This study aims to investigate the utterances performed by anti-racist protagonist characters in the BlacKkKlansman movie that employ politeness strategies on racial justice and observe the influence of movie staging on the use of politeness strategies. This research builds on the integration of analytical models introduced by Spradley in Santosa. Using a descriptive qualitative research design, the analysis followed four main stages: domain, taxonomy, componential, and cultural theme analysis. These stages were combined with pragmatics and sociolinguistic approaches to provide a comprehensive framework for the study. This research enhances the understanding of how politeness strategies are used in movies and their impact on social interactions. The results of this research showed a total of 180 politeness strategies uttered by Ron and Flip as two anti-racist protagonist characters. Ron performed many positive politeness strategies compared to the other three sub-strategies: positive politeness (80 utterances), followed by off-record (23 utterances), bald-on-record (24 utterances), and negative politeness (18 utterances). Similar to Ron, Flip used positive politeness the most (24 utterances), followed by negative politeness (5 utterances), bald-on-record (4 utterances), and off-record (2 utterances). The use of politeness strategies by the two anti-racist characters tended to fluctuate depending on the stages of the movie. The complication stage generated the most utterances due to the intense interactions between the anti-racist protagonists and the Ku Klux Klan members as they delved deeper into the investigation. The findings can contribute to the broader discourse on racial justice and communication, as well as highlight how movie staging influences the use of these strategies by anti-racist protagonists.
