Shades of Guilt story
A Caucasian man finds himself being mistaken for an African-American man after refusing to save a college professor from being attacked and killed by skinheads. Directed by: Perry Lang. Story by: Ira Steven Behr.
11 total · 2 choice · 6 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| putting yourself in someone else's shoes | choice | In the end, a white man had become a better person from walking in a black professor's shoes for a bit, the narrator explained. |
| racism in society | choice | After refusing to help a black man, Matt (a white man) turned black himself and experienced the racism (both overt and subconscious) in his society first hand. |
| compassion | major | Matt took compassion on the black man who was being beaten by skinheads the second time around whereas the first time around his compassion for the black man was pointedly absent. The Narrator summed up Matt's action with these words: "A simple lesson in compassion courtesy of The Twilight Zone". |
| helping a stranger in need | major | Matt, a white man, refused to help a black man in need, and was punished by the fates. |
| murder | major | A black college professor was beaten to death by skinheads. |
| remorse | major | Matt, a white man, had pangs of guilt because he had left a black man to be beaten to death by skinheads. |
| seeing the error of one's ways | major | Matt, a white man, came to the conclusion that having left a black man to be beaten to death by skinheads was the wrong thing to do. |
| what if I underwent a physical metamorphosis | major | Matt, a white man, transformed into a black man. |
| human vs. inexplicable adversity | minor | Initially, Matt was confused as inexplicable wounds began to appear on his body. |
| poetic justice | minor | After briefly acting racist, Matt turned black and experienced racism for himself. |