You're a white guy,
she's a black woman. Let's talk about that. Film and TV have long used
the onscreen interracial romance as a way to explore our own
evolving relationships with racism. I don't see color. I see
people for who they are. The exact same
way I see you. If you don't see my blackness,
you don't see me. From I Love Lucy, to Jungle Fever,
to The Big Sick, we’ve progressed from cautious depictions
of interracial romance, to politically charged melodramas
that confront them head on, to more modern tales
where race is seen as just one of love’s
many complexities. I never thought I'd end up with
somebody who wasn't black, you know? Totally. Me and Jamal
are always talking about how we're not each other's types,
but, I don't know, it works! But even as movies and TV
have increasingly normalized the interracial relationship,
it remains a singular, and significant dynamic on screen—and an essential
part of our cultural conversation. Do they know I’m black? No. Should they? Stories about interracial relationships
tend to fall into three general categories. In the first category,
interracial relationships pose a challenge to their
families or communities. One of your own kind,
stick to your own kind. A second category takes
a more “color-blind” approach, reflecting the increasing real-world
acceptance of interracial romance, while ignoring the
prejudices that complicate it. I know you're deflecting by making
jokes about how hot you are. It's not a joke. I'm a legit snack. And third, stories that
find a middle ground— engaging with those prejudices,
while also normalizing the relationship itself—
bring necessary dimension to characters who might otherwise
be reduced to the color of their skin. It's unbelievable that we
live in a city where our ancestors passed through Ellis Island. Mine didn't. Here’s our Take on how
all of these depictions of the interracial relationship
bring something to the table, even if they come from
different points of view. I'm sorry if I can't be your
Nubian prince on my black horse ready to take you
back to fucking Zumunda. That's not a real African country. Can I at least get a little credit for a solid
Coming to America reference? Hi everyone, I’m Susannah. And I’m Debra, and you’re watching The Take. Be sure to share and subscribe. And never miss a take. This video is brought to you
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entire order and free global shipping. 1967 saw the debut of Stanley Kramer’s
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, in which a young white woman,
played by Katharine Houghton, introduces her family
to her black fiancee, played by Sidney Poitier. I hope you wouldn't
think it presumptuous if I say you oughtta sit down
before you fall down. He thinks you’re going to
faint because he’s a negro. Billed as a love story
of today, it truly couldn’t have been more timely:
Interracial marriage remained illegal
in 16 states until just two weeks after the film
finished production. By the time it debuted,
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner wasn’t just about this one,
onscreen family confronting its feelings on
interracial coupling. Would you think that it was
some sort of cowardice if I told you that no matter
how confident you two are, I'm just a little scared? America was finally
confronting them as well. Civil rights is one thing. This here is something else. Kramer’s film was a commercial success
—even in those Southern states where interracial marriage
had so recently been outlawed— and it broke barriers by showcasing
a kiss between Houghton and Poitier. But it was also criticized
for its fairly shallow read on such a complicated topic. You're two wonderful people
who happened to fall in love and happen to have
a pigmentation problem. Much of that criticism
centered on Poitier’s character, Dr. John Prentice, whom the film
makes out to be impossibly perfect. You know this fella you brought home
is a very important man? Are you aware of it? I’m wholly aware of that. As the writer James Baldwin
noted, it held up Poitier as an unattainable standard
for black people to meet, just to be accepted. Black people particularly disliked
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, because they felt Sidney
was being used against them. Joanna, too, is not so much
a fully developed character as a thinly sketched
representation of young love. Mommy it's John Wayne Prentice. Isn't that a lovely name? Failing to flesh out
the lovers as individuals robs the film of complexity—
like Joanna, the film doesn’t look directly at
the issues it’s raising. It’s not just that our color difference
doesn’t matter to her, it’s that she doesn’t seem to think
there is any difference. Notably, the film gives
more thoughtful treatment to the parents, played by
Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. As professed liberals with
supposedly progressive ideals, She said my dad - my dad
is a lifelong fighting liberal who loathes race prejudice
and has spent his whole life fighting against discrimination. they’re forced to confront
their own biases and hypocrisies once these fights are
brought into their own home Things are changing. I have a feeling they're not changing quite as fast anywhere
else than my own backyard. And of course, their fears
