*Covid-19 Update: This fall, the Library’s Evening with an Author series will continue to meet virtually, via Zoom. These events, which are free and open to the public, require advance sign up. Evenings with an Author programs begin at 19h30 (Central European Time). Please check eLibris or our programs calendar for updates and line-up.
In his talk, Greg will discuss how Hollywood films have both mirrored a racist society and offered alternative visions of tolerance and acceptance–sometimes in the same movie! He’ll also discuss how watching films with awareness offers us a vision of how racial reconciliation might work.
Dr. Garrett is Professor of English at Baylor University and Theologian in Residence at the American Cathedral in Paris. He too has published over two dozen books, including works of fiction, memoir, and nonfiction exploring narrative, racism, politics, faith, and popular culture. In his new book, A Long, Long Way: Hollywood’s Unfinished Journey from Racism to Reconciliation, Greg Garrett brings his signature brand of theologically motivated cultural criticism to bear on the history of portrayals of race and racism in film. After more than a century of cinema, he argues, movies have altered our cultural perspectives in the same way that religious narratives have. And in fact, religious traditions offer powerful correctives to our cultural narratives.