Sarah Schwartz
Baker College
Comp 101
Afraid or Made to Look Prejudice
“The Lunch Date”, written and directed by Adam Davidson in 1989, is a short film based on an older woman whose main goal is to catch a train. As she goes through the train station she has a series of encounters with black men (homeless and not homeless) to which she seems prejudice towards. But, she could in fact be afraid because they are strangers and/or homeless.
A woman walks through a busy train station to catch her train. As she is in a hurry a well-dressed black man bumps into her, knocking the contents of her purse on the ground. She quickly starts to grab up her things refusing the man’s help, stating “You’re making me miss my train” (Davidson, 1989). She hurryingly runs after her train missing it as it pulls out of the station. The woman then starts searching through her bags looking for her wallet, only to realize it is missing. The woman goes back to the spot where her purse spilt on the floor, but no wallet is to be seen. A homeless man then walks in front of her talking and laughing. She then goes to a diner and grabs a salad to eat. While asking how much the salad cost she informs the worker she may not have enough to pay for it. She grabs her salad and sits down (cleaning the table) to eat it realizing she forgot to grab a fork. When the woman walks back from getting her fork she notices a black man seemingly homeless eating her salad. She argues with the man about eating her salad to which he laughs at her. The woman then goes to grab for her plate, the man slams his fist and yells at her, startling her. She sits there staring at him eat her salad, when she picks up her fork and takes a piece for herself, while the man does the same. The man then gets up returning with two cups of coffee. He offers the woman sugar to which she politely refuses. He then offers her a packet from his pocket (to which she politely accepts) as she
References: The Lunch Date. Dir. Adam Davidson. (1990).