are mostly based on what everyone else will think. I happen to believe —
I happen to know they wouldn’t have
a dog’s chance, not in this country, not in
the whole stinking world! The fear of how the world
will respond is a common thread in stories of
interracial relationships. But it’s not us, it’s
everything around us. —particularly those
involving black men, who have long been
subject to racist narratives about the threats
they pose to white women. Birth of a Nation confirmed the story
that many whites wanted to tell about the Civil War and its aftermath. There is a famous scene where
a woman throws herself off a cliff rather than be raped
by a black male criminal. In Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever,
the affair between Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra
inflames an entire community: Her father beats her. His father condemns him. Still got to fish in
the white man’s cesspool, I have nothing but contempt. Total strangers insult them. I can't even believe
you brought her stringy-haired ass
up in here to eat. Eventually, even
the police get involved. Get your hands up! Put’em up I said! The film is dedicated
to Yusuf Hawkins, a black man killed in 1989 over rumors
he was romancing white women, and it seems to argue
that the world will simply never accept the
interracial couple. I give up. It’s not worth it Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
ends on a decidedly more hopeful note, with black and white families
sitting down together at the table —the literal realization of
Martin Luther King Jr.s dream, articulated just
a few years before. Sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slave owners, will be able to sit down
at the table of brotherhood. The film suggests racism is
just a generational problem— that the times are changing,
and that young people are already leading the way. You and your whole
lousy generation believes the way it was for you
is the way it's got to be. And not until your whole generation
has lain down and died will the dead weight
of you be off our backs! But in retrospect, this seems
like so much Hollywood backpatting— the opposite extreme
of Jungle Fever’s pessimism She's white. White, are you
on crack or something? Four months after Guess Who’s
Coming to Dinner was released, Martin Luther King
was assassinated, and the struggle
for racial equality continues to this day. Even Katharine Houghton herself
would later agree with James Baldwin, saying that while the film
may have started conversations, they were largely one-sided. Black friends of mine,
when I’ve said to them, What did you – what is your reaction
to the film? they’ve all said, Well it wasn’t written for black people. It was written for white people. In 2017, Jordan Peele’s Get Out
offered a horror-movie spin on Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner,
with another story of a black man visiting the parents
of his white girlfriend. So how long has this
been going on? This... this thang. Peele’s film questions and subverts
the rosy outlook of Guess Who to expose the myth
of the post-racial society that sprung up
around Barack Obama. By the way, I would have voted
for Obama for a third term if I could. While these white liberals
welcome him to the family, Get Out suggests there’s
an even more insidious racism lurking within these
supposed progressives who fetishize
black people, So, is it true? Is it better? Whoa. appropriate their culture,
Black is in fashion, and through their soothing,
post-racial rhetoric, ultimately want to keep them
in the sunken place. Now you’re in
the sunken place Meeting the family
continues to be a formula that stories periodically revisit
to track society-at-large’s changing views toward
interracial relationships. Did you tell then
that I'm white. You're white? STOP THE CAR! I’m so sorry, it was
a joke sir I was kidding. And while the family formula
often doesn’t provide the most nuanced depiction
of the interracial romance, often reducing the couple
itself to a political symbol, We spend more time
defending our relationship than actually having one. it does offer a useful snapshot
of the progress we’ve made— or our illusions about it. Not every depiction
of an interracial relationship directly addresses race—
nor does it need to. As Russell Boast, President of the
Casting Society of America points out, There's been a kind of
glamorization of diversity, where creators think that having it
means it has to be a plot point. But sometimes that can
have the opposite effect, making it feel not normal. Most interracial couples want to
be treated like any other love story, and to see themselves portrayed
honestly as individuals— without the politics
or the melodrama. When it comes to this
color-blind approach, it’s notable that some of
the more prominent depictions have taken place
in otherworldly settings. When are we gonna
do something about this unspoken thing
between us? In 1968, as America was
engulfed in civil rights struggles, Star Trek made history with
one of TV’s first interracial kisses, between William Shatner’s Captain Kirk
and Nichelle Nichols’ Lieutenant Uhura. I would hear your voice
from all parts of the ship, and my fears would fade. The sci-fi series offered an
aspirational vision of future humanity, one that had left racism behind
and learned to respect and value all life within its vast universe. A species that enslaves
