Introduction: A Long, Long Way The Birth of a Nation: Seeing the Other as Subhuman Best Supporting Actors: Casablanca, Friendship, and the Beloved Community "That's the Glory of Love": Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and the Power of Love Do the Right Thing: Together Are We Going to Live? Crashing into Each Other: Crash as Multicultural Post-9/11 Fable Get Out: Black Bodies Matter Conclusion: Remembrance, Contrition, and Hope

This book's dust jacket describes the author's method: "Greg Garrett brings [to bear] his signature brand of theologically motivated cultural criticism." ... The present volume looks at the representation of African Americans in six films: The Birth of a Nation (1915), Casablanca (1943), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), Do the Right Thing (1989), Crash (2004), and Get Out (2017). Garrett's "theologically motivated cultural criticism" amounts to a well-written, sensible description of each film, followed by an extended theological reflection. ... Garrett is not that interested in conversing with film scholars who write about race. Instead his framework is theological: "Love is the most important force in the universe, the power that animates it, and the power that animates us" (p. 104)

"This book's dust jacket describes the author's method: "Greg Garrett brings [to bear] his signature brand of theologically motivated cultural criticism." ... The present volume looks at the representation of African Americans in six films: The Birth of a Nation (1915), Casablanca (1943), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), Do the Right Thing (1989), Crash (2004), and Get Out (2017). Garrett's "theologically motivated cultural criticism" amounts to a well-written, sensible description of each film, followed by an extended theological reflection. ... Garrett is not that interested in conversing with film scholars who write about race. Instead his framework is theological: "Love is the most important force in the universe, the power that animates it, and the power that animates us" (p. 104)" -- S. C. Dillon, CHOICE "In this remarkably poignant, deeply relevant book, Garrett handles his subject-the century-long tortured history of race in American motion pictures, from Birth of a Nation to Get Out --with an unusual degree of grace and sensitivity, yet also with probing scholarly rigor. He shies away from the easy answers, offering in their place an account that is at once refreshingly honest, multi-dimensional, and full of nuance." --Noah Isenberg, author of We'll Always Have Casablanca: The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie "[T]aking a closer look at the impact films have on society, [A Long, Long Way] criticizes decades of favorable portrayals of white supremacist groups and racist depictions of African-Americans in films. Garrett... argues that movies have altered cultural perspectives in the same way that religious narratives have."--Publishers Weekly

Selling point: Approaches the history of racism on screen as an opportunity for racial reconciliation Selling point: Written by a leading scholar of religion and culture Selling point: Considers the role that cinematic narrative and religious tradition can play in healing racial dynamics

Greg Garrett is the author of four acclaimed novels, two books of memoir, and twenty nonfiction works on faith, politics, race, culture, and narrative, and is, according to BBC Radio, one of America's essential voices on religion and culture. An award-winning Professor of English at Baylor University, Greg also serves as Theologian in Residence at the American Cathedral in Paris, and is an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters. He lives in Austin with his wife Jeanie and their family.

Selling point: Approaches the history of racism on screen as an opportunity for racial reconciliation Selling point: Written by a leading scholar of religion and culture Selling point: Considers the role that cinematic narrative and religious tradition can play in healing racial dynamics