The Gilbert Lecture Series and the English Department hosted Sharon Willis, author of “High Contrast: Race and Gender in Contemporary Hollywood Film,” in the DeGolyer Library on Thursday night. Two copies of Willis’ book were raffled off to the audience at the end of the lecture.
In her lecture, Willis covered the general relationship between races and how Sydney Poitier portrays this subtle conflict in films.
Throughout his career, Sydney Poitier has been given key roles in films that are meant to instruct whites, according to Sharon Willis. He represents Hollywood’s contribution to repair the “white culture compulsion.”
Willis examined three films in which Poitier is the male lead and teaches a lesson to both the other characters and the audience. In “Lillies of the Field,” Poitier play Homer Smith, a displaced man who voluntarily aids a group of nuns through physical labor as well as English lessons. Several years later, he appears in “To Sir, With Love,” again as a teacher.
Sharon Willis also analyzed the role of music and displacement of the characters.
In “Lillies of the Field,” Homer Smith exits the nun’s house and the film leading the women in a song. Even as he shuts the door and walks to his car, as seen in a clip shown by Willis, the music continues and Smith’s lesson remains behind him.
The deeper goal behind the movies is to communicate a message to popular culture, which is effectively portrayed through rock music and the presence of the popular singer, Lulu, in “To Sir, With Love.”
Willis said that as a high school teacher in Great Britain, Poitier, “teaches the students to behave civilly, converting rock music to a form of jubilation rather than rebellion.”
The last film, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” differs in that it emphasizes his sensual appeal and the more racist aspects of society. In this film, as well as the others, Poitier is appearing as himself, the very iconic black figure, in addition to his characters.
As an epilogue, Willis compared Barack Obama and Sydney Poitier.
“As Obama rose in the political scene, Poitier reappeared in the national media as the first of many black male leaders in modern culture,” Willis said. “Such evolving cinematic roles as Sydney Poitier, have prepared America for a black president.”
