GAMES
Sign in to track this film in your collection or want list.
Year Published: 1973
Format: 16mm
Description: Dating to 1973, this somewhat-painful-to-watch U.S. Army educational film "Games" delves into the problems of racism and prejudice, and depicts a better future where respect and equal opportunity prevail in the workplace. The film follows a White man as he debates the ideas of equal opportunity. While he believes he is upholding this ideal in the workplace, the film shows that he is both a sexist and a racist, and in fact is continuing to judge potential and current employees prejudicially. Throughout the film are intermittent dreamlike sequences of a group of people debating his actions and assessing his motivations. The official U.S. Army description of the film stated that "Exposes the 'games people play', intentionally or not, and put up obstacles to equal opportunity." The film opens with a montage of people blaming various races for incidents and using racial slurs (1:05). One man blames the Chinese laundry for a missing button on his shirt (1:01). The final woman says ‘racist’ (1:40). At (2:05) a cartoon shows a caveman inventing the wheel. A short time later, an African American man accuses a White committee of playing a "game", and the audience walks out of the hearing. The main character, who we'll call The Boss, is seen driving to a job interview (4:51) and along the way he flashes back to various instances in his career. A New York cab driver talks about race and the problems of inequality (5:45). The Boss remembers his boss giving him a hard time for only have a few minorities in his employment (6:43) as businesses were pushing to be more diverse. The Boss recalls an interview with an Hispanic man, played by actor Barry Williams -- Greg from the Brady Bunch -- which he arrived late to (8:22). During the interview, he rudely answers the phone once the interview has started (9:01). The interviewee wants the job because it is a good opportunity (9:42). While the man gets the job, he struggles (10:22). The Boss debates firing him (11:13). Here is the first interruption or "heaven sequence" with a group of African Americans in traditional dress, openly questioning whether or not the Boss' motives are genuine (12:40). The next incidence involves the Boss interviewing an overqualified African American (14:59). The Boss attempts to deceive the interviewee and offer him a file clerk position. The Black man storms out of the office (15:22). The film turns to the group who discuss how the African American employee had to doubly prove himself (16:00) and how prejudice comes from our surrounding environment; that we are swayed by the opinions of our bosses, neighbors, etc. (16:37). Another incident plays out with two working men on the phone with one another -- and one of the men’s faces is shown to be Caucasian, while only the feet of the other man are shown (17:25). The faceless man asks the other about a new secretary and he replies that the former would not be interested as she is Black (18:01). The man whose face was not previously shown, is now shown to be African American and he states they would get along just fine then (18:05). Workers are seen horsing around instead of working and one of the new hires is involved who happens to be African American. The boss, instead of reprimanding him as he would any other employee, lets it carry on (19:26). When another employee complains about the new hire, the boss says for him to accept that the new hire "is not white" (19:39) which, we are told in another "dream sequence" shows he is misinterpreting the meaning of equal opportunity (19:46). The boss also inhibits another Black employee, disallowing him to correct his own work, calling him "you people" and pretending to take pity on him (21:14). At 23:20 a weird beatnik / hippie comments on the idea of reparations. The final incident includes the sexist Boss interviewing for a woman for a job (25:20). The Boss accuses her of being unfit as it is a long-term position and she, being a female, is prone to getting pregnant (25:45). He then proceeds to use the myth that women are fragile and says she couldn’t handle the job as it included frequent travel trips with men who needed an authority figure to put them in their place (26:26). She throws a drink in his face and storms out (26:42). Equal opportunity means to treat all as individuals, to look at each human to determine what best job suits their skills and to refrain from unhealthy stereotypes and prejudices (28:29). The final scene includes the Boss arriving at a job interview with his potential new boss -- a Mr. Goddard (29:10). Here the interviewer / boss Goddard turns out to be an African American who treats him in the same way he had treated the Hispanic in the beginning of the film (29:50). The End (31:26).
