‘The Lunch Date’ Review

Stereotypes and prejudice, along with racial inequality, are issues that have haunted society for decades. Throughout history, this problem was oftentimes associated with blacks as they were discriminated against by whites. To put an end to segregation, the African-American community organized protests and marches in the Civil Rights Movement. There were many artists alongside the African American people who created novels, paintings, and films raising awareness about the issue. Some of the common themes displayed in many of these works are about treating others as equals and not judging a person based on their color. But “The Lunch Date”, a short black and white film released in 1989 by Adam Davidson, puts on a twist to these common messages. The film conveys the theme that one of the driving forces of racial inequality is humanity’s tendency to be conservative about its preconceptions against certain races. The director utilizes his characters in such a way that they mirror our own personas and mindsets within our present-day society, the background music to provide context for the emotions within each setting, and minimization of dialogue in order to lend greater focus to the individual actions that carry the intention of his characters -- all for the purpose of bringing to our attention the detrimental effects of race-based biases.

The beginning scenes of The Lunch Date start with an overhead view of the Grand Central Terminal in a black and white screen. American jazz music plays in the background leading the audience into the mid to late 1900s. The director’s choice of jazz music is significant because it has historically represented the sorrow and overall plight of African Americans due to systemic racism. However, the choice of upbeat jazz music juxtaposed with a scene of a black man looking for change in the telephone machines essentially “ignores” their pitiful situation. The film then cuts to many people walking past the presumably homeless and poor black man in the station which further reinforces African-Americans’ status as social rejects. One of the people who passes by the homeless man is a white woman. She wears pearl earrings and a fur coat and carries a Bloomingdale’s shopping bag, which shows she exudes wealth. The shot of this woman passing by the black man sets contrasting images of these 2 people side by side which emphasizes their different levels on the social ladder. 

In the following scenes, the woman’s bias against blacks are further observed as she encounters more black men. The camera follows the white woman who is hurrying to catch her train. Then, all of a sudden, the woman bumps into a different black man, who is well-dressed and clean, and drops her things. In this shot, the upbeat jazz music is replaced by the woman’s high-pitched “oh my lord” which creates an alarmed mood and suggests that there is a conflict. As the scene continues, the man apologizes and offers to help the woman, but she repetitively tells him not to touch her things with a forceful tone. The woman then tries to take her things from the man’s hands as if she fears that the man is trying to steal from her. This presumption is revisited when the woman misses her train and doesn’t find her wallet in her bags. The director set an encounter with the black man before the train scene to display a common preconception that blacks are dangerous not only through the woman, but also through the audience as they are led to suspect the man as a thief. After the woman leaves the train, she looks around her surroundings with fear and caution which suggests her bias towards blacks has grown stronger after her previous encounter with one. Her situation worsens as a drunk, black man passes by her. She stares at the man with discomfort which is another sign of her prejudice against African Americans. 

Just as the woman’s prejudice is broadly and blindly applied to all black people, the film itself characterizes the black man at the ticket machines and the black man at the diner in such a way as to parallel this sentiment. The director introduces ambiguity regarding the identities of the 2 black men. Apparently, they wear the same grey jacket and white beanie between the beginning scene and lunch scene. This inability to distinguish clearly between the men has two potential meanings. The first stems from the possibility that the two men are similar but not the same. The director uses the physical similarities of the 2 black men to lead the audience into thinking they are the same, to put them in the same shoes as the white woman. In the opening scenes, the woman shows indifference to the poor black man’s situation and looks down on him. She applies her bias against the first man to a different black man at the diner by accusing him of taking her booth and stealing her meal. 

The second interpretation is that the two black men are the same. The director portrays the black man in the lunch scene as poor and presumably homeless to emphasize the development of the man’s behavior and his relationship with the white woman -- despite their backgrounds being worlds apart, they will soon share a common sense of humanity. At the beginning of the diner scene, the African American man refused to give up his salad when the woman tried to take the meal. However, surprisingly, he not only shares his salad, but also adjusts to the white woman’s manner. After the woman takes a bite, he simply takes a bite after her. The woman then takes another bite, and the 2 people continue taking turns eating the salad. The man reduces his bite portion as if he is trying to match the amount the woman took. Moreover, he waits for the woman to eat before taking another bite. After watching the man’s behavior, the woman does the same. In the scene, the white woman and the homeless black man wait for their turn and match each other's bite portions as if they are making sure that they both get a fair amount of the meal. Because the African American man took the initiative to close the gap between himself and her, they were able to ease the tensions between them.

On top of this, the man brings 2 cups of coffee to share with the woman, resolving any trace of enmity between the pair. He then offers her a packet of sugar and the woman receives it with a polite “thank you”. In this scene, the man and woman set aside their racial differences and treated each other as human beings. Sweet and calming music accompanies the scene, making it feel as if the discordance between the woman and the man--a white and black--has been replaced with harmony. Unfortunately the moment briefly lasts. The woman leaves after a few sips breaking the intimate connection. Then, the sweet music transitions into a melancholic note as the camera shifts its focus on the man who is left with an expression of downheartedness. It seems as if he is reminded of how their racial and social differences separate them. 

Like the harsh reality this man faces, the film delivers a bitter message to society through the woman’s behavior. In the concluding scene, the woman realizes that she forgot her bag on her way to the next train and returns to the restaurant. Instead of finding her bag at the table she had lunch on, she finds her bag along with an uneaten salad at a different table and realizes that she falsely assumed the homeless man stole her salad and unknowingly ate his meal. Despite her prejudice, the man, less fortunate than she, shared the salad with the woman and even bought her coffee. Usually in plots like this, we expect the receiver of the kindness to show their change of heart by returning the kindness or passing it down to someone else. Instead, the director once again places a black, homeless man in the set, and the woman indifferently passes by the man. The shot indicates that the woman was unaffected by the generosity of the man from the diner and refuses to return any sign of acceptance for blacks. Correspondingly, she is not convinced that blacks can be different from her prior biases against them. The repetition of the beginning scene further reinforces the woman's unchanging preconceptions about blacks and the fact that she stayed as the same conservative white woman from the beginning. 

Although some people may call the woman racist or stubborn, she displays the reality of a society with racial inequality. Our prejudgements against certain races are formed from our history and our own experiences. Sometimes we encounter people that prove our preconceptions untrue. Yet, some of us, like the well-off woman, stay conservative about our preconceptions despite evidence to the contrary. This behavior is the reason why we judge certain races based on their color and don’t treat them as equals. In other words, this behavior is what drives the issue of racial inequality.

Even though this film was made in 1989, it still provides a mirror by which to examine one’s own prejudices and instilled beliefs. In society, we see issues such as police brutality against blacks, economic inequality, and limited education opportunities that have resulted from preconceptions against minorities. If we rethink our prejudgments and find balance between our perceptions, history, and experiences before making any false assumptions, we may also be able to find solutions to the issue of racial inequality, bringing society closer to living in harmony with other races.