The 1949 film Home of the Brave centers on racial prejudice in the United States and its effect on one black man, Peter Moss, a soldier in the Pacific theater of World War II. Through flashbacks, the audience sees the prejudice Moss experiences on a daily basis both at home and at war and the reconnaissance mission that led to his nervous breakdown and temporary paralysis. Moss must face the prejudice he experiences head-on and deal with the loss of his friend, Finch, in order to recover. An army doctor leads Moss through this recovery and helps him better understand the world he lives in. As Moss is returning home with a new lease on life, he connects with a fellow soldier from that fateful mission named Mingo. The two soldiers decide to go
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Moss learns that it’s ok for him to be different and that he deserves equal treatment, – again not from looking inside himself, but from a white man telling him so – and while that is a very important lesson for the audience to learn, it ignores the racist system surrounding Moss that has created many of his problems. The film’s ending gives the appearance that the problem has been solved and that Moss can no longer be hurt by prejudice. In a way this makes the trauma that black people go through because of racism personal rather than political, and therefore the film can assist the argument that there is no need for systemic …show more content…
Moss is returning to a country that is still deep in racial divide. Upon his return home Moss would find that “black veterans in uniform inspired violent rage rather than respect” from violent racists (Von Eschen 172). No amount of self-acceptance of difference can change the sinister realities that Moss will face upon his return. The same goes for one white man’s offer of business partnership. Post-war US corporations also “continued to extend Jim Crow-based labor relations throughout the Western Hemisphere,” meaning he would still be subject to discrimination in the world of business. Moss will still have to face the fact “that the war had not democratized the allied nations who claimed to have fought to save democracy from the fascists” and so his lot in life had not really changed (Von Eschen 172). Ending the film with everything tied up in a neat bow and a smile on Peter Moss’ face denies the realities of what black veterans at the time faced regardless of their
Moss learns that it’s ok for him to be different and that he deserves equal treatment, – again not from looking inside himself, but from a white man telling him so – and while that is a very important lesson for the audience to learn, it ignores the racist system surrounding Moss that has created many of his problems. The film’s ending gives the appearance that the problem has been solved and that Moss can no longer be hurt by prejudice. In a way this makes the trauma that black people go through because of racism personal rather than political, and therefore the film can assist the argument that there is no need for systemic …show more content…
Moss is returning to a country that is still deep in racial divide. Upon his return home Moss would find that “black veterans in uniform inspired violent rage rather than respect” from violent racists (Von Eschen 172). No amount of self-acceptance of difference can change the sinister realities that Moss will face upon his return. The same goes for one white man’s offer of business partnership. Post-war US corporations also “continued to extend Jim Crow-based labor relations throughout the Western Hemisphere,” meaning he would still be subject to discrimination in the world of business. Moss will still have to face the fact “that the war had not democratized the allied nations who claimed to have fought to save democracy from the fascists” and so his lot in life had not really changed (Von Eschen 172). Ending the film with everything tied up in a neat bow and a smile on Peter Moss’ face denies the realities of what black veterans at the time faced regardless of their