Complete Record:
Transcription
[Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] cool Charmin [Music] thank you while co-op [ __ ] hi donkey [ __ ] boogie [ __ ] gringo raccoon damn [ __ ] Nick Pollock was racist got a lot of people at each other's throats there's no doubt about it as a nation now don't give me any this bull about a melting pot we're not very crazy about each other I mean that's the way it is that's the way it's always been boneheads told I've been a few inventions since then one is the committee now this committee is empowered only to detail symptoms not to affect the cure that might be but we need passion mr. Parker a neighborhood playground for children is a most admirable goal what I want to know and what all my brothers and sisters want to know and what the whole world wants to know what are you doing here clop that's different from what those other committees ever did this whole building is built is there anybody around now a hundred years from now I'm going to read it you see them I know you're managing right yeah you know I know you're a play okay let's [Applause] where are we welcome here so what's your a few pointers huh look out my view well I'll tell you this whole committee thing is kaput there's more information been documented on the black men than on any living Souls in the history of the world and nobody knows what to do with it the whole thing's moved out of the forum and back into the individual that's it you know the individual that's the only hope that's left what the games given that inhibiting never meaning what I telling hi neighbor hey let's a look with ahead of you sounds like a good job I'm gonna make out okay you'll be the first to know interviews a few short minutes a lot they can sell how do you measure a man anyway now I don't know beef with any man who wants to get his there's nothing wrong with competition but that doesn't mean I'm going to let anyone [ __ ] the line I've been at this 12 years I had to wait my turn anyone wants to go through what I went through take what I took I don't care who he is I'll be glad to shake his hand other wrong with that kind of equality what you try to get me to lose my turn or nail me on guilt or tell me 12 years on the line is equal to a black face with no experience then you've lost me I mean he's got a point you know what I mean and he's no what do you call villain the man's dead but we've been through all that it's not no new thing you see the white guy says color means nothing Thor he just hates anyone who hasn't had a lot of time climbing a lot of a sea house then the black guy says he deserves a break because of what's been going on so the white guy says all you need today to move ahead is a black face you know what I mean oh then the black guy says there's plenty of jobs at the end of a broom and it all goes back and forth and you still got the same thing the underdog wants a piece of the action you don't have to be no genius to figure that out that's what all the hollering is about how many ways does he have as a man who wants fairness for himself and who is in a position to do something about it for others how many ways does he have to dispense equality of opportunity or more honestly how many ways can he do just the reverse equal opportunity the tremendous pressures oh well I remember out of the whole population employed here we've come up with seven chicano that's less than one man four thousand now nobody's going to tell me that out of this whole population that's all there is and by god I want you to take care of it personally I don't think anybody stop it well I haven't seen anybody working up a sweat over it either what does that mean how many of you got in your branch [Music] people walking up singing glory house and it's not a socket - yes in the name of the Lord they're gonna teach you how to meditate reto horoscope play ball hell man hey oh you know that that that [Music] look around number one to see what happens you and me god grant me the serenity just remember who I am whoa God you given up your fantasy for your pride and your backseat if I call you manatee oh don't you sorry oh yeah oh that's right sit down sit down oh boy someday I'm gonna get the hell out of this business and run a chicken farm yes sir okay tell me why you want the job will I hello oh my god what are you doing it down oh yeah the trouble of you people is you got nothing to do admit it nobody knows you're there once a week somebody crawls out of a drainpipe but that's across the plaza and picks up the check yeah oh yeah the four o'clock and he decides to go into labor yeah he wants to know why it took six days for a memo to get from the first to the second floor well he never got the word so they had the inspection and he got caught with his pants down Oh all right stranger all right if you get work okay go ahead well I'd like very much to to have that job I would like to improve it's a good job I heard Under well I don't know what else well we abide by the rules of Equal Opportunity Employment our policy is that every man no matter what gets a shot okay you're going to get a shot the job is yours [Music] [Applause] hey never make the deadline amigo [Applause] [Music] and everything ever meaning what the same never say it what they mean bolivars Lydia its Debra do harm and damned if you don't [Music] now that's the oldest game around you don't want a man you welcome him with open arms and then kick him out the back door oh yeah that's it arms wha that's the feet see makes you look shocked too then you give him something he can't do get him out there on that tightrope that's the jab now when he falls off you put on that real innocent look you know to hurt you from ear to ear but baby playing how about a perm and decide to fall on his face but honey he was under pressure too high that man sure he was boxed in cornered forced to do it that's why he was going to give it everything he's got you know what we have to ask ourselves is would he have handled it the same way if the man was why huh audience played with him the same way I say he wouldn't I think he would