Remember The Titans: Racial Issues In The Film Race

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

Can you imagine embarrassing the infamous Adolf Hitler in front of the whole world? Jesse Owens did that in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was not an easy road for him to get there, but he did it by putting enough effort and hard work forward. Jesse Owens was able to overcome racial judgment by surviving a poverty struck childhood, training hard in school, and by winning the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

What images come to mind as one reflects upon his or her childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the fondest of memories. Yet, for many, mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept off their feet, and lions roar to their royal place in the animal kingdom. Disney films have captivated the American culture for years and have become a pivotal part of popular culture as well as a form of education. However, these films have devoured the youth of America and, in the process; have perpetuated an institutionally racist society based on harsh stereotypes. Minorities are often underrepresented, and even completely left out, of many Disney films such as Dumbo (1941), The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), and

It analyses scientific, historic and social information to decipher how and why the myth of race developed. The film maintains that race persists as a category of social difference and inequality even though it is socially constructed and not biological. This is because the notion of race is ingrained in everyone’s brains, even the non-racist brains to conclude there is a hierarchy. The film indicates that race is an idea that we ascribe to biology, as well racial lines justify past and present wrongs; slavery, imperialism and genocide. As well, a lot of scientific work on race was individually and culturally influenced, therefore social differences become naturalized or biological i.e. infant mortality, living conditions etc- even in today’s society we ignore poverty and social neglect of health; not real science. Race does not relate to genetic diseases a way to show that we