other beings is hardly superior. More recently, The Good Place
earned praise for depicting several interracial relationships
without making a big deal of it. What country am I from again? Is it racist if I say Africa? Yes and Africa is not a country. But it’s no coincidence the show
takes place in the afterlife, where such mortal concerns
as race seem relatively minor. Listen we have like one hour
to create an entirely new afterlife and also um save all of humanity. Still, even here on Earth,
we’ve increasingly seen interracial relationships
depicted as normal, without it becoming
a major plot point. The Office made occasional jokes
about the culture clash between Kelly, an Indian woman,
dating the white Ryan. Kelly Zach Braff (speaks in Hindi)
Ryan: What? Overall, though,
their relationship is defined not by
its racial differences, but by the pair’s
mutual toxicity. She's like an addict, and
I just had to get her clean. And while it may be race that
first brings Kelly and Ravi together, Ravi, our amazing pediatrician,
was asking us if we knew any girls and I said I know the perfect girl. Because Kelly is Indian
and… oh, that’s it. ultimately, as she’s dumping
Ravi for Ryan again, Kelly remains
color-blind — and blind to a lot of
other things as well. You gave your baby an
allergic reaction just to talk to me? The color-blind approach
reflects the fact that younger generations increasingly don’t see
interracial romances as controversial
or even unusual. According to a Pew Research Center
study in 2012, 93 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds
accepted interracial dating, an attitude that’s been reinforced
repeatedly on screen by couples for whom race may
be a consideration, but it’s rarely a conflict—
if it’s even mentioned at all. Crucially, today these color-blind
interracial couples are increasingly at the center of their story:
Friends may have countered criticisms over its lack of diversity
by casting Aisha Tyler to play Ross’s girlfriend,
but everyone knew she was only a temporary fling before
he inevitably went back to Rachel. Ok that’s it we are
seeing other people! There are drawbacks
to this approach: Whereas stories about
interracial romances that challenge their communities often
reduce them to just their politics, You know what? Derek and I
like each other and if you have a problem
with that, then screw you. the color-blind narratives
ignore those politics completely. I need you to know that I like you,
Peter Kavinsky. And not in a fake way. Still, while failing to engage
directly in racial conversations might seem like reluctance,
these depictions fulfill the equally important
goal of representation. They allow interracial couples to
be themselves, rather than a symbol. Being color-blind on screen
matters in a world that isn’t, offering us a vision
of how it should be. Don’t you understand
that for the first time we are seen as
we should be seen? We’re talking about the cat? The only couples Ferguson knows are interracial and while
Winston views this as progress, he knows it’s not an accurate
portrayal of the world. We don’t live in
a color-blind world, but neither do we live
in a political melodrama. So the most modern,
more realistic approach to the interracial relationship
seeks a middle ground— one that doesn’t present race
as its defining characteristic, but doesn’t shy
away from it either. We are together. That's all that matters. Really? Because I'm feeling
a little, I don't know, Sally Hemings Thomas Jefferson
about all this. The couple in The Big Sick
have plenty of obstacles to surmount— not least a life-threatening illness—
but race is certainly among them. I’m fighting a 1,400 year old culture,
you were ugly in high school. There’s a big f***ing difference. In a more complex reversal of
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Emily’s white parents are comfortable
with Kumail being Pakistani. I said he should
go back to ISIS. Why did you say that? What about him makes you say that? It’s Kumail’s family
who can’t accept him dating a girl who
isn’t from their culture. There is only one thing that
we have ever asked for you, Kumi that you be a good Muslim
and marry a pakistani girl. But even though Kumail’s mother
actually disowns him at one point, this conflict is only
one part of a complex story— what matters most is how
these two young people work through their relationship,
not how others feel about it. What are you doing in New York? Here to see someone. We’re no longer just telling
simple morality plays about white families
who learn to tolerate their daughter’s
black fiancee— or offering color-blind utopias
that pretend race doesn’t exist. These more modern depictions
are open about our differences, without being consumed by them. And you’re Jewish. Which is cool. And I’m black too. And gay. They’ve even begun to represent
interracial relationships where neither person
is white or straight, offering a fuller, more complex
picture of the many different kinds of cultural divides that
have to be crossed in order for two people
to be together. Y'all only consider yourselves
people of color when it benefits you. That's not true,
I don't think like that. You're different. Different how? Most importantly,
they put their focus on depicting characters