have taken that fight brother around the shoulder and II and they just something that he could do I mean you can make yourself look like you're poor equal-opportunity you could make yourself act like you playing it all clean and still stick your thumb in the other colors are and if they knew we all know what are you doing I mean you see without you know hey hey just a minute you're coming down awfully hard you know somebody ought to find out what he thinks about it I'm Simon Legree Jack the Ripper and Machiavelli all rolled into one now there he goes bringing virtue in backwards well I say he's no Little Orphan Annie either is where we are now those who have made it don't want anybody else Horning in that's it baby he just has to give everybody in their place you did it's a plan leaflet man woo if he could go on back and see some of his own Twitter works from the outside looking me it got to be a rather intricate dispute on the one hand you had labour not really holding on to anything they were just about to lose face and on the other hand he had management they had their heels dug in they didn't want to start a president something back it hurt and maybe a few years later precedent so I sort of got into it and now if we got a little perspective going hi chief oh I just having a little talk his name is Fred so um you've been in labor relations as well oh well if not as a lawyer no but it was a very responsible position it sort of fell into it terrific I'm sorry I said it was terrific what made you move here I was accepted to teach over to Fairfax then that bond issue went down and the school budget went down with it teach - well that's very impressive I think we'll be able to put something together great opportunity right here Oh what is it well sort of the best way to describe it is information coordinator information coordinator it's terrific man climbing the pole for the phone companies and information coordinator oh no not that nothing like that well what is it well this would involve organizing in a sense doubling all the correspondence that comes into that area and then managing its containment managing their containment you mean filing it don't you making sure that see comes after B and before D it has a lot of vertical mobility I'm sure of that mostly up and down a liar information coordinator spelled backwards his file clerk you know what I was in the army there was always one guy who never got the word did you big that but what did you dig it baby caught it in the act and he was going to take it all fat and slip it off like he was talking about football what was going on here is this game of requiring the black man to be the bonus baby he's got to be twice than on anybody else and then when he does get and he's got to do time to prove he's a white [ __ ] before they let him go on oh hold on a black man a brown man a yellow man on the ready then how about to do anymore time for the white man so what's going on in that quite supervisors head does he do what he thinks what he thinks he thinks what does he do what somebody else tells him to shinka I say he's depending on what the man who holds the key to his future thinks he's influenced by his friends in the carpool he's mindful of what his upstanding neighbors think and what everybody else he hangs out with things so he's got to go along I mean if that were you would you do that every man's got pressure on him things are expected of you no one says anything but you know what the party line is it's like a shadow pressing on your back and so you go on and make assumptions of what you think is expected now this didn't happen to me but one of the worst moments of mistaken assumption I ever heard about was between two men one of them figured they shared a common bond he said you were closing down and leaving a number-one secretary with no place to go and one deserving Colonel yeah we've got one here we know one showing it is Earth so what about the girl your honor no why not I don't think she'd work out rotten personality take my word do yourself a favor don't you know how to type oh yeah yeah she can't i technic tation yeah yeah I bet you've got a mustache no he'll bite what's her problem well just between you and me she's black well that's fine so am I will probably get along just great you said yourself that kind of thing has to stop you got open the doors so you take that tack you become a champion for equality or you think you do [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Hey [Music] [Applause] [Applause] Oh [Applause] you gotta speak to him about this oh come on Harry he hasn't been on time if he got here he comes in boxers five or six rounds shoots crap smokes a cigar and expects to go home you got to get a little Headroom Harry's not at the expense of life section hey got to give him a little leeway kid [Applause] you just gotta face the idea he's not white now he's got it all set up so he can be virtuous as hell and at the same time keep those old definitions the way they were and you can't expect that for scruffy [ __ ] week hoax out of the woodpile - as smart as ice you could have bend over backwards you got to patronize them a little to show he's like we say he is you know so he comes in late because he's black it allows you to say that he's not late because he's black he's late because no one's willing to crack down on him supervisor wouldn't dream of letting a white man get away with that and to let him get away with it's not fair to those who do earn their bread Equal Opportunity has got to mean equal discipline so you go one step further reach way around take people under your wing help advise them and mean it really mean it if you play it back it's got to see things you didn't think we're there well if that's supposed to be flick last month's fee is it's not going to do that tell me I don't have to do this again no problem leave it with me I'll finish it I found back to work later well I don't think of chemo right don't worry about it whatever a problem like this comes up don't bother about it just let me have it we're looking it over I'd like to take a little