Carbon Copy (1981) AVCO Embassy/Comedy RT: 91 minutes Rated PG (language, racial slurs and stereotypes, sexual humor/dialogue, drug use) Director: Michael Schultz Screenplay: Stanley Shapiro Music: Bill Conti Cinematography: Fred J. Koenekamp Release date: November 6, 1981 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast: George Segal, Susan Saint James, Jack Warden, Dick Martin, Paul Winfield, Denzel Washington, Vicky Dawson, Macon McCalman, Parley Baer, Tom Poston, Carmen Filpi, Jim Greenleaf. Box Office: $9.5M (US)
Rating: ***
WOW! Outside of slavery-themed dramas, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that dislikes white people as much as Carbon Copy. Rich white people, to be accurate. With the exception of George Segal’s character, whites are depicted as hateful, narrow-minded racists who honestly believe the wind blows white. Granted, Carbon Copy was made in 1981 when such attitudes still prevailed in too many parts of the country like San Marino, the exclusive lily-white community where Michael Schultz’s (Car Wash) comedy is set. The way these people react to the news that one of their own has an illegitimate black son is beyond contempt. It’s an excellent target for satire. Carbon Copy doesn’t always hit the target, but it hits enough times to make its point.
From the outside, it looks like Walter Whitney (Segal, A Touch of Class) lives the good life. He’s a wealthy company executive who lives in a mansion and drives a Rolls Royce. It’s all a façade. His wife Vivian (James, Love at First Bite), the shrewish daughter of his boss Nelson (Warden, Used Cars), is frigid. She flat-out refuses to have sex with him. His stepdaughter (Dawson, The Prowler) is a mean, spoiled brat and completely disrespectful to Walter. He’s constantly browbeaten by his domineering father-in-law, a vile sort who encourages him to take on a mistress to take the pressure off his wife. Walter puts up with it though. If not for Nelson, he wouldn’t be where he is today. If not for Nelson, his name would still be Walter Wiesenthal. Nobody but Nelson and Vivian knows he’s Jewish.
ANYWAY, Walter’s world starts to crumble down when a young black man, Roger Porter (Washington in his feature film debut), shows up at his office claiming to be his son by his former girlfriend, now deceased. Nelson forced Walter to break up with her and take up with somebody more color-appropriate. Roger says that he wants Walter to acknowledge him as his son by adopting him. Knowing that he must tread carefully with his wife, he convinces her to take Roger in as a foster son for the summer as part of a new social program. It doesn’t take long for the truth to come out. Once it does, everybody turns against Walter. He loses everything. Even his best friend, pot-smoking lawyer Victor (Martin of Laugh-In), turns his back on him by agreeing to represent Vivian in the divorce. All he has to his name is the money in his wallet ($68) and Roger. Now he has to find a way to support himself and his newfound son.
There’s NO WAY a movie like Carbon Copy would get made today. If by some chance it did, it certainly wouldn’t get away with a PG rating. It would be PG-13 at least. It originally received an R when Schultz first submitted it to the MPAA, but it was changed to PG on appeal. In any event, I lost count of how times black people are referred to as “colored” in Carbon Copy. If memory serves, that term was out of favor by ’81. I saw it at the movies when I was 13 and the thing that made the biggest impact on me was the idea of supposedly high-class, educated individuals holding racist attitudes that make blue collar Archie Bunker look like the poster child for tolerance. That day I learned ignorance doesn’t make economic distinctions. Bigots come in all shapes, sizes and tax brackets.
The white characters in Carbon Copy say some God-awful things to Roger and in front of him. I absolutely HATE the characters played by Warden, James and Dawson. That Walter doesn’t leave sooner of his own volition says very little about his sense of self-respect. They and the other residents of San Marino are some of the worst people I’ve ever met in a movie. Thankfully, they’re exaggerated for the purpose of satire. People like that don’t exist in real life….. or do they?
Ah yes, satire. What Schultz is actually doing with Carbon Copy is opening the curtain on a class of people that typically assuage their guilt by hosting charity fundraisers for the less fortunate or some other worthy cause. They’ll do that, but they’re also the first ones to object when a black family wants to live in their neighborhood. In short, they’re hypocrites. HOWEVER, they’re not the only ones who buy into stereotypes. In one scene, Walter assumes Roger can play basketball because he’s black. In another, Roger tells his dad he dropped out of high school at 16. It’s NOT the whole story, but Walter instantly makes up his mind about this piece of personal information.
In addition to all else, Walter has to confront his own misguided notions of black people. In the role, Segal does a pretty good job. Washington shows signs of the fine actor and two-time Oscar winner he’d go on to become. Even the actors playing vile characters do a decent job.
There are some decent comedic moments in Carbon Copy like when Walter breaks into his own house to rob the house only for Vivian to demand that the masked intruder rape her. Is this the same woman who wouldn’t even let her husband see her naked? Things take something of a dramatic turn in the final 20 minutes when Walter is forced to choose between worlds. Should be go back to the one where he was rich and unhappy or get to know his son? Well, I think…. no, I know the answer is a foregone conclusion.
Overall, I like Carbon Copy even if it doesn’t always hit the mark. I LOVE the end credits song “I’m Gonna Get Closer to You” by the late England Dan Seals (as in England Dan & John Ford Coley). Sure it has some outdated ideas and attitudes, but they have to be placed in context. PC wasn’t a thing yet. I’m certain this movie wouldn’t translate well to today’s generation. For people like me who remember a less enlightened time, it’s an interesting look back at that time. It’s a funny and pointed satire that has more on its mind than it lets on.