as multi-faceted individuals. You like to watch me
when you think I'm sleeping and trace the
outlines of my face. The 2016 drama Loving
portrays the real-life story of Richard and Mildred Loving,
whose Supreme Court case led to the legalization of
interracial marriage, in the same year that
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was released. What are you doing
in bed with that woman? I’m his wife. That’s no good here. Yet despite the story’s
obvious historical significance, the film makes a more
powerful statement by portraying the Lovings
as a thoroughly ordinary couple, lingering on their moments of domestic
routine and unforced intimacy. Unusually in this kind of story,
their community is even depicted as largely supportive. As writer-director Jeff Nichols
told The New York Times, he wanted to highlight how
“segregation wasn’t a clean divide in these communities.” We're not gonna let you
spend more than one minute longer in jail than it takes
for us to get you out. Even today, our feelings about race
aren’t a clean divide, either. Shows about a protagonist
of color that primarily feature white love interests have
sometimes been criticized for not focusing on people of color
as viable partners, while holding up the love of a white person
as the ultimate prize. This is an important concern
in a world where data from dating apps suggests
that many people are already biased
towards white partners. I did read somewhere that
the people that do worst on the apps are Asian men and black women. Well, it's great white people finally
have an advantage somewhere. The interracial relationship story
is a way of looking at the broader social conflicts
of racism through the private lens of an intimate,
personally affecting story. I know you’re colored. And I think you're beautiful! Beautiful? Most people
would say the opposite. Well that's because
they don't know you. It’s a story that asks us
to question our histories and our unexamined privileges,
and look at the inherent power dynamics that are always
at play, even in our romances The Sally Hemings Thomas Jefferson
comment was below the belt. Because it's so untrue? —even in those moments
when it seems like we’re the only two
people in the world. Black tax? Yeah you have to work twice as hard just
to prove yourself equal. Okay then I'll work
Saturday too. And although we are still reimagining
and perfecting its portrayal, the interracial relationship
gives us all something to hope for: that moment when our past
joins hands at last with a more loving future. So when are we
gonna meet him? She's not afraid of the truth. Why are you? You're a white guy,
she's a black woman. Let's talk about that. Film and TV have long used
the onscreen interracial romance as a way to explore our own
evolving relationships with racism. I don't see color. I see
people for who they are. The exact same
way I see you. If you don't see my blackness,
you don't see me. From I Love Lucy, to Jungle Fever,
to The Big Sick, we’ve progressed from cautious depictions
of interracial romance, to politically charged melodramas
that confront them head on, to more modern tales
where race is seen as just one of love’s
many complexities. I never thought I'd end up with
somebody who wasn't black, you know? Totally. Me and Jamal
are always talking about how we're not each other's types,
but, I don't know, it works! But even as movies and TV
have increasingly normalized the interracial relationship,
it remains a singular, and significant dynamic on screen—and an essential
part of our cultural conversation. Do they know I’m black? No. Should they? Stories about interracial relationships
tend to fall into three general categories. In the first category,
interracial relationships pose a challenge to their
families or communities. One of your own kind,
stick to your own kind. A second category takes
a more “color-blind” approach, reflecting the increasing real-world
acceptance of interracial romance, while ignoring the
prejudices that complicate it. I know you're deflecting by making
jokes about how hot you are. It's not a joke. I'm a legit snack. And third, stories that
find a middle ground— engaging with those prejudices,
while also normalizing the relationship itself—
bring necessary dimension to characters who might otherwise
be reduced to the color of their skin. It's unbelievable that we
live in a city where our ancestors passed through Ellis Island. Mine didn't. Here’s our Take on how
all of these depictions of the interracial relationship
bring something to the table, even if they come from
different points of view. I'm sorry if I can't be your
Nubian prince on my black horse ready to take you
back to fucking Zumunda. That's not a real African country. Can I at least get a little credit for a solid
Coming to America reference? 1967 saw the debut of Stanley Kramer’s
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, in which a young white woman,
played by Katharine Houghton, introduces her family
to her black fiancee, played by Sidney Poitier. I hope you wouldn't
think it presumptuous if I say you oughtta sit down
before you fall down. He thinks you’re going to
faint because he’s a negro. Billed as a love story
of today, it truly couldn’t have been more timely:
Interracial marriage remained illegal
in 16 states until just two weeks after the film
