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The Civil Rights And Black Power Movement

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The topic of my paper concerns how particular movies reflected the views and progress of the Civil Rights/Black Power movement of the 60s. The two films that are being examined are Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) and Nothing But A Man (1964). Both films feature African-American characters as more than subservient supporting cast members such as maids, and servants. It reflects America’s progressing social attitudes as a result of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Throughout this paper, I will argue that films like the aforementioned reflect America’s changing social attitudes about race around this time and work to incorporate and expose the African-American experience into the American film industry in a positive manner. In order to further prove my point, I will analyze the presence of African-Americans in film prior to the 1960s, in conjunction with the lack of civil rights at the time. Prior to this era, roles for Black people were extremely limited, and often served as menial and demeaning roles. As the Civil Rights Movement picks up steam, I will examine how the film industry naturally started to adjust its color barriers to accommodate society’s changing attitudes. Nothing But A Man was made in 1964, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, by a white man, but the film seems to have a heightened sensitivity to the injustices in America at that time. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is a highly regarded film made in 1967 that sheds light on a

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