I'm watching this movie right now. Should I be ashamed to admit the initial reason for me watching it is Wentworth Miller? (sheepish grin)
The story in a nutshell: a very light skinned black male decides to pass for white. He marries a white woman and ceases all communication with his black family. The big problem I have with the movie is that they never tell us WHY Coleman Silk decides to pass. Was it for love? Was it so his life would be easier? I guess they allude to the latter because we see his father, a trained optician, working as a waiter on Amtrak. Coleman doesn't want that. He wants to be accepted for who he is (which he ironically ISN'T since he doesn't tell people he's black) without out being labeled. Also, why was Coleman so light? It would have been nice if they told us how the family came to be mixed race. (Rape? A taboo consensual relationship from the past?) And the biggest question I had, was Coleman really Jewish? Was his black family Jewish? And why was Kerry Washington only in the movie for a second? Did Coleman actually go back to the record store to talk to her and explain why he was passing? You know, when I saw her name in the credits, I thought there would be some kind of relationship between them. No. Such. Luck.
When I look at Anthony Hopkins, I definitely don't see a black man. And when I look at Wentworth, I don't see a 100% white person. But the movie did make me think about how many other people may be passing. I've seen people who make you do a double take and I do know of a Mexican girl passing for European. But I digress. . .For more about passing, read Nella Larsen's book, appropriately called Passing. I might read the book that the movie is based on because it's possible that the book explains why Coleman was passing. The movie doesn't do a good job of putting the whole picture together. One last thing: was Nicole Kidman's character really necessary? She and Les added a complexity that the story really didn't need since that energy could have been spent dealing with the main storyline. I get that she was the only person Coleman confided in, but why? What was it about her that made him feel safe? And where were they driving when they crashed? And how did Les know they would be on the road at that time? I just have too many questions, lol.
The highlight of the movie was Wentworth. He's nice to look at and his voice is so deep. I need a guy like Wentworth in my life.
2 comments:
I saw this movie too and loved it because it was so beautiful and sad. I've watched it several times so I thought I'd just comment here and clear a few things up:
It's really pretty easy to understand why "passing" was an option for so many Blacks considering the social sonditions of the time. It was a survival technique that allowed them to circulate in different social circles, advance their careeers, and enjoy a quality of life & social standing that was generally reserved for Whites only. I actually thought the movie made that abundantly clear.
Also--just to set the record straight. Black people come in all skin tones just like white people, because they are racially mixed...just like Whites people.
The few genes that account for skin tone, hair texture, and facial features can resurface from ancestors as far back as 5 generations. Meaning Black parents with any degree of white ancestry could produce offspring with essentially white features...and of course White parents with Black ancestry as close as 5 generations could just as easily produce a child that looks essentially Black. Americans seem to forget this part of their own history. It's cultural amnesia...and explains many of the race relation problems the US has today.
Anthony Hopkins could easily be "Black". There are plenty of Black people who look like him today. (Notice I put Black in quotes cuz nobody can seem to define what "Black" really is anyway.) So, with that said-- a Black person having a lighter skin-tone doesn't necessarily have anything to do with "rape" or secret interracial relations.
Also---Coleman's family wasn't Jewish. Many Blacks who could pass, passed for Jewish since that would explain their darker skin color and their hair texture, but still allow them to claim White social standing. (many Jewish people have coarse or curly hair)
A few other notes: Nicole Kidman's character was intersting because she brought up the whole issue of social class....which I think is related to why Coleman was able to open up to her so easily. She was safe because she was so far below him in social standing. And because of her past history, he knew she wouldn't judge him for his past actions. He couldn't tell anyone else he was Black, not necause he was ashamed of being Black now, but because the the emmense shame he felt for passing,
Ok, I can't believe I typed that much, but I just had to get my 2 cents in on this one.
p.s. You know Wentworth Miller is Black right? Case in point.
Thanks for explaining some things about the movie. I was aware that Wentworth is black. However, he is biracial. I realize that we come in all skin tones but I guess I'm not used to seeing a near white child with 2 brown parents (who didn't look mixed). But genetics is a funny thing. There was an article not long ago about a 2 biracial parents who gave birth to a black twin and a white twin. The contrast was stark.
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