finished production. By the time it debuted,
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner wasn’t just about this one,
onscreen family confronting its feelings on interracial coupling. Would you think that it was
some sort of cowardice if I told you that no matter
how confident you two are, I'm just a little scared? America was finally
confronting them as well. Civil rights is one thing. This here is something else. Kramer’s film was a commercial success
—even in those Southern states where interracial marriage
had so recently been outlawed— and it broke barriers by showcasing
a kiss between Houghton and Poitier. But it was also criticized
for its fairly shallow read on such a complicated topic. You're two wonderful people
who happened to fall in love and happen to have
a pigmentation problem. Much of that criticism
centered on Poitier’s character, Dr. John Prentice, whom the film
makes out to be impossibly perfect. You know this fella you brought home
is a very important man? Are you aware of it? I’m wholly aware of that. As the writer James Baldwin
noted, it held up Poitier as an unattainable standard
for black people to meet, just to be accepted. Black people particularly disliked
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, because they felt Sidney
was being used against them. Joanna, too, is not so much
a fully developed character as a thinly sketched
representation of young love. Mommy it's John Wayne Prentice. Isn't that a lovely name? Failing to flesh out
the lovers as individuals robs the film of complexity—
like Joanna, the film doesn’t look directly at
the issues it’s raising. It’s not just that our color difference
doesn’t matter to her, it’s that she doesn’t seem to think
there is any difference. Notably, the film gives
more thoughtful treatment to the parents, played by
Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. As professed liberals with
supposedly progressive ideals, She said my dad - my dad
is a lifelong fighting liberal who loathes race prejudice
and has spent his whole life fighting against discrimination. they’re forced to confront
their own biases and hypocrisies once these fights are
brought into their own home Things are changing. I have a feeling they're not changing quite as fast anywhere
else than my own backyard. And of course, their fears
are mostly based on what everyone else will think. I happen to believe —
I happen to know they wouldn’t have
a dog’s chance, not in this country, not in
the whole stinking world! The fear of how the world
will respond is a common thread in stories of
interracial relationships. But it’s not us, it’s
everything around us. —particularly those
involving black men, who have long been
subject to racist narratives about the threats
they pose to white women. Birth of a Nation confirmed the story
that many whites wanted to tell about the Civil War and its aftermath. There is a famous scene where
a woman throws herself off a cliff rather than be raped
by a black male criminal. In Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever,
the affair between Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra
inflames an entire community: Her father beats her. His father condemns him. Still got to fish in
the white man’s cesspool, I have nothing but contempt. Total strangers insult them. I can't even believe
you brought her stringy-haired ass
up in here to eat. Eventually, even
the police get involved. Get your hands up! Put’em up I said! The film is dedicated
to Yusuf Hawkins, a black man killed in 1989 over rumors
he was romancing white women, and it seems to argue
that the world will simply never accept the
interracial couple. I give up. It’s not worth it Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
ends on a decidedly more hopeful note, with black and white families
sitting down together at the table —the literal realization of
Martin Luther King Jr.s dream, articulated just
a few years before. Sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slave owners, will be able to sit down
at the table of brotherhood. The film suggests racism is
just a generational problem— that the times are changing,
and that young people are already leading the way. You and your whole
lousy generation believes the way it was for you
is the way it's got to be. And not until your whole generation
has lain down and died will the dead weight
of you be off our backs! But in retrospect, this seems
like so much Hollywood backpatting— the opposite extreme
of Jungle Fever’s pessimism She's white. White, are you
on crack or something? Four months after Guess Who’s
Coming to Dinner was released, Martin Luther King
was assassinated, and the struggle
for racial equality continues to this day. Even Katharine Houghton herself
would later agree with James Baldwin, saying that while the film
may have started conversations, they were largely one-sided. Black friends of mine,
when I’ve said to them, What is your reaction to
the film? they’ve all said, Well it wasn’t written for black people. It was written for white people. In 2017, Jordan Peele’s Get Out
offered a horror-movie spin on Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner,
with another story of a black man visiting the parents
of his white girlfriend. So how long has this
been going on? This... this thang. Peele’s film questions and subverts
the rosy outlook of Guess Who to expose the myth
of the post-racial society that sprung up
around Barack Obama. By the way, I would have voted
for Obama for a third term if I could. While these white liberals
welcome him to the family, Get Out suggests there’s
an even more insidious racism lurking within these
supposed progressives who fetishize
black people. So, is it true? Is it better? Whoa. appropriate their culture,
Black is in fashion, and through their soothing,
post-racial rhetoric, ultimately want to keep them
in the sunken place. Now you’re in
the sunken place Meeting the family
continues to be a formula that stories periodically revisit
to track society-at-large’s changing views toward
interracial relationships. Did you tell them? Tell them what? That I'm white. You're white? STOP THE CAR! It was a joke I'm kidding And while the family formula
often doesn’t provide the most nuanced depiction
of the interracial romance, often reducing the couple
itself to a political symbol, We spend more time
defending our relationship than actually having one. it does offer a useful snapshot
of the progress we’ve made— or our illusions about it. Not every depiction
of an interracial relationship directly addresses race—
nor does it need to. As Russell Boast, President of the
Casting Society of America points out, There's been a kind of
glamorization of diversity, where creators think that having it
means it has to be a plot point. But sometimes that can
have the opposite effect, making it feel not normal. Most interracial couples want to
be treated like any other love story, and to see themselves portrayed
honestly as individuals— without the politics
or the melodrama. When it comes to this
color-blind approach, it’s notable that some of
the more prominent depictions have taken place
in otherworldly settings. When are we gonna
do something about this unspoken thing
between us? In 1968, as America was
engulfed in civil rights struggles, Star Trek made history with
one of TV’s first interracial kisses, between William Shatner’s Captain Kirk
and Nichelle Nichols’ Lieutenant Uhura. I would hear your voice
from all parts of the ship, and my fears would fade. The sci-fi series offered an
aspirational vision of future humanity, one that had left racism behind
and learned to respect and value all life within its vast universe. A species that enslaves
other beings is hardly superior. More recently, The Good Place
earned praise for depicting several interracial relationships
without making a big deal of it. What country am I from again? Is it racist if I say Africa? Yes and Africa is not a country. But it’s no coincidence the show
takes place in the afterlife, where such mortal concerns
as race seem relatively minor. Listen we have like one hour
to create an entirely new afterlife and also um save all of humanity. Still, even here on Earth,
we’ve increasingly seen interracial relationships
depicted as normal, without it becoming
a major plot point. The Office made occasional jokes
about the culture clash between Kelly, an Indian woman,
dating the white Ryan. Kelly Zach Braff (speaks in Hindi)
Ryan: What? Overall, though,
their relationship is defined not by
its racial differences, but by the pair’s
mutual toxicity. She's like an addict, and
I just had to get her clean. And while it may be race that
first brings Kelly and Ravi together, Ravi, our amazing pediatrician,
was asking us if we knew any girls and I said I know the perfect girl. Because Kelly is Indian
and… oh, that’s it. ultimately, as she’s dumping
Ravi for Ryan again, Kelly remains
color-blind — and blind to a lot of
other things as well. You gave your baby an
allergic reaction just to talk to me? The color-blind approach
reflects the fact that younger generations increasingly don’t see
interracial romances as controversial
or even unusual. According to a Pew Research Center
study in 2012, 93 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds
accepted interracial dating, an attitude that’s been reinforced
repeatedly on screen by couples for whom race may
be a consideration, but it’s rarely a conflict—
if it’s even mentioned at all. Crucially, today these color-blind
interracial couples are increasingly at the center of their story:
Friends may have countered criticisms over its lack of diversity
by casting Aisha Tyler to play Ross’s girlfriend,
but everyone knew she was only a temporary fling before
he inevitably went back to Rachel. There are drawbacks
to this approach: Whereas stories about
interracial romances that challenge their communities often
reduce them to just their politics, You know what? Derek and I
like each other and if you have a problem
with that, then screw you. the color-blind narratives
ignore those politics completely. I need you to know that I like you,
Peter Kavinsky. And not in a fake way. Still, while failing to engage
directly in racial conversations might seem like reluctance,
these depictions fulfill the equally important
goal of representation. They allow interracial couples to
be themselves, rather than a symbol. Being color-blind on screen
matters in a world that isn’t, offering us a vision
of how it should be. Don’t you understand
that for the first time we are seen as
we should be seen? We’re talking about the cat? The only couples Ferguson knows are interracial and while
