Very rarely do poems, songs, or movies, etc. make, impact, change, or influence history (or even have any significant cultural impact)...but, every once in awhile they do. I considered many movies for my potential "Top 5" (all movies you should watch sometime!) like...
Bowling for Columbine...Fahrenheit 9/11...Inconvenient Truth...2001: Space Odyssey...Slacker...The Wizard of Oz...Citizen Kane...JFK...The Godfather...Boyz' in the Hood...Supersize Me...Do The Right Thing...The Fog of War...
and decided on these...Here is my list of the Top 5 movies that I feel have truly "impacted" American History!
The Thin Blue Line Trailer (2:39)
5. The Thin Blue Line (1988) successfully argued that a man (Randall Dale Adams) was wrongly convicted of murdering a Dallas police officer by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas. The film illustrated that most of the eyewitness testimony was unreliable and that many other witnesses in the trial blatantly committed perjury. As a result of the film, Adams was given a retrial and found innocent of the murder charge. The film significantly influenced issues regarding police intimidation and the "rush to judgment", the injustices of the justice system, the death penalty, and on crime scene investigation procedure.
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner Trailer (2:37)
4. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967) portrays a (then rare) positive representation (but overly simplified and somewhat racist view) of the controversial subject of interracial marriage. At the time, interracial marriage was still illegal in 17 states and the Supreme Court was about to strike down all anti-miscegenation laws in the famous Loving v. Virginia case. For all of this films flaws and it's inaccurate portrayal of the black experience in America...it is still a historically significant film that helped start discussions on race, social issues, and equality.
Philadelphia Trailer (3:02)
Raisin In The Sun Trailer (2:48)
2. A Raisin In The Sun (1961) is a based on a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title originates from the poem "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes. The story is based upon a black family's experiences in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. The movie explores issues like racial discrimination, job discrimination, gender inequities, institutional racism, the perils of integration, real estate redlining, and the importance of family. It also considers a very difficult question..."should one fight or ignore discrimination". The movie also successfully predicts historical events a full decade before they occurred like...the "Black is Beautiful" Movement, the Feminist Movement, and an embracing of African Heritage/ Black Pride over the so-called American Dream.
Birth Of A Nation Clip
1. Birth Of A Nation (1915) is by the far the film that has had the greatest (albeit evil, racist, and offensive) impact on American History. This 3 hour long silent movie used deep seated fear, hatred, paranoia, stereotypes, etc. of African-Americans and seared them into the minds of white America in order to create "Civil War and Reconstruction Era Amnesia"...it helped "heal" sectional animosity and bring about national white reunion...aka White Power and the rise of the KKK. The remnants of the terrible stereotypes of African-Americans portrayed in the movie (lazy, unintelligent, devious, violent, etc.) are still haunting the minds of many Americans today.
Simply put...White America decided to "forgive and forget" about the true meaning of the Civil War and "remember" how each side fought for "A Noble Cause"...in order to fight the common enemy of African- American equality, political power, intermarriage, economic competition, etc. Isn't this why we allow the Rebel Flag and statues of traitors to grace our land....would this (Nazi Flag & statues of Hitler, Rommel, etc.) happen in Germany?!?
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