Description

Paper Expectations: Write, minimally, TWO full pages.
Due Date: Monday, November 18, 2019 in the online dropbox before class.
Font: Use Times New Roman, with 1 inch margins, and font no bigger than “12.” Be sure to
double space. Cite the film and outside material using footnotes.

HISTORICAL/SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE:
A REMARKABLY apt and dramatic visualization of a social idea—the idea of men of different
races brought together to face misfortune in a bond of brotherhood — is achieved by Producer
Stanley Kramer in his new film, "The Defiant Ones."

–NY Times

GUIDED QUESTIONS FOR VIEWING AND WRITING :
1. What do you think the ending signified about racism? That things would get better?
That things could get better? That things would remain the same?
2. Comment on the portrayal of white characters in the movie. Were they portrayed
sympathetically?
3. Do the filmmakers go out of their way to portray Cullen in a positive light? Why do you
think they make the decisions that they do?
4. Consult reviews of the film. Do you agree? Disagree? Why?
5. The movie was released in 1958 to wide acclaim and Academy Awards—has the film’s
politics aged well? Is the message it is trying to convey still applicable 60 years later?

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