The movie South Pacific explores the life of interracial relationships during the time. It shows the relation of a nurse from the segregated South of United States with a mix-racial man, and the relation of a lieutenant of the United States with a native of the island. The nurse struggles with her ideas of purity in which she was raised and the idea that she had fallen in love with a mix-racial man, when the lieutenant struggles with the pressure that society will put on his shoulder for being with a native of the island.
Even thought, the movie has been released many years ago and made people aware of the situation. The theme of mix of identities still provokes a lot of controversy. For example we have the recently Coca-Cola's Superbowl ad, which was the American anthem sung in different languages. Many people were outrage, and claim that America should only be represented and sang in English.
In my opinion this is not racism, contrary to popular believe. It is that people feel that their identity have been threat. As a Chinese-Panamanian, I have heard many stories about parents having heart attacks and exiling their sons and daughters for bringing a non-chinese at home as their partner. Most of the time is not racial issues, it is just that they feel that their children have dishonored their identity as Chinese. I think that it might be the same case in United States, people have this notion of America and when it is changed they feel that someone have offended their identity.
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