1973 US ARMY WAR OFFICE FILM “ANTI-PREJUDICE”

This narrative film depicts equal opportunity in the workplace. It follows a man as he debates the idea and while believing he is upholding this ideal in the work place is in fact not and is still judging his potential and current employees with prejudice. Throughout the film are intermittent dream like sequences of a group of people debating his actions and motivations. It opens with a montage of people blaming various races for incidents and using racial slurs (1:05). One man blames the Chinese for a button being missing on his shirt (1:01). After a rapid-fire montage of people saying racial slurs (1:31), the final woman says ‘racist’ (1:40). The main character is seen driving to an interview (4:51) and along the way he flashes back to various instances in his career. A cab driver talks about race and the problems of inequality (5:45). The main character remembers his boss giving him a hard time for only have a few minorities in his employment (6:43) as business were rightfully so pushing for more diversity in the workplace. He then recalls an interview with a Hispanic man to which he personally arrived late to (8:22). During the interview, he rudely answers the phone once the interview has started (9:01). The interviewee says he is interested in the job in order to better himself and that it is a good opportunity (9:42). The interviewer gives him the job (10:02). While he is at work, the new hire appears struggling and ill-trained (10:22). His boss, the main character, watches him as he leaves and debates firing him (11:13). Here is the first interruption with the group of people in a smokey dream like room who question whether or not his motives are genuine (12:40) or whether he had given the new hire work that would be too difficult for him and force him to quit. The next incidence involves the main character interviewing an over qualified African American potential employee (14:59). The main character attempts to deceive the interviewee and offer him a file clerk position; which he is over qualified for and the man storms out of the office (15:22). The film turns to the group who discuss how the African American employee now had to doubly prove themselves (16:00) and how prejudice ideals tend to come from our surrounding environment; that we are swayed by the opinions of our bosses, neighbors, etc. (16:37). Another incident plays out with two working men on the phone with one another and one of the men’s faces is shown to be Caucasian, while only the feet of the other man are shown (17:25). The faceless man asks the other about a new secretary and he replies that the former would not be interested as she is black (18:01). The man whose face was not previously shown, is now shown to be African American and he states they would get along just fine then (18:05). Workers are seen horsing around on a deck instead of working and one of the new hires is involved who happens to be African American. The boss, instead of reprimanding him as he would any other employee, lets it carry on (19:26). When another employee complains about the new hire, the boss says for him to accept that the new hire “is not white” (19:39) which is again misinterpreting the meaning of equal opportunity (19:46). The boss also inhibits another African American employee by disallowing him to correct his own work and offering to fix it himself and to buy him a suit (21:14). The final incident includes a woman interviewing for a job under the same main character (25:20). He accuses her of being unfit for the job as it is a long-term position and she, being a female, was prone to getting pregnant (25:45). He then proceeds to use the myth that women are fragile and says she couldn’t handle the job as it included frequent travel trips with men who needed an authority figure to put them in their place (26:26). She throws a drink in his face and storms out (26:42). Equal opportunity means to treat all as individuals, to look at each human to determine what best job suits their skills and to refrain from unhealthy stereotypes and prejudices (28:29). The final scene includes the main character meeting a Mr. Goddard for an interview himself (29:10). Here the interviewer is an African American man who treats him in the same way he had treated the Hispanic man in the beginning of the film (29:50). The film concludes at (31:26).