American Denial 

Follow the story of foreign researcher and Nobel Laureate Gunnar Myrdal whose study, An American Dilemma (1944), provided a provocative inquiry into the dissonance between stated beliefs as... See full synopsis »

Director:

Llewellyn M. Smith

Writers:

Janet Patterson, Lois Vossen

Stars:

Michelle Alexander, Danielle Allen, Mahzarin Banaji

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Michelle Alexander	...	Herself
Danielle Allen	...	Herself
Mahzarin Banaji	...	Himself
Joel Blanco
Sissela Bok	...	Herself
Vincent Brown	...	Himself
Khyvon Bruton
Jesse Christensen	...	Gunnar Myrdal
Christopher Conway
Tom Fahey
Safiya Fredericks	...	(voice)
Peter Frumkin
Kaj Fölster	...	Himself
Kani Givens
Joshua Gregory

Storyline

Follow the story of foreign researcher and Nobel Laureate Gunnar Myrdal whose study, An American Dilemma (1944), provided a provocative inquiry into the dissonance between stated beliefs as a society and what is perpetuated and allowed in the name of those beliefs. His inquiry into the United States racial psyche becomes a lens for modern inquiry into how denial, cognitive dissonance, and unrecognized, unconscious attitudes continue to dominate racial dynamics in American life. The films unusual narrative sheds a unique light on the unconscious political and moral world of modern Americans. Archival footage, newsreels, nightly news reports, and rare southern home movies from the 30s and 40s thread through the story, as well as psychological testing into racial attitudes from research footage, websites, and YouTube films.

Hear from experts historians, psychologists, sociologists and Myrdals daughters all filmed directly to camera. Witnesses work to exhume unconscious feelings Americans ...

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Release Date:

23 February 2015 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ITVS,String and Can

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