Winston views this as progress, he knows it’s not an accurate
portrayal of the world. We don’t live in
a color-blind world, but neither do we live
in a political melodrama. So the most modern,
more realistic approach to the interracial relationship
seeks a middle ground— one that doesn’t present race
as its defining characteristic, but doesn’t shy
away from it either. We are together. That's all that matters. Really? Because I'm feeling
a little, I don't know, Sally Hemings Thomas Jefferson
about all this. The couple in The Big Sick
have plenty of obstacles to surmount— not least a life-threatening illness—
but race is certainly among them. I’m fighting a 1,400 year old culture,
you were ugly in high school. There’s a big fucking difference. In a more complex reversal of
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Emily’s white parents are comfortable
with Kumail being Pakistani. I said you should
go back to ISIS? Why did you say that? What about him makes you say that? It’s Kumail’s family
who can’t accept him dating a girl who
isn’t from their culture. There is only one thing that
we have ever asked for you, Kumi that you be a good Muslim
and marry a pakistani girl. But even though Kumail’s mother
actually disowns him at one point, this conflict is only
one part of a complex story— what matters most is how
these two young people work through their relationship,
not how others feel about it. What are you doing in New York? Here to see someone. We’re no longer just telling
simple morality plays about white families
who learn to tolerate their daughter’s
black fiancee— or offering color-blind utopias
that pretend race doesn’t exist. These more modern depictions
are open about our differences, without being consumed by them. And you’re Jewish. Which is cool. And I’m black too. And gay. They’ve even begun to represent
interracial relationships where neither person
is white or straight, offering a fuller, more complex
picture of the many different kinds of cultural divides that
have to be crossed in order for two people
to be together. Y'all only consider yourselves
people of color when it benefits you. That's not true,
I don't think like that. You're different. Different how? Most importantly,
they put their focus on depicting characters
as multi-faceted individuals. You like to watch me
when you think I'm sleeping and trace the
outlines of my face. The 2016 drama Loving
portrays the real-life story of Richard and Mildred Loving,
whose Supreme Court case led to the legalization of
interracial marriage, in the same year that
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was released. What are you doing
in bed with that woman? I’m his wife. That’s no good here. Yet despite the story’s
obvious historical significance, the film makes a more
powerful statement by portraying the Lovings
as a thoroughly ordinary couple, lingering on their moments of domestic
routine and unforced intimacy. Unusually in this kind of story,
their community is even depicted as largely supportive. As writer-director Jeff Nichols
told The New York Times, he wanted to highlight how
“segregation wasn’t a clean divide in these communities.” We're not gonna let you
spend more than one minute longer in jail than it takes
for us to get you out. Even today, our feelings about race
aren’t a clean divide, either. Shows about a protagonist
of color that primarily feature white love interests have
sometimes been criticized for not focusing on people of color
as viable partners, while holding up the love of a white person
as the ultimate prize. This is an important concern
in a world where data from dating apps suggests
that many people are already biased
towards white partners. I did read somewhere that
the people that do worst on the apps are Asian men and black women. Well, it's great white people finally
have an advantage somewhere. The interracial relationship story
is a way of looking at the broader social conflicts
of racism through the private lens of an intimate,
personally affecting story. I know you’re colored. And I think you're beautiful! Beautiful? Most people
would say the opposite. Well that's because
they don't know you. It’s a story that asks us
to question our histories and our unexamined privileges,
and look at the inherent power dynamics that are always
at play, even in our romances The Sally Hemings Thomas Jefferson
comment was below the belt. Because it's so untrue? —even in those moments
when it seems like we’re the only two
people in the world. Black tax? Yeah you have to work twice as hard just
to prove yourself equal. Okay then I'll work
Saturday too. And although we are still reimagining
and perfecting its portrayal, the interracial relationship
gives us all something to hope for: that moment when our past
joins hands at last with a more loving future. So when are we
gonna meet him? She's not afraid of the truth. Why are you? This is the Take. What do you want
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Been a fan of The Take all the way since their “Screen Prism” days! There are so many media artifacts with a POC and white person being an interracial relationship that it becomes the normative view of what an interracial relationship is— we need way more content that centers interracial relationships intra-various POC communities.