The Great White Hope(1970)- User Reviews

"The Great White Hope" presents an exhibition of the maltreatment American society inflicted to Jack Johnson (Jefferson in the movie), the man who broke the color barrier in the sport of boxing. The sad truth is that in our society today, racism and discrimination is still just as strong now than it was back then with little progress being made as we speak.
James Earl Jones stars as the troubled boxer Jack Jefferson. He was the epitomy of what not a black man in racist America was to be: proud of himself and his culture, to be honored as a champion, and the ultimate sin of them all, to be happily married to a Caucasian woman. But Eleanor (Jane Alexander) loved him and stood by him at all times through good or bad(most of the time bad, even in his victory celebration was spoiled as well), regardless of the color of his skin. Both racial parties disapproved of Jack and Eleanor's marriage; the white people went through great lengths to make their lives a living hell while the black people thought that Jefferson has betrayed them because they thought Jefferson was adapting to the white man's way. Eventually the outcast couple decided to live outside the public eye, and even then they're privacy was disrupted by reporters and police. The madness eventually drove Jack over the edge and he started become physically and verbally abusive towards Eleanor. Aghast by the overwhelming media, he decides to fight for a final showdown in Cuba.
It doesn't really matter of what you're thoughts are about this movie. What's very important about "The Great White Hope" is the guilt and sorrow that American society have dealt with then and to this day still have to carry this burden. Director Martin Ritt demonstrates an example of how society treats those that are inferior sas a way to try to help those that are so they don't feel like outcasts.