MovieChat Forums > The Lost Weekend Discussion > Blatant Racism?

Blatant Racism?

posted 14 years ago by lschwartz106
32 replies | jump to latest

As good a film as this is, every time I view it there appears to be racist overtones. Whether or not it is intentional I'm not sure. But here are my examples:

1. The Washroom scene when Don is patroziing to the attendant, whose demeanor and bevavior rivals the stereotype of Steppin' Fetchett. "Would you shine my shoes?" I'm not saying that there weren't black bathroom atttendants when this film was released, but did he have to be portrayed in such a demeaning way?

2. When Birnum wakes up in the alcoholic ward of the hospital, the first shot we see is a black man incoherently mumbling to himself who looks like he's in the throes of some type of paranoid dimentia.

Any thoughts?

[–] mpae 13 years ago

Its not racism. The topic creator is a moron.

[–] cmashieldscapting 13 years ago

Oh, please. Washroom attendants in the '40s were often black and there were set codes of behavior as to how they and patrons acted. The drunk ward showed that people of all races and backgrounds were together. One guy was pointed out as a successful businessman or something. The violent man they hauled out was white. There is no racism in this picture.

[–] ovpower 13 years ago

Yes, of course there is racism in this film, but remember this was in 1945 and this certainly wasn't out of the norm. If you watch TCM you'll likely see a movie with a minstrel show every day. I know it sounds ugly, but that's the way it was back then and by looking at this board, things haven't changed a great deal.

[–] tthomaslew76-234-269609 9 years ago

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who noticed that the people on this thread haven't changed a great deal from their ancestors.

[–] agera 12 years ago

"The Washroom scene when Don is patroziing to the attendant, whose demeanor and bevavior rivals the stereotype of Steppin' Fetchett. 'Would you shine my shoes?' I'm not saying that there weren't black bathroom atttendants when this film was released, but did he have to be portrayed in such a demeaning way?"

Huh? IIRC, Don only steps into the washroom so he can look for money in the purse he stole from some woman because he needs money for booze. The black washroom attendant is sober (at least on the job) and doing an honest job for an honest day's pay (even if the pay isn't much). It's the attendant who seems dignified to me and Don who seems demeaned by his own lowlife behavior. The black man is a functioning member of society, Don is a parasite dependent on friends and family to support him and his addiction.

"When Birnum wakes up in the alcoholic ward of the hospital, the first shot we see is a black man incoherently mumbling to himself who looks like he's in the throes of some type of paranoid dimentia."

Right because black people are fully human and have the same capacity for dignity (see above) and for dysfunction that white people have.

You need a hobby--I mean, a different hobby.

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[–] danzeisen 12 years ago

Yeah, I think you are being over sensitive.
1. Yeah, the black man was a restroom attendant, and Don asked him to wipe his shoes. Not out of the ordinary, nor racist.
2. If you have ever seen al alcoholic going through withdrawal you would know that mumbling to oneself can happen, it knows no racial boundries.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Blatant trolling? Or a poster in the throes of a PC-induced "paranoid dimentia"?

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] Charlot47 11 years ago

Isn’t the film seriously disrespectful about Jews? All they seem to do in New York is run pawnshops (no doctors, no lawyers, no nuclear physicists!). And they can’t even be bothered to open them on an ordinary working day, with customers waiting, because it’s their Yom Kippur. How, in 1945 of all years, could the director have allowed such slurs?

[–] dmdiamond 9 years ago

Funny....As a lover of older films who considers them to be a window into the creative souls of past generations I have a different viewpoint on the pawnbrokers...First I found it curious about the images of the three spheres suspended in front of the pawnbroker shops (which is a symbol of the Medici family where pawnbrokers originated)...The fact was that in the upper east side of new york on third avenue there were alot of jewish pawnbrokers...and the scene depicting them was necessary to the narrative of the story....I dont see the offensive nature of anything in the film....

Not even about the black bathroom attendant....Simply doing his job back in 1945???

Last time I checked the movie is about Alcohol Addiction and not minor non PC images in film....And BTW this film is still as powerful as it gets for alcohol addiction...

I think some people need to check their brains in for an overhaul.

[–] Druff 9 years ago

Bottom line: It was 1945 and attitudes were different back then. There's no point furrowing your brow about it now.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] snelling 9 years ago

The OP is a jerk, just trying to stir up trouble. Good points made otherwise.

"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley