Black Like Me

Rating:
Summary: What a person will do for a job!
Review: Disturbing and searing story starring James Whitmore as a dedicated reporter going undercover as a "black" man . . . this isn't a joke--it's based on a real story. Reporter Whitman undergoes a regimen consisting of a combination of sunlamp treatments and melanin pills to make his skin black. Although pretty convincing with his newly acquired darkness, I found his sharply contrasting blue-blue eyes (obvious even in B&W) to be quite a hoot which shoulda been a dead givaway. Nevertheless, the important thing is Whitmore "passes" and gets an unsavory taste of being black in the segregated south. Though he finds immediate kinship and camraderie with other black men who naturally think he's a "brother," it doesn't offer much comfort in the face of abundant racism and hostility. The few blacks who know about him think he's nuts to willingly undergo such an ordeal and also contemptuous because he can't really know how they live since he can "change" anytime he wants to, whereas they can't. The test of Whitmore's inner strength comes in the way of whites he encounters--mostly they are outwardly loathing of him. However, the truly insidious ones are those whose seeming tolerance masks bigotry--in one case Whitmore hitches a ride from an old man who appears okay, then starts questioning him incessently about sex and black men's desire for white women, after which Whitmore gets roughly thrown out of the car and name-called when he refuses to get into the conversation! In another case he gets acquainted with a college student who seems alright, but when they get to his hotel room--like the man before him--only wants to talk about sex in regard to black as opposed to white men! Whitmore's physical and emotional abuse at the hands of hatred, bigotry, and sexual stereotyping transforms him into a calm reporter knowingly yet naively going on assignment, to a seethingly angry and emotionally disillusioned man trying to cope with prejuduce and insulting stereotypes of blacks as an insensitive, sex-crazed race. Although somewhat moralistic, this is an excellent unsettling and thought-provoking film. As Whitman says during one of the sex-interrogation scenes, "You think you can say anything to me just because I'm black!"--his metamorphosis from a man pretending he's black to one who truly becomes black inside is utterly riveting.

Rating:
Summary: Dated But Still Packs a Punch
Review: For those of us of a certain generation, this was a seminal movie. It brought race relations to the fore in a way which Time Magazine articles or even newsreel footage of Civil Rights marchers being sprayed down by power hoses didn't.

The impact came, for me at least, from James Whitmore's understated, slow-burn performance. Nothing that dramatic happens to him in this movie. He's just shunted off incrementally, in one place or another, for no other reason than that he's passing himself off for black. It's really a Spencer Tracy acting turn, in a way. His transformation from weakling to adjudicator is akin to Tracy's in BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK.

The Bad guys are pretty much set up in a row. We also know who the good guy is. Hate to use the analogy, but things are presented in very black and white terms here. We know who the heroes and villains are. But the drama is in how it plays out. Whitmore learns lesson after painful lesson. The upshot is that his story and the film itself acts as a powerful exposé of the segregrationalist policies of the era. It made it a lot harder for the South to justify it's arcane drinking fountain, swimming pool, cafe-seating, bus-seating policies, in other words. One of the really important movies of the era, in other words, and one that should still be receiving kudos!
BEK

Rating:
Summary: "Black like Me" surrealistic and disturbing
Review: I developed a very wierd feeling while I was watching this video. James Whitmore gives a tour de force performance in a movie that is very raw and atmospheric; a film that undoubtedly caused a stir when it was produced. This film is a must see.

Rating:
Summary: Great Perception
Review: I first read this book when I was still a teenager, and got to see the movie years later on those classic movie channels during Black History Month, and it is and was as thought provoking now as it was then. I don't know how this man wanted to do what some deem unthinkable, but he did, and he has my admiration. In the movie after revealing his true heritage, the man of the house wanted to know why would he do such a thing, while the younger man was real critical of him, and to top that, they were wondering why he would take advantage of his hospitality like that. Like a reverse racism thing if you would. But, I think that they were just bewildered by the whole thing. Please check out the book, and the movie if you can. They play it on Turner Classic Movies esp. during Black History Month.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Movie
Review: I loved this Movie ! Liked the idea of this dude painting himself Black and going thru the deep south as a colored. James Whitmore was fantastic in the part. I am now in to watching the old Amos and Andy TV programs (over 50 yrs old now and still great). Colored people have come a long way !

Rating:
Summary: Great Perception
Review: The movie was a great hit and especially the book because it was captivating my every movement. It taught me a lesson to be more aware of other cultures and it showed growth from a man different perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Role Reversal
Review: This is the most powerful film with regards to the race problem in the Unites States that I have ever seen. A white man, doing research in sociology, turns himself black with the use of certain drugs, which allows him a glimpse into how "the other half" lived. Our protagonist gets a full dose of what it was like to be a black man in the middle years of the twentieth century. the attitudes of blacks as well as whites are examined throughout the film, and are quite ineteresting. (It's also a bit interesting to see "Grandpa Walton" playing a racist bigot!) A very important film that I would recommend to anyone, although it is not easy to watch. Anyone who gets through this film may very well have a darker opinion of humanity when it is over.