Race in The Bucket List

Race in The Bucket List

The Bucket List has been one of my favorite movies, since the first time I had seen it. Just like most movies we watch, it is a movie that we can relate to. The Bucket List helps audiences realize how short life is. While recently watching this film, along with our discussions in class I have been able to relate concepts from the movie to our discussions. In this post, I am going to talk about how the film fits the “buddy movie” genre, the “whiteness” in the film, and how some of the stereotypical roles are portrayed.

We have come along way in film, since the first films came out. Not necessarily, kids now, but our grandparents and maybe even parents did not get to see an African American in a leading role. Today we see African Americans not only being the lead actor but also winning Academy Awards, Grammys, Oscars, etc.

In our book, “America on Film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies” it states, “And although Hollywood’s use of the black and white buddy formula (or black and Asian formula) may be abating somewhat it is still exemplified by films” (pg. 97). We see the “buddy” formula in The Bucket List. Morgan Freeman, an African American, and Jack Nicholson, a Caucasian, are the two actors that play the characters and both are leading parts in the film. The clip below is the trailer for The Bucket List, while watching; we see that both of these actors are equally show in the film. They both make up a huge part of the movie.




While our society continues to become more diverse, whiteness still exists in films. In the movie, Jack Nicholson plays a successful man who runs hospitals. He is the exact definition of a privileged person. He is a man, white, upper class, educated, and well traveled, all the things that classic Hollywood used to depict in their films. While Morgan Freeman only went to a semester of college and dropped out because he got his girlfriend pregnant, was a mechanic, and had a harder life. The way the producer portrayed Jack Nicholson’s character and Morgan Freeman’s shows that whiteness does still exist. In the clip below it shows the first time, the two men meet. Jack Nicholson’s character being as successful as he is expects to get his own room because it is his hospital.




Another idea that portrayed whiteness was tokenism, putting in a non-white character to discourage any ideas of racism (pg. 52). “More and more films each year now feature non-white leads” (pg. 52). While the movie might not have been the same with a white man playing Freeman’s role, it could have been played by a white man. I think part of the reason they put Freeman in this role was because he is African American, and more people could relate to him having a hard life.



While Morgan Freeman is not Jack Nicholson’s servant in The Bucket List, he comes across as an Uncle Tom figure. He is laid back, happy go lucky, hard working, all the things Uncle Tom’s were. He teaches Nicholson’s character some valuable life lessons. Freeman is the responsible adult, with the family and dreams. Nicholson starts out as a jerk to everyone, only cares about himself. As the movie develops, Morgan starts to wear off on him and he turns into a good person. He gets back in touch with his daughter and makes changes in his life for the better. In the clip below, Freeman writes Nicholson a letter and shows Nicholson making things better, and “finding the joy in his life.”




We never know when our last day will be, so why not live it to the fullest like Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson did in The Bucket List. Race will always be an issue in our society, but it is slowly becoming smaller. While America has come a long way since the classic Hollywood period, there is still a long way to go.