2017 has been a fascinating year for several reasons. Perhaps most notably its striking increase in interracial relationships. There were over twenty films released during the year to feature interracial relationships, with at least twelve of said relationships involving the main protagonist.
Disney was a notable player in such increase. Two of the three 2017 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films feature interracial romances. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 features the romantic tension between fellow Guardians protagonist Star-Lord and member Gamora (whose character is an alien, but actress is not), while Spider-Man Homecoming features Peter Parker’s love interest as a possible interracial relationship who comes from an interracial relationship (an interraception so to speak). The last MCU film Thor: Ragnarok may not feature an interracial relationship, but certainly hints at a possible future one between Thor and his new female companion. Alongside these two (possibly three) blockbusters is Disney’s Beauty and the Beast remake—a film its director has claimed to be a “celebration of everybody's individuality”, which includes interracial couples. Then there’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi that seemingly exchanges The Force Awakens’ interracial romance with a brand new one. Each of these blockbuster Disney films goes about a similar approach towards such theme. They refuse to draw any extra attention towards such pairings and treat them as universally accepted regardless of their time period (the latter most notably showing with Beauty and the Beast’s example).
On the opposite end of the movie spectrum are the 2017 indie films: Dave Made a Maze, Paterson (technically a late 2016 leftover) and It Comes at Night. The three respectively deal with its main character already in such relationship: the first between girlfriend and boyfriend, the second between husband and wife, and the third a family with a kid. There’s also indie films Ingrid Goes West and Patti Cake$, both involving sexual interracial relationships between their female leads and their love interests. 2017 had not one, but two romance films about interracial relationships: Everything, Everything and The Mountain Between Us. Amusingly, both films focus on a different age group for romantic stories—Everything, Everything being about teenagers and The Mountain Between Us about middle-aged adults.
There’s also the variety of 2017 films with supporting cast interracial relationships: Alien: Covenant, Bright, Columbus (leaves ambiguous but heavily hints at), The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Killing Gunther, Murder on the Orient Express, and Wonder. As with the Disney blockbusters, these films never emphasize such dynamic, unlike the next two features Get Out and The Big Sick. Both films put considerable emphasis on their protagonists’s interracial relationships, though with very different themes involved. While The Big Sick is a celebration of love regardless of race, Get Out seemingly presents such relationships as toxic, or, at the very least, showcases negative examples of such relationships. If not for the director’s own background I may believe such suspicions to be valid, rather than what is most likely unfortunate implications.
The question as to why 2017 experienced such a massive spike in diverse relationships may have something to do with the U.S.’s current climate that has been heavy with racial tension and hot-button topics. Possibly as a way to counter such diversity, American filmmakers and studios are making a push towards portraying positive race relationships—it’s worth noting all the above-mentioned films are American made—not only as friends but also as lovers and family. Whether such push was consciously done, subconsciously done, for marketing purposes and/or because the makers simply wanted to, the result was a significant growth in positive interracial relationships both in smaller indie films and 2017’s biggest blockbusters. Ironically, Get Out—the only one of these films to possess (most likely unintentionally) implied negative connotations towards such relationships—was the only one of these films to receive a Best Picture nominee.
2017 has been a phenomenal year for performances, particularly with child acting. The Florida Project, Super Dark Times and Wonder are the most standout examples. The Florida Project has some of the most genuine, believable, outstanding child acting I’ve seen in film, coming from children who were around six-years-old during filming. Super Dark Times’ teenage actors perfectly capture both the blatant and subtle actions of high schoolers while Wonder delivers an impressive array of both child and teen acting. Additionally, 2017 films also brought standout individual child performances such as Sennia Nanua in The Girl with All the Gifts and Defne Keen in Logan.
Interestingly, my four favorite films of 2017—Paterson, The Florida Project, Super Dark Times, and Personal Shopper—share a common theme in potent, natural-feeling, realistic performances. Each one connects and resonates with me on a personal level. The Florida Project’s child acting feels near identical to some of the children I work with at school. Super Dark Times reminds me of my own teenage youth (minus the messed-up events) and association with friends. Kristen Stewart’s wonderfully natural performance in Personal Shopper reminds me of several of my friends and associates, and Paterson’s depiction of its main couple is the closest a film’s come to mirroring my wife and I’s own relationship.
Last but certainly not least, 2017 was a comeback year for blockbusters and sequels. I’ve gone on to death in previous posts about Wonder Woman’s effective and innovative factors, so I won’t bore you here. Get Out provides some ingeniously thought-out plot twists and storytelling on a level rare to find in mainstream blockbusters. Both Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Thor: Ragnarok learned from their predecessors’s mistakes—removing their weak points while improving upon strengths. Both films took risks and new directions and it paid off with highly entertaining blockbuster successes. T2 Trainspotting, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Paddington 2 were also sequels that improved upon their predecessors—the former going for a whole new approach while the latter two being free from first installment limitations and introductions.
And thus, with my final sum up, ends 2017 for me. It was a solid year with several great improvements and advancements over the previous year. With 2018 I plan on trying new stuff for my blog—reviewing films outside the current year, more Ideas & Thoughts-related posts, and possibly reviewing material outside of film (though you’ll all have to wait and see if I actually get to doing such).
