Since the end public segregation of African Americans and Caucasians ethnicities learned to tolerate one another throughout their daily lives. In today society the media portrays Caucasians and African Americans get along quite well, when in reality it’s not all peaches and cream between the two. Benjamin Demott wrote an article “Put on a happy face” expressing his disturbance about Hollywood’s artificial friendship between Caucasians and African Americans. Demott uses TV commercials, movies and politics to explain the phony relationship between the two ethnicities. This article effects everybody because Demott uses media material that majority of the world population has seen or heard. In Demott’s essay it points out that society has a dream: “A place where whites aren’t afraid of blacks and where blacks are for and need nothing from whites” (Demott pg 590).This is the dream that the media tries to portray in its stories.
Demott use the movies “Die with a Vengeance” and “White man can’t jump” as specific examples of how the relationships between the two ethnicities is faked. The movie “Die with A Vengeance” is about a white man played by Bruce Willis wears a sign “I hate Niggers” in Harlem and a black man played by Samuel Jackson comes to his rescue before he gets kills by young black youths. Throughout the rest of the movie they become real close and toward the end of the movie they each volunteer to die for each other. Then next movie “White men can’t jump” is about a white man played by Woody Harrelson befriend a black man played by Wesley Snipes during games of basketball. The movie ends off Woody asking Wesley Snipes for a job at the place Wesley works for. Those two movies are similar to the dream that society wants. Demott then goes on into statics of the comparison between blacks and whites lifestyles. Demott put the stats in the essay to show the reality of African American lifestyle compare to Caucasians. Demott’s argument still lives out here today, on screen black white friendships are fake. Looking at sport newscast you see a black and white commentator seated next to each other, they chat and discuss about the games. As they are talking you see on TV that they are getting along which is expected from them, but sometimes after the cameras go off they may no longer speak each other the way they do on television. Maybe because they don’t know each other to well or simply they just don’t like each other. It’s not that blacks and whites hate each other, it’s just their relationship isn’t as perfect as it appears to be on TV and in magazines. The media is known for covering up the truth just to make a story look good. In the movie “Intouchables” Philippe, a rich Caucasian man who owns a beautiful mansion, and his assistant, is looking for candidates to be his caregiver (he is paralyzed). Driss is an African American who has a criminal record whines up being a candidate but has no interest to get hired. He is just there to get a signature showing his seeked employment and rejected so he can continue to receive his welfare benefits. Despite his lack of ambition and criminal record He is told to come back the next day. Driss learns of Philippe disability and has to take care of him, as Driss takes care of Philippe the two become real close friends. This movie goes along with Demott argument; the friendship between the two is over the top.
