Save The Last Dance Analysis

Within Save the Last Dance, issues of class, gender and race are all brought to attention however there is a constant theme of the comparison of Sara’s race to Derek’s. In a scene where Derek and his friends are eating at what seems to be a dinner, Derek’s friends seem like they just want Derek to join them in their gang activity, but through the insinuation of their words, it becomes evident that they are acknowledging the change in Derek’s social standing due to his achievement in being accepted into college, however, are holding Sara responsible for his new mindset, since a black male from the neighborhood going to college isn’t a commonly accepted sight. Throughout the movie, it may seem that there is an opposing force between white and black races however, this tension is due not to the differences in race itself but to the hidden implications that the white race is superior and

In brief, there is another scene in the movie where Sara and Chenille, Derek’s sister, are in a clinic and Chenille puts down Sara and Derek’s relationship because she believes since Derek actually has more going for him outside of the neighborhood, it is upsetting when a white woman is involved romantically with him. She is frustrated that he moment a black man achieves greatly, becoming associated with a white woman further proves that the black race is inferior, almost as if he leans toward being in a relationship with Sara because she is of a higher status and can actually achieve and grow with him, unlike per say a black woman. Again, this scene indicates that it is not race itself which causes a divide between the two groups but rather their position in how they are viewed within society, or systems of power, by which they begin to separate and identify their