America 's The Global Movie Scene

News media and Hollywood are the main two vehicles of identity theft among African people. In Hollywood, blacks are always shown in a position of reluctant assistance or sub servant i.e. Butler, Helper and or slave. Equally, News Media almost always show us as animals and criminals of the lowest morals. Consequently, through the system of programming, constant repetitions of demoralizing images are perpetuated, and with no other source of reference to rely upon blacks often consciously and subconsciously accept those images. Moreover some people, rather most become not only to accept those images, a lot of Black disassociate themselves with their race, because who wants to be from a race of ”nobodies” and by default has to capture the identity of the European race. One must keep in mind that racism is a system of power that is employed by White people, thus one must ponder, who owns and operates Hollywood and new media.” I agree with Trevor Musa black often see them self as invisible because of media which is a cause racial prejudice.

Idi Amin, holding military power and eventually acquiring the position of head of state in Uganda in the mid-late twentieth century, is recognized as one world’s most notorious leaders and is believed to be responsible for the deaths of one hundred thousand-five hundred thousand human rights individuals. Amin’s rule is characterized by nepotism, ethnic persecution, and much corruption. During Amin’s rule, he was also responsible for expelling the Indian culture by demanding all individuals of the nationality to leave the continent of Africa. Mississippi Masala, released in 1991 and directed by Mira Nair, tells the story of an Indian family that fleeted Africa to the United States during the reign of Amin. While the plot concentrates on the morals, beliefs, and portrayals of the Indian culture during that particular time frame, it does so through the up’s and down’s of the romantic relationship between Meena, whose family migrated from Africa to the United States, and Demetrius, an African American carpet cleaner who was born and raised in Mississippi. The couple’s relationship is greatly scrutinized by Mina’s family as well as society; however, the end of the film reveals that one’s skin color does not speak to the content of their character.

All in all African films have completely different politics and aesthetics than films made in the U.S. The film Lumumba shows the politics of liberation. The film Pieces D’Identities shows the aesthetics of self identity. The film Afrique, Je Te Plumerai shows the aesthetics of allegories of colonialism. In conclusion Hollywood would not dare to touch the politics nor aesthetics of these films due to Hollywood’s prejudices and other

Over the years we have seen the same white story told a thousand times that we have become desensitized to it, never expecting anything else. America was a European-White country but it has become one of the most diverse countries in the world, so American isn’t just white anymore. We are at a place in our society where we can and should be talking about race and one of the best ways to do this is through film, but there has been little to no change over the past decades. Films tend to lean toward white backdrops because it is more “relatable”; Noah the 2012 film used an all white cast because they were considered

Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were

Have you ever had one of those days that were so bad that you desperately needed a night at the ice cream or candy store? The 1970’s was that really bad day, while the night of self- indulgence was the 1980’s. Americans love to escape from our daily stress, and of all the products that allow us to do so, none is more popular than the movies. Movies are key cultural artifacts that offer a view of American culture and social history. They not only offer a snapshot of hair styles and fashions of the times but they also provide a host of insights into Americans’ ever-changing ideals. Like any cultural artifact, the movies can be approached in a number of ways. Cultural historians have treated movies as a document that records the look and

A stereotype can be defined as a “representational practice” that categorizes and segregates an individual or group of individuals based on their differences, often associating him/her with a positive or negative label, such as, by outcasting an individual based on their racial and ethnic backgrounds (Hall 225). The image of Africans as savages is a common stereotype seen in American and European films that show Africans as barbaric and primitive creatures. Specifically in these films, a savage is an African who is constantly portrayed and characterized as a worthless, lazy, blood-thirsty, cannibalistic beast “who probably deserves to die” (158). This is because Africans don’t fit the stereotypical cookie-cutter mold of what the directors consider “normal” (i.e. being a great white hunter), and therefore, they are immediately seen as insignificant and worthless individuals (158). Over time, as African produced films start forming an appearance in Hollywood, the perception of Africans slowly changes. In part because African directors represent their race as lead characters who are independent and smart. Africans are no longer seen as savage creatures, but instead, as actual human beings who crave to have their voice heard in the

In order to understand the significance of Charles Burnett as a filmmaker, an understanding of the history of African Americans in film needs to be established. The origins of African Americans in film

Jason Housley earned a Master’s degree in African American and African Diaspora Studies in 2003. He is currently Project Manager for the archive of African American Music and Culture. In the article he tries to show how Hollywood has tried to erase the importance of the Civil Rights movement and ignore the issue of racism, widely prevalent in the country . Cinematography can be used effectively to shape history and the way people think; Hollywood can be used as an apt example to show the effects media has in our daily lives. “Today, made-for-television movies are in production only weeks after a major news item attracts the public’s attention.

In this section, I analyze the sex education films, “Three Counties Against Syphilis” and “Easy to Get” and policies produced by the United States during and after World War II that influenced the public intention to find a faster, safer prophylaxis for venereal disease. This public intention to find a better prophylaxis for venereal disease led to racist and sexist crusades to contain venereal disease in communities that were considered dispensable for the benefit of the valued lives of the middle-class white populations. Furthermore, this section briefly examines how racialized stereotypes from USPHS sex education films were manifested into real-life biomedical research in Terre Haute Penitentiary and

Cinema of the United States has played an undeniable role in the transmission and interpretation of many values that we hold today. We perceive real life situations based on what Hollywood has taught us. Some ninety years after the first huge success of American cinema, “The Great Train robbery” was released, we were introduced to a new brand of films. The cult classic “Living in Bondage” was distributed. This low- budget film produced in Onitsha, Nigeria set the scene for what would become an explosion. So impressed were the filmmakers and actors by their work, they coined the term Nollywood- the Nigerian Hollywood. The different environments and practices have resulted in obvious

Laura U. Marks, The Skin of the Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and the Senses (Durham: Duke University Press, 2000), 65.

Over the years, Bollywood has emerged as its own distinct identity in the global Film industry. Bollywood is the global leader in production of movies with a staggering 27,000 featured films and thousands of short films. ( Pillania 1) However, Hollywood is still the leader in revenues generated. Due to the growth of the Indian market and globalization, Bollywood has made its way to the international markets. Globalization is often misrepresented as the growing influence of the western culture in the world and so we tend to state that Hollywood is influencing Bollywood to a great extent. An argument can be made to justify the validity of that statement. However, this paper aims at presenting the influence of Bollywood on Hollywood in

From the very beginning of the early stages in American cinema, African Americans had a presence on the silver screen. The twentieth century created a new era of cinema that consisted of films produced for and targeted to an all-Black audience. “Race films” which existed in the United States for over thirty years (1913-1948), were films produced by African Americans that focused on Black themes and highlighted the talents of African American directors, producers, scriptwriters, and actors.

Hess and Zimmermann mention that conventional categories have blurred and there’s demands for new political and aesthetic responses in transnational cinema (John Hess 2006). These transnational films I believe would be growing significantly in the film industry as a part of film history.