man as long as they treat her well, and Drew accuses her of letting her race down. Furthermore, another friend discusses the notion of being "too black," and that all her life, black males had always wanted to be with black girls with the lightest skin. This idea is juxtaposed later when Drew tells Flip how she was called "Yellow," "Honky," "White Nigger," among others growing up because she was so light skinned. But the idea that, for some men, the closer to white women are the better, comes across when Drew's girlfriend explains that in order for black men to become successful in "white society," they must be with beautiful white women. The disapproval with this aspect of American culture seems widespread in the black community according to other characters in the film as well. For example, Flip and Angie's waitress, played by Queen Latifa, will not even serve them in the restaurant they go in which most of the customers are black. Latifa's character accuses Flip of being too good for his own people and calls him a "fake ass brother." These examples, along with others, are perpetuated by the concept of interracial couples, but go further to shed light on the true realities in black culture and in American culture in general.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, on the other hand, seems to address an issue of morality rather than an issue of race. Of course, the main subject of the film is an interracial couple, but the film tends to lean towards pushing moral values more than pushing a more developed racial consciousness. Simple notions of what is right and wrong overshadow the real racial conflict. The only person who really stresses the conflict with race is Tilly, Joanna's black maid, and her thoughts are seen as irrational and carry little weight in the story. In fact, in the end, Joanna's father almost blames the whole argument on the statement that Tilly made when he first entered the house that day about all hell breaking loose. Again, in accordance with Hollywood style, the idea of an interracial couple in this film ends up serving as a simple outlet to proclaim good feelings and happy endings. As the film progresses, Joanna's father becomes more agitated because of the fact that the situation is challenging his strong liberal beliefs, and not because his daughter wants to marry a black man. Also, when both Joanna's mother and father's best friend give him lectures about how he is acting, neither one really focus on the racial conflict in the situation, but simply that he is going against everything he has ever stood for in his life. These scenes give the audience no real idea about their true perceptions on race. All that is gathered is that none of them want to be hypocrites. The father's huge speech at the end speaks nothing of society, except but to ignore it, and that he cannot get in between two people that truly love each other. Where Jungle Fever presents the audience with a true awareness of what is going on in society as far as racial issues are concerned, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner only spoon feeds ideas about values which are all talk and little substance.
Along with playing it safe with what assumptions and accusations the film makes about society, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner also remains extremely conservative with regards to the way it depicts the interaction between John and Joanna. They are seen kissing only once, but it is a distant, blurred vision as it is shown through the cab driver's rear view mirror. This scene appears at the very start of the film, but nothing of the sort is shown for the remainder of the feature. John, being as polite as he is portrayed, guides her into rooms with a gentle hand on her back and will occasionally put his arm around her shoulders. However, these instances are few and far between. The couple holds hands only once, and that is during the long speech by Joanna's father at the end of the film. At one point, Joanna gets up to leave the room, and kisses John on the check, however, directly following, she goes over to the Monsignor and kisses him on his cheek as well, negating some of the significance of the first kiss. It is obvious that Kramer was trying to go along with the standards set by Hollywood at this time, for it was one thing to present the idea of an interracial couple, but it was completely another to portray them as lovers. There is even a scene in which Joanna tells her mother that they have not slept together yet, just in case the audience was wondering. If anything, John comes across as more a father figure for Joanna than a lover or a potential husband. This calculated elimination of any type of real contact between the two only emphasizes the unrealistic nature of the film, and does nothing to convey the true ideas about interracial relationships.
Jungle Fever, on the other hand, presents more of a real awareness about the romantic and sexual nature found in any relationship, regardless of the race of the couple. In his film, Lee is not afraid to shock people with his depiction of two people of different races as lovers. However, this addition does more than just make waves, it also reveals a great deal about the social implications of being in an interracial relationship. Lee shows intimacy between Flip and Angie long before they make love. In the scenes in which they are sharing their most private details about their life over late dinners after work, the audience already sees them as lovers. They know little about each other, but grasp on to the newness of it all, and let curiosity take over. They have a relationship, which is a lot more than can be said about John and Joanna by the way that they are portrayed. The audience sees that these two can find common ground, and can find an attraction with each other. The audience also sees, however, that the love scene is more wrapped up in lust and passion than in true love. Regardless, this depiction helps bring out new ideas, which break the confines of old.
