Monster's Ball, Analysis For Racial And Gender Issues

Hank Grotowski?s life will change at Lawrence?s passing as well. Hank is the head correctional officer at the penitentiary that Lawrence is imprisoned in. Monster?s Ball is a tradition that the correctional officers partake the night before the execution. It is a gathering of the correctional officers that serves as a means to alleviate their consciences? from the duty that they must perform regardless of their moral aptitude. Hank is the father of Sonny and the son of Buck. Buck is an old-fashioned racist from the south. Hank has followed in his father?s footsteps and has emulated him in the past. Sonny has broken free from the prejudice and hatred that has followed down their lineage for, at least, two generations; however, he is alienated from his family and in his social life, which leads into the taking of his own life. After his passing, the audience learns that his mother an

Hank's father, Buck, may be classified as an old fashioned racist. He overtly says a racist phrase to Leticia. "I had me some of that nigger juice back in my day." He asked Hank to remove the black children from his yard. ?There was a time that they knew their place.?

En route to the chair Sonny?s emotions overwhelmed him and he threw up. This necessitated his falling out of the execution procession. After the execution Hank confronted him in the bathroom in an angry overbearing fashion. Hank said ?You fucked that man?s last walk? and then said ?Your just like your goddamn mother? and started slapping Sonny about the head. Because physical contact is thought to be a behavior saved for the opposite sex (Henley, 1977) and given Hanks verbal expression about how he feels towards Sonny, one could infer that Hank physically abused his wife, and that this possibly contributed to her suicide.

Lustig and Koester (2003) list seven different classes of racism: old-fashioned, symbolic, tokenism, aversive, genuine likes and dislikes and degree of unfamiliarity. "Genuine likes and dislikes" is the bias of ascribing a negative value judgment upon cultural practices that are different than one's own. Symbolic racism, or modern racism, stresses that traditional values from a group with political and economic power are threatened by another group's success. Old-fashioned racism is the overt display of bigoted views. Degree of unfamiliarity indicates that an individual may hold a negative few of another group based on how well that individual knows that group. Tokenism occurs when individuals do not perceive themselves as prejudiced because they make small concessions to, while holding basically negative attitudes, toward members of the other group. Aversive racism occurs when an individual highly values fairness and equality among all races but still holds negative views about a particular race. This is commonly refereed to as the "Not-In-My-Backyard" syndrome (159-160).

As the story progresses one can distinguish of unequal power balance. The main character in the film exerts extreme power on the people around him, as does his father, Buck. Allard (2003) explains Hofestede?s power distance index on a continuum between equal and unequal distance. Equal distance suggests that both individuals in a setting have all knowledge of specific rules that one must engage in, in a superior-subordinate relationship, and those rules are followed. Unequal distance suggests that the rules governing power are not coherently established (16). The individual with power possesses referent, coercive, legitimate, expert, and referent power (M. Jeppeson personal communication, March 2003: Rahim, 1989, 196). Hank utilized legitimate power because of the status he held at the corrections facility. He overused coercive power to exercise control over people.

Upon careful analysis of Monster?s Ball many different aspects of racial and gender issues can be observed; however, experience can be a better benefit than simple observation and analysis. By utilizing the vast array of psychological, sociological, and scientific research that is available today, the issues portrayed in the film can be used as an eye opener to set a foundation to build a larger wealth of knowledge and understanding of diversity, racial, and gender issues.

Hank happens to pass by Leticia and Tyrell after a hit and run. Tyrell is mortally injured and Hank provides comfort to Leticia in her darkest of moments. Hank and Leticia?s lives become intertwined through individual shared moments of grief and mutual encounters. Hank is transformed from a mild racist into Leticia?s lover. Leticia falls in love with Hank, whom she does not know was the leader of the executioners. The movie comes to an ambiguous end with Leticia?s decision to stay with Hank after discovering his involvement with the death of her husband, his son, and two unidentified (to her) headstones, is

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