The film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, written by Stanely Kramer reflects
society's prejudices of the 1960's time period. This comedy explores the subject of
interracial marriage, and the impact it has upon the parents of the bride and groom.
This film definitely confirms the concepts of the 1960's, yet provides a new
perspective on mixed marriages for years to come. The movie interprets the time
period well, especially enlightening the ignorance and tension between African
This movie tells of a dinner party given by a bride's parents to meet her fiancé‚
and his parents. The comfortable middle class, white parents of the bride are
shocked when they find out that the groom is black. The groom's parents, are also in
alarmed to find out that the parents of the bride are white. Surprisingly, the mothers
seem to be more accepting of the proposed marriage than the fathers, who are very
skeptical, and hold onto old traditions.
The 1960's were a period of increased government intervention and reforms, as
seen by the shocking message of the story. After the film, the number of interracial
marriages in the U.S. increased dramatically since the 1960's both in numbers
and in the percentage of total marriages. To 51,718 interracial marriages in 1990
compared to 40,491 in 1960. The results clearly show the changing mindset of the nation
from prejudice, to open-mindedness. Although the 1960's was a time of great
change, the hearts of many Americans were still unaccustomed to new ideals. The
idea of interracial marriage was very new for the time. The progression of the nation
becomes evident with the creation of: NAACP in 1909, struggling for civil rights for
blacks; the construction of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in
1960, for eliminating segregation by nonviolent means; the Civil Rights Acts of 19
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