Flip and Angie are only seen making love one time, but are seen in bed quite a bit. Throughout the film, they maintain a very playful, flirty attitude with each other, and they are believable as lovers. Yet Lee takes this one step further to reach even deeper into the nature of society in reference to this issue of race. One night when Flip and Angie are play fighting with each other on the sidewalk, a complaint is made, and two cops immediately arrive, throwing Flip off Angie and holding him at gunpoint. Angie tries to fix the situation by telling the officers that Flip is her lover, but Flip knows better and claims that he is a friend trying to make sure she got home safe. The officers leave, but Flip blows up at Angie, and accuses her of trying to get him killed. Angie does not understand, but Flip does. He knows what the would be assumed if anyone saw a black man even remotely look like he was coming on too strong with a white woman. Again, Jungle Fever not only portrays the ramifications of being in an interracial relationship, but also of being of a different race in society.
Furthermore, the differences between the depictions of an interracial couple in Guess Who is Coming to Dinner and Jungle Fever are felt throughout both films, but especially in the way they end. The ending of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner goes right along with the concept of love conquering all and everything working out perfectly that is ever present throughout the film. In it, Joanna's father gives a lengthy, sentimental speech about their love and their happy future, and how wrong he was to ever try to intercede. With heartfelt remorse for his behavior, and love for his wife and daughter, he bids them all to come into the dinning room to eat together, and everything will be fine. So Joanna and John along with their mother's sit down to the table, and their fathers come in behind, Joanna's father having his arm around John's father. Tilly, now seemingly at peace with the whole thing, serves them their food, and goes back into the kitchen. "Story of Love" begins playing in the background, as it has for the entirety of the film, and everything fades to black. This film wraps everything up into a pretty, simple package despite the complexity of the whole situation. This ending gives the idea that things could be that easy, and that ideal. It achieves little in the way of awareness and understanding, and in many ways it breeds more ignorance because of its basically unrealistic portrayal of interracial couples.
The fact that Jungle Fever does not end in the same, "happily ever after" sense is not what makes it good. It is the fact that the ending acknowledges the problems, struggles, and realities felt by those in interracial couples, and those dealing with all issues of race. At Flip and Angie's last meeting, they discuss the reasons why their relationship could never work. Flip tells her that it is not worth it that neither of them really loves each other. He indirectly criticizes the notions of love and relationships emphasized by Guess Who's Coming to Dinner when he tells her that the idea that love will overcome anything comes from Walt Disney movies. He explains that they slept with each other because they were curious about the other race, and that was all it was. This is not saying that no interracial relationship can work out, but it is saying that there is a lot more to it than how much two people love each other. At the very end of the movie, a young girl who is selling herself for drug money approaches him and he hugs her and screams "No!" as loud as he can over the roar of the traffic. Through this, and the end of Flip's relationship with Angie, Lee shows the frustration surrounding how society deals with race and why certain stereotypes exist within racial groups. In this, he reaches a depth of social consciousness that Guess Who's Coming to Dinner could not even touch.
The subject of interracial couples is a controversial one. There are a lot of opinions related to the issue. There is a mix of awareness and ignorance-of understanding and denial. Both Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Jungle Fever take a look at this complex issue. However, though Guess Who's Coming to Dinner appears extremely progressive at first glance for being made in the late 1960's, it does not achieve a balanced concept of the nature of such an issue. It also does not take any steps to fully expose the social condition, which lies behind the initial lack of understanding associated with interracial relationships. In staying on safe ground as much as possible considering the topic, this film barely addresses any aspect of race relations and it does nothing to broaden any racial consciousness with its notion of love conquering all.
Jungle Fever does not necessarily provide the most extensive portrayal of interracial couples that had ever been put on film, but it does provide a lot of room for the growth and change of ideas regarding the subject. Lee incorporates a great deal about the black community as well as about society as a whole in his depiction of Flip and Angie's affair. Its intense harshness serves as an example of the mindsets and conditions that everyone needs to be aware of, and what everyone needs to try and change.
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