{"id":95069,"date":"2024-01-21T16:40:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-21T23:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=95069"},"modified":"2024-01-21T16:40:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T23:40:43","slug":"black-like-me-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=95069","title":{"rendered":"Black Like Me (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I thought I&#8217;d seen every form of human degradation there was.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Poster-206x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"206\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-95070\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Poster-206x300.png 206w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Poster-88x128.png 88w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Poster-185x270.png 185w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Poster.png 407w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px\" \/><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a White journalist (James Whitmore) takes pills to turn himself temporarily Black, his travels through the South begin to give him an approximation of systemic and individual racism across the American south.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>African-Americans<\/li>\n<li>Deep South<\/li>\n<li>James Whitmore Films<\/li>\n<li>Journalists<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken and Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Race Relations and Racism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ll open my review of this unusual independent film by citing directly from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68895\/black-like-me#articles-reviews?articleId=1311635\">David Sterritt&#8217;s article for TCM<\/a>, where he notes that: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Black Like Me<\/em> (1964), based on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Black_Like_Me\">the book of that title by John Howard Griffin<\/a>, tells the unlikely tale of a bold, flawed, and enduringly controversial experiment carried out by a journalist whose lack of training in social science was balanced by deep curiosity and a profound sense of indignation over some of the ugliest aspects of 20th-century American society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Indeed, it should be noted that modern viewers will likely have a hard time swallowing the overall intent of this flick &#8212; and it doesn&#8217;t help matters that (as Bosley Crowther points out in his review) &#8220;Whitmore&#8217;s make-up does little to convince us he&#8217;s actually Black (he looks more &#8220;like an end man in a minstrel show&#8221;): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Whitmore.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Whitmore.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"432\" height=\"320\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-95071\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Whitmore.png 432w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Whitmore-300x222.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Whitmore-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Whitmore-365x270.png 365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and &#8220;Carl Lerner&#8217;s direction of the screenplay that he and his wife, Gerda, wrote is melodramatic and unsubtle.&#8221; However, also true is Sterritt&#8217;s assessment that while this is &#8220;not great cinema,&#8221; it&#8217;s &#8220;a compelling time capsule&#8230; offering a rough-and-ready sketch of the powerful passions and noble purposes that propelled the civil-rights movement in the crucial year of 1964.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Driving.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Driving.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"432\" height=\"320\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-95102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Driving.png 432w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Driving-300x222.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Driving-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Driving-365x270.png 365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>To that end, in order to contextualize this film within other cinematic efforts of the time, I turn to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4031blac.html\">DVD Savant&#8217;s review<\/a>, where he writes: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As socially conscious filmmaking moved into the 1960s, it became marginalized more than ever. Getting low-budget B&#038;W pictures into theaters was an even tougher sell, and the watered-down liberal messages in TV meant that only a specialized audience went for films about social justice or race equality. The average person thinks that a successful liberal consciousness picture is the overly insistent <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=83226\"><em>The Defiant Ones<\/em><\/a> or the feel-good <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=30988\"><em>Lilies of the Field<\/em><\/a> or the glamorous <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=30320\"><em>Guess Who&#8217;s Coming to Dinner?<\/em><\/a> Ironically, those glamorous and unthreatening Sidney Poitier pictures probably did more to convince nervous whitebread America accept the idea that blacks weren&#8217;t a scary &#8220;other&#8221;, than all the heartfelt confrontational movies put together. The nature of film distribution required that movies court a white audience. Sidney won over his audiences by playing characters of obvious virtue and integrity. Good actors like James Edwards and Brock Peters got plenty of bit parts and some that allowed them to express pride in their color, but Hollywood in general reacted to the Civil Rights advances with a dose of defensive tokenism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With all this important contextualizing information in mind, <em>Black Like Me<\/em> is recommended for one-time viewing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> I found it especially intriguing reading more about Griffin himself in Sterritt&#8217;s overview for TCM, and highly recommend a fascinating 2011 <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/429433283\">documentary about him available for viewing on Vimeo<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A most unusual social experiment brought to life on screen<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Still.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"432\" height=\"320\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-95099\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Still.png 432w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Still-300x222.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Still-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Black-Like-Me-Still-365x270.png 365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a powerful (if perhaps inevitably flawed) independent film about racism. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0057889\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68895\/black-like-me#articles-reviews?articleId=1311635\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4031blac.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1964\/05\/21\/archives\/james-whitmore-stars-in-books-adaptation.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I thought I&#8217;d seen every form of human degradation there was.&#8221; Synopsis: When a White journalist (James Whitmore) takes pills to turn himself temporarily Black, his travels through the South begin to give him an approximation of systemic and individual racism across the American south. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: African-Americans Deep South James Whitmore Films Journalists Mistaken and Hidden Identities Race Relations and Racism Review: I&#8217;ll open my review of this unusual independent film by citing directly from David&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=95069\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95069"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95103,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95069\/revisions\/95103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}