5.5
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
The Human Stain (2003)
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Center
Viewer Rating
Rating: 5.5
Overview
Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Bias Dimensions
Political: Center
Diversity: Moderate
Race Swap: Yes
Judaism: Positive
Overview
Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Detailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Center
Primary
The film explores the profound personal costs of racial passing and societal judgment, while also critiquing the rigid ideological enforcement within academia. It maintains a neutral stance by presenting the destructive consequences of both historical prejudice and contemporary 'political correctness,' focusing on the universal complexities of human identity and truth.
The movie features a predominantly white cast, including a white actor in the lead role of a character canonically described as a Black man passing for white. Despite this, its narrative is explicitly and centrally focused on themes of race, identity, and societal prejudice, offering a strong critique of racial constructs and their impact.
Secondary
Coleman Silk, a central character canonically established as a light-skinned Black man who passes as white in the source novel, is portrayed by a white actor (Anthony Hopkins) in the film adaptation. This constitutes a race swap.
The film features a protagonist who passes as Jewish and is falsely accused of anti-Semitism. The narrative unequivocally condemns the destructive nature of these false accusations and the underlying prejudice, positioning the audience to sympathize with the wrongly accused character. This aligns with a positive portrayal by making it clear that bigotry, even when misdirected, is wrong.
The film "The Human Stain" does not feature any identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or themes. Its narrative primarily explores complex issues of racial identity, secrets, and societal judgment through its main protagonists, without engaging with queer experiences.
The Human Stain does not feature any identifiable transsexual characters or explore related themes. The narrative primarily focuses on racial identity, academic scandal, and a complex romantic relationship, rendering the topic of transsexual portrayal inapplicable to this film.
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
The film "The Human Stain" is an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel. All major characters, including Coleman Silk, Faunia Farley, and Nathan Zuckerman, retain their established genders from the source material in the movie adaptation.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
6.2
6.0
Critic Ratings
4.1
5.7
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