Grey's my favorite color.....

When the distinction between black and white becomes hazy and all becomes gray….. The 1967 film, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", featuring Katherine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier, tells the story of a young couple living in a time of racial prejudice of interracial marriages. As a social commentary on the current controversy involving interracial marriages, the movie attempts to shed an optimistic light and inform the general public of the controversy.

Joanna Drayton, played by Katherine Hepburn, falls in love with Dr. John Wade Prentice, played by Sideney Poiter. As the two venture further into their socially forbidden love, Joanna takes John home to her hometown to present him to her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Drayton, known to be open-minded, non-prejudice individuals are nothing but shocked beyond belief as they abruptly discover the future intentions of their daughter and John.

While some may pass the movie by as just another drama, upon viewing it in its entirety, it is clear that it is a distinct commentary being made on the current societal viewpoints. The movie presents John as an intelligent and logical character who recognizes the problems that his relationship with Joanna poses. Simultaneously enveloped in his love for Joanna, he cautiously prevents himself from fully setting his hopes on their future. Because John is a respectable man he approaches Joanna’s parents and informs them that he will not pursue her if they do not give them their blessing. His timid attitude reflects a parallel with many people in society. Interracial marriages were looked down upon and many couples were badgered by their own race because of it. Tillie, the Drayton family’s cook, scolded John for his relationship with Joanna. She saw it from the viewpoint of many African Americans of that time. That African American people who became involved with the White individuals were in over their heads and taking advantage of those socially above them. As Tillie stated in the movie, “civil rights is one thing…this is something else”.

Similarly, the movie portrays Joanna’s character as having excessive traits of stubbornness and naivety. She acts as a parallel in characteristics of many other individuals of society in that time. While that part of society may not have been excessively naïve as the movie presents Joanna to be, because interracial marriages was a new and a controversial concept at the time, many people of both races, like Joanna, found it much easier to be blind to the obstacles a relationship as theirs would present. Joanna behaves as if she is living in a world where there is no black or white. As her parents raised her to be, she sees the world as neutral grey where skin color does not make one superior to the other. Consistently, despite the apparent disapproval and snarls thrown at them by the many who encounter them, she stubbornly fails to see any reason why their relationship is a problem.

The movie also presents a viewpoint through Mr. and Mrs. Drayton. Mrs. Drayton stated in the movie, that they raised and always told Joanna to never look down on the blacks…but they never told her not to fall in love with one. Interracial marriage for some was a slow and difficult process of understanding and acceptance. For Mr. and Mrs. Drayton, it was a struggle and learning experience that many people in society were slowly accustoming themselves to at the time. This movie successfully applied itself to all the major sides and standpoints over the controversial interracial marriages. The several viewpoints that the movie included provided for the viewer to question what standpoint they hold with the topic. It effectively allowed the viewer to identify them self with a character(s) in the movie and “place themselves in their shoes”. “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” causes viewers to think. It pushes them to dive in deeper past the cinematic features of the movie and fully engage themselves in the situations. By doing so, a further comprehension of the real message and each viewpoint within the movie could be entirely understood or at least recognized.