A Fitting Time

“Gentleman’s Agreement” is a great film about anti-Semitism in 1940’s New York City. The title is a comment on how small, seemingly inoffensive phrases, that ill-define profound problems, can be used as a tool to perpetuate some of the greatest crimes.

On a purely aesthetic level, the movie is as stylish as the time in which it was filmed. It’s fun to watch people smoke all the time and receive calls at a restaurant. Men wear hats and remove them when appropriate. Women wear skirts and expect to be let through doors but led through crowded rooms. The difference in roles between genders was distinct then, as distinct as race and religion.

It’s an especially fitting time to talk about discrimination. With the passing of Rosa Parks and the anniversary of her civil action, or inaction maybe, it can serve as a reminder of when differences in race were more distinct. When the difference between blacks and whites was where they lived, what jobs they did, where they were allowed to eat and in what way they were allowed to serve in their countries’ armed forces. It wasn’t just a gentlemen’s agreement it was national policy, it was law.

Please go rent this movie; if your video store doesn’t have it then go buy it; if you can’t buy it, get in touch with me and I’ll lend it to you.