Kings Go Forth: Addressing Racism

Before tackling the issue of race in this film, I want to first look at Sinatra’s role as Sam and how he seems more or less appealing with regards to masculinity in this film due to his relationship with Monique. Monique (played by Natalie Wood) fell head over heels for the much more dynamic yet dishonest Britt Harris (played by Tony Curtis). Even though Monique chose Britt over Sam (played by Frank Sinatra), the audience does not feel she made the better choice. The scene in which Britt breaks up the date between Sam and Britt gives the audience a glimpse of Britt’s flawed character. Britt literally steals the girl as if he had snatched the prize from his superior’s grasp. Sam seemed helpless to the situation yet skeptical of Britt’s intentions from the start. While one could interpret that Sam was portrayed as less attractive in this film because the film did not finish with his romantic future sealed, I believe that the audience was rooting for him throughout and his character seemed that much more attractive when situated next to Britt. Sam was a catch despite putting himself down, but Monique was naive. Perhaps contributing to the appeal of Sam’s character was how he was highly respected amongst his male peers for his leadership and honesty. Sam also showed a more sensitive side by such small things as stopping to take a drink from the old woman in the beginning of the film to show gratitude and acknowledging that he wept after hearing he was promoted during a conversation with Monique. Sam’s masculinity was much more complex because he was a sensitive and caring individual yet he had the strength to lead others when faced with death. His role seems like it would fit most closely to the ideal sensitive yet strong man that many women desire today.

In regards to the issue of race, I found Kings Go Forth to deliver the message with much more honesty and emotion than The House I Live In. This could be partly because Sinatra’s character in Kings Go Forth actually encounters the issue of race in his life and how he reacts to it could alter his life path. In The House I Live In, Frank Sinatra preaches about race to little kids. One film admits that racism is deeply ingrained in society and letting it go would be life-altering. The other short film however mentions racism under the larger umbrella of unjust discrimination and asserts that it is irrational; then, people are led to believe that they can just decide with a snap of their fingers that racism can just be undone, ignoring society’s racist ingrained beliefs at that period of history. The House I Live In reminds me of some Disney segment attempting to address racial inequality and racism; the message seems more commercialized and cheapened—less real. In both films, no characters were noticeably of color. The children were all white and were fighting over religion and racism got little mention in The House I Live In. Monique, who was supposedly half-black, had porcelain skin and dark eyes as well as hair. She apparently represented a hidden blackness; whereas all other characters were playing the parts of whites. Perhaps the casting of actual black actors or actresses would make the issue seem too real for the audience. In both films, Sinatra either mentioned or referred to his Italian American identity and how it gave him a different perspective on race. In Kings Go Forth, it added complexity to his decision to overcome his racist feelings towards Monique; Italian Americans pitted themselves against African Americans where he had grown up. In contrast, Sinatra reflected on his racial background and how it helped him understand how hurtful and unnecessary racial divides were in The House I Live In.