Four recent movies and broadcasts have brought our attention to historical episodes of racism, anti-semitism, authoritarianism, and murder in the first half of the Twentieth Century. These episodes had been largely forgotten as the history of social progress has been celebrated. New attention to past events as presented in the four works is…

The movies can be part of sudden and thorough revelations of attitudes toward current events. The ambiguities of our history can be seen in the swings of public sentimentality. In the movies, these swings are highlighted. Our deepest sentiments can be unexpectedly unstable. What we find in the movies can emphasize these discontinuities. "West…

The disruption of ordinary life by a deadly pandemic, an outrageous display of police violence, and a tumbling economy have left Americans isolated, frozen, and terrified. For many, the television screen has become the only contact with the outside world and the only source of entertainment. In recent years, cable television networks have drawn…

Two current biopic movies, "Harriet" and "The Irishman," present the life stories of real people who have been involved with slavery and organized crime. These images contradict the virtuous image of America that is fundamental to our sense of national identity and patriotism. Could this contradiction lead to oppositional…

Contradictions between precious ideals and social realities are often handled by locating the problems of inequality in a limited setting, so that the rest of social life will not be disturbed. Racial inequality in America, starting with slavery, is concretely expressed in the troubled relations between agencies of social control, like the police,…

Contemporary political and cultural realities make the renegotiating of African American cultural images an urgent matter. A recent movement to improve the position of African Americans in the movie business has produced a new wave of debates. Current movies show a variety of approaches to defining those images. The success of "Green…

Different subgroups in society have diverse motives for remembering or forgetting important events in history. In American history, slavery has had a deep and enduring bad effect on everything that came afterward. There have been attempts to forget or remember this chapter in the national narrative related to the intentions of subcultural groups…