“An American Folk Opera.” George Gershwin’s most successful piece of expansive musical drama was subtitled with this term that no musician or critic had applied to a work of musical drama before the 1935 premiere of Porgy and Bess. Much has been written about the work’s subtitle; its literal meaning, its evolution, and its implications for a changing cultural landscape. Porgy and Bess was the last in a triptych of literature and theater surrounding the character of Porgy, a crippled beggar living
portraying history. Whether in the form of cave drawings or sculptures, this art was a tangible representation of the culture, history, and perspectives of the artist and his resulting personal interpretations. As language and writing developed, art never weakened, and illustrations continued to serve as unique perspectives throughout history. In many cases, these illustrations serve as valid representations of history. These paintings can prove documentary-like in that they accurately delineate a specific
is the lack of representation among the African American society. Fear harnessed the 1960’s with the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War, and the assassinations of both John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King. In a way for the people to cope with the fear and anger of what was going on, people smoked. Tobacco companies profited from this largely. A large portion of their revenue came from the African American population. Despite the controversy and discrimination, the African American portion of the
According to the statistics gathered by Nielson’s 20ll “State of the Trends in TV Viewing,” over 99% of Americans own at least one television and average a total of 34 hours 39 minutes of TV viewing per week (Citation). Outlets such as television shows and movies have the power to influence viewers both directly and indirectly in positive manners; being able to see someone like yourself has the ability to shape how you view yourself and the world. However, the problem lies in the fact that the majority
Representation Matters: Diversity in the Hollywood Television Industry A recent study done by the UCLA Bunche Center for African American Studies showed the lack of diversity within Hollywood by examining all the films released, television programs on broadcast, cable, or digital networks, as well as the actors, writers, directors, and producers within the industry. Ethnic minorities make up about 40% of the American population but still remain underrepresented in all forms of entertainment. The
is believed that stereotypes about African Americans began in the United States around the 18th century. Anti-Black stereotypes arguably the most developed racist stereotypes in racial framing and have been used as foundations for the capture, enslavement, and later, the subjugation of African American people. Stating that stereotypes are just a joke is an understatement of the consequential after – math racial images and stereotypes have on the African American population. Even stereotypes that are
Nicole C. Benito Cereno In Benito Cereno, Herman Melville wrote about how a group of Africans revolted on the ship that was taking them to South America to become slaves. The slaves revolted and killed many sailors and were trying to guide the ship back to their home country, but how often did that happen in real life? Herman Melville must have gotten his inspiration from somewhere. Around the time that Benito Cereno was written, the slave trade ship La Amistad was sailing
What are schemas? Schemas are bundles of mental representations that help people to easily interpret and organize information. For example, a children’s schema of a giraffe is an animal that has four legs and a long neck. When the children encounter a giraffe, the physical features fits with his schema of a giraffe, he could then quickly conclude that the animal is giraffe without much thinking. It is useful for people to have schemas as they allow us to process a large amount of incoming information
first African American television show, Amos ‘n Andy, was created in 1952 and showed all manners of black life in Harlem; however, it was based solely on racist stereotypes which are now considered harmful (Vanderwerff2015). Sometimes depictions of diversity and cultural race can be difficult because they can be stereotypical. Women of color remain largely excluded. Television shows remain mostly white and male. It is hard for someone of different of color and female to be the main show runners
(creek, roaring river, sea; or the crossing of the river Styx in Greek myths). Since rivers are often used as political borders or boundaries, crossing one may be seen as a “passing over” or a decision that cannot be taken back. In Africa, and thus African literature, rivers are the largest sources of income and commerce and so have additional meaning leaning toward the source of life and morality and the where the fight for good and evil happens. 2. The Garden – In ancient times, across many cultures