Cream On Top

    During the early parts of the movie, Elia Kazan draws the audience into a conversation between Dicey Johnson and Jake Walters who are involved in the discussion about his ambitions. To Dicey Johnson, Jake Walter reveals his ambitious dream of becoming the "cream on the coffee," a metaphorical expression to illustrate his desire to rise to the top instead of being stuck on the bottom.  To his comment, Dicey Johnson's response is interesting, for Dicey responds that he must BE the cream to achieve his goal. In other words, Dicey emphasizes that the only way to succeed in the society was to be a part of the privileged white class. Such comment leads the audience to Kazan’s most important message to the public about the extreme prejudice African-Americans faced. Earlier in the film, Pinky, Jake, and Rozelia were apprehended by the police; the reaction of the police reveals the prejudice against the black race. Due to Pinky’s fair complexion, both policemen thought that Pinky was a white lady. Separating Jake and Rozelia from Pinky, the policemen respectfully asked a series of questions to Pinky. As Rozelia interjects about Pinky’s skin color and blames Pinky as a liar, one of the policeman slaps Rozelia instantly. However, the police officers' attitude towards Pinky changes abruptly when Pinky admits to the police that she was indeed a “negro.” They throw Pinky to Jake and Rozelia, breaking the barrier that they had created by separating Pinky from them initially. As soon as the true race of Pinky was unveiled, the policemen's treatment of Pinky crudely changed from deference to mistreatment. Rather than focusing on facts of the matter, society seems to be prejudiced against a group of people with particular skin color or race, making them more vulnerable to unfair treatment. Through this incident in the movie, Kazan conveyed the message that Dicey may be right indeed about being the "cream of the coffee" to succeed due to the underlying prejudice in the society.