I am sure that we have all seen a movie where the main protagonist is white and his best friend and partner is black. It’s everywhere. The partner is usually an easygoing, helpful, and likeable character. Some examples would be the Lethal Weapon series and the recent G.I. Joe movie.
The real reason for this is white people’s guilt over the cruel behavior we had toward blacks during and after slavery. Most people may not even be aware but it is a subconscious need to show brotherhood and unity between the black and white men. Mark Twain was the first to show this in his novel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the novel the two main characters, Huck and Jim, develop a deep and loving friendship. After awhile of reading this book, people began to realize the significance of this and the guilt set it.
Because of this guilt, we have put this situation into movie after movie that we have completely forgotten the reason why we did it in the first place. It has become such a part of American story telling that no one really recognizes its significance. Maybe that’s good and maybe that’s bad, but it is interesting to see how one classic book can have such an affect on our culture.