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      America's Dream

      PG-13 1996 1 hr. 27 min. Drama List
      Reviews 88% 100+ Ratings Audience Score This anthology features three tales that center on African-American characters. "Long Black Song," based on a story by Richard Wright, deals with Silas (Danny Glover), a farmer with an unfaithful wife (Tina Lifford), while "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black" finds school principal George Du Vaul (Wesley Snipes) defending a controversial work by one of his students. Rounding out the production is "The Reunion," which focuses on a jazz vocalist who recalls her troubled youth. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      jon c What is America's Dream when it comes to being black? Well that's what 3 separate stories of being in 1930s-1950s America is about. Wesley Snipes, Tate Donovan, Lorraine Toussaint, and Danny Glover star in a collection of their own personal journeys. It's a time in our history where whites and blacks were still segregated and hoping to fulfill their passions to make it by. Silas, George Du Val, and Philomena all have personal struggles yet they still want to do what makes them happy. Whether it's marriage, education or music they all want to dream big. Silas lives on a farm but his wife is unfaithful to him. He wants to get her a ring but when faced with the truth he feels the need to unleash the same anger and mistreatment he's been getting his whole life. George is principal at a school, the only black school in the county. He holds a contest of kids drawing who's most important to them. George ends up defending a student of his presenting a portrait of black Jesus. The state supervisor is displeased and doesn't want it to be part of the curriculum. So when George is offered a higher teaching position he's caught in a bind. The last story is about a jazz vocalist Philomena in Chicago. She wants to make it big but recalling painful memories of being mistreated by a white woman complicates matters. Sometimes you have to have what you want instead of what you need, you don't have to be any less human than how you've been treated by others, it's true that grown ups say it's complicated when they don't want to tell the truth, other races of other cultures have made works of art representing their gods in their image so why deny others' privilege to do the same, can things really change or stay the same given how history has played out, the painful memories never go away, perhaps the anger and rage of trauma we faced shouldn't dictate how how we feel, it's better to not shed tears for ourselves forever Not bad for an HBO movie handling racism, segregation, and deep seeded hate for mistreatment. The actors really commit to the material even if it is sensitive. But it's good to show the strength and integrity against a horrible worldview of another group. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Amazing and important. #blacklivesmatter #hbo #hbomax #amazon #rihardwright #mayaangelou #johnhenrikclarke Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      America's Dream

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis This anthology features three tales that center on African-American characters. "Long Black Song," based on a story by Richard Wright, deals with Silas (Danny Glover), a farmer with an unfaithful wife (Tina Lifford), while "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black" finds school principal George Du Vaul (Wesley Snipes) defending a controversial work by one of his students. Rounding out the production is "The Reunion," which focuses on a jazz vocalist who recalls her troubled youth.
      Director
      Bill Duke, Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Paris Barclay
      Executive Producer
      Danny Glover, Carolyn McDonald
      Screenwriter
      Ron Stacker Thompson, Ashley Tyler
      Rating
      PG-13, TV-14
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      Jan 16, 2007