crack at it I can get to be a real hassle they shouldn't do this to you people oh come on I'll show you where you can get a suit like mine well hurry Emily I'll do these tonight any I can take a look nobody will ever know the difference [Applause] champion of the oppressed under the lame and the poor to help the poor black man because of his blackness he feels he's got to help him overcome that by my suit do his work for him ran interference yeah I have him across the sea he is being our dog the point is he doesn't have to help him overcome his being black he's got to allow him to beat how not to be a phony how to be real and over 30 probably everyone's played with the idea of really getting in there and doing it right being super cool being a brother above suspicion [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] what the hell you call I like you no man you gotta let go little just hang loose and tell me what you think the hassle is he comes in late box is five or six rounds smokes a cigar and goes home way out man way out what oh it it justice for years the man has been taking it out on his hide wouldn't even spit on him now the man gets nervous says come on in and he won't even let on he's been asked oh it is way out baby now you've got to get straight you either with him or against him dig I mean he's a little noisy but you know that's his thing you got your thing me and him we got no problems we cool with each other well he's getting paid for it what do you call that reparations man reparations nice how you doing buddy you need anything give me a cigarette ah there you go anybody hassling you no everything's cool man think I'll split listen I wouldn't let you get away with it some guys gonna be home kids no matter what you do now that guy parading like a hippie I don't trust him at all you let that fool get away with murder just to prove he's not our honky he's like a toe hold around as a black man sleep just to show how broad-minded here oh right on I don't trust a man who hasn't got respect for himself now the foreman you all want to play that game he wasn't concerned well the black guy could hack it he wasn't already mute being like the bigger no way but that instant brother the one with the gas mat driven and all that purity he's the one you gotta watch out for judgment everything you've ever picked up goes into it who would ever thought I'd have to rethink how to look at a woman yes that's right there is such an opening but I feel that the work is a little oh I see see normally when we select somebody for this it's for a long time oh then this is a kind of dead-end job no I didn't say that but the last thing we want out there someone who's prone to well to pregnancy oh not that I mean you necessarily oh I'm proud well there's a lot of travel involved and there are lot of men out there a lot of boozing and a lot of well you know what fooling around oh really you wouldn't enjoy it what woman would well that's it you see a woman couldn't really cope with this we're not capable must be very important it's not really woman's work it carries with it a lot of authority and these people need someone who can tell them off really let them have it in the old kazoo I don't think you could do that I just can't picture it oh boy big day shielding the poor delicate helpless misguided girl from that awful disreputable world out there the assumption of course is that she couldn't survive in that hard uncompromising male jungle an assumption based on the myths of woman's Trail it's just a stuffy reflex designed to both to the male ego a man who is really secure about himself would be more comfortable than that he'd be able to sit down and talk with a woman on many different levels and try to determine her value as a potential employee for myself I don't particularly care if he's comfortable or not here long to get comfortable let'em bilities but let him know we want an equal shot at any opportunity in this world or out judge and be judged you can dream about it all day but how does it work in real practice well let's find out by and large minorities like to live much the same way as everyone else does nobody likes to be thought of as them them are never as intelligent as the rest of us them are those others off on the sidelines Jews blacks Chicanos Indians Orientals Puerto Ricans don't like being called them any of us would be the first to say hey I'm not them I mean that the minority man say that too that he's not them he's him it then becomes easy to see him as he is rather than as one of them there's another word as just bad news and that tolerate to tolerate means to accept but reluctantly it means you're going to agree to put up with it putting up with it is not what Equal Opportunity is all about what is intended in equal opportunity program is a commitment to use the same imagination that has kept so many people out to bring them into the system willingly with dignity and good feeling good morning I have an appointment with mr. Goddard oh yes mr. garland expecting you his always goes right to that door thank you come in sit down someday I'm gonna get the hell out of this business and run a chicken farm yes sir okay why do you want the job well I hello well my god what are you doing in town yeah trouble with you people you got nothing to do yeah don't play the game it's the best known game in town the humans don't use rules as weapons don't hide behind the book instead can you hear the things you're saying can you hear what you're feeling can you recognize the measurable aspects of the individual have you ever listened to a man to find out what he's scared about what but he knows what he hope but he is have you ever let it touch you don't let a man fail out of a goodness of your heart can you concentrate on finding the right man or woman for a job not to fight a black man just the right man can you advise encourage motivate can you train a man and help them to qualify how bad can we finally get on with it [Music] Oh [Music] you
1 user has this film:
Periscope Film
No related films.
Original permalink · Record added: 2025-01-23 16:38:43