The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)

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The Spook Who Sat by the Door was released on December 23, 1973, in the USA. The American Drama film was produced by Bokari. The movie storyline was written by Melvin Clay, and directed by Ivan Dixon. The movie is based on the novel named "The Spook Who Sat by the Door", which was written by Sam Greenlee and published in 1969. The novel is considered as one of the most important cult-classic novels during that time[1]. The movie premiere is said to be successful, though some people said that the theater managers were told by the government officials to take down the screening of the movie[2].

Plot

In gaining black American's trust, a white politician decides to call the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) a racist institution for not employing black American people as their employees. After a strict selection, Dan Freeman is chosen to be the first African American employee of the CIA. Dan completes his guerilla warfare, clandestine operations, and unarmed combat. However, during his time in the CIA, he is treated racistly by his superiors for five years[3]. After that, he decides to resign from the CIA and goes back to his hometown, Chicago. In Chicago, he becomes a social services bureau, though the job is only as a cover of his other job. His other job is a street gang member of the Cobras that prepares for arranging a campaign against the government. He trains all of the gang members with drills that he got during in the CIA. In the end, Dan creates a battalion in having a war with the government just like he says "We are going to turn the American dream into a nightmare"

Black Empowerment

The movie depicts how the anti-racism movement can be accomplished in different ways. In one of the scenes, Dan does a monologue on what his grandmother told him to do in fighting racism "Get an education because that is the only thing the white man can't take away from you". While the extreme method to fight anti-racism is by organizing an opposition demonstration towards the government as racism can't be tolerated anymore. Racism has created a deep pain towards African American people in the movie that causes commotion in the country[4].

References