Yes, this weekend was a movie fest at my house. While most of the movies we watched were average, a few were bad and a few were really great. I like all kinds of movies, but I especially like dramas. Movies that make you stop and think. Examine your own life and views. Spinning into Butter is just such a film. I'll admit, I picked it up because I like Sarah Jessica Parker, Beau Bridges, Miranda Richardson. It's the story of racism. I started to write "modern day", but really racism is timeless and there is no one who is not guilty of it. If we are honest, that is. No one wants to ever admit they are racist, but everyone is to an extent. If you really look at how you think and how you act and react to things and people, there is no one who can say they are not a little racist. I'm not talking whites against blacks, I'm talking all races. Blacks can be just as racist against whites, Hispanics against Mexicans, Indians against Turkish, whites against Native Americans, Mexicans against Asians, etc. Everyone has their prejudices. We try to live in a "politically correct" world and I think that sometimes as we try so hard to be politically correct we are actually perpetuating the very racist tendencies we are trying to avoid. Deep down I don't think of myself as a racist, I have friends from all different races, I've dated and been married to different races. As an artist, when I look at another person I notice everything about them, skin color, texture, hair, eyes, bone structure, scars, etc. and on that level I see and distinguish all their physical characteristics. I think the more diverse a person is the more beautiful they are because of that uniqueness from a purely aesthetic point of view. But when I see a person on a mental level, I don't see the color of their skin, their ethnic background.... I see a person and who and what their actions and words represent. That being said, I am as guilty as everyone else of making generalizations. I get so frustrated when I see many of my friends being turned down for benefits they need and deserve just because they are technically not a minority in that particular setting. I get frustrated when I see people born in this country suffer while those who are here illegally get handed things on a silver platter just because this "system" doesn't want to seem prejudice. I get enraged when I see someone treated differently because one assumes they are a certain nationality. We like to think we live in a society where all men are created equal, but the reality is that we aren't treated equal and we never will be until we stop focusing so much on our differences and just accept them. History has shown us that we can not do that and the future will affirm it.
Back to the film..... it's the story of an idealistic young woman who never considered herself racist until she found herself being the minority. Then she began to focus so much on those differences that she ran away to be the Dean at college where she would no longer be the minority. It is there that blatant racism rears it's ugly head, and it is how the various characters react to it, that is so telling about our human nature. Some want to sweep it under the rug, some want to attack everyone else, some want to make up their own race instead of being who they are, some want to promote "tolerance" ( more on my opinion of that in a moment), and some want to confront it head on and make a difference. In this film, you get to see all sides, all views and it makes you stop and realize the racism in yourself. There is a wonderful scene between a black character and a white character, where they decide to list all the disparaging things about the other race that come to mind with a mutual respect for each and frustration at their own human nature. I found the film very moving and think everyone should watch it because there is a message for everyone in it.
Tolerance. I don't know why, but I find that to be one of the ugliest words a person can use. I truly find it offensive in any context, but especially when talking about race. I think one of our biggest problems, is that we try to "tolerate" each other instead of accepting one another. Why should we tolerate another human being? Tolerate is something you do with static in your radio channel, or commercials on TV. You tolerate those things. In other words they are an annoyance that you put up with in hopes that eventually they will go away. Is that really how we should feel about another human being? I don't believe so. I believe we should accept each other. Does that mean I think we should like everything about every other person. Definitely not, but we should accept that that is who they are and not judge them for it. After all who are we to judge anyone but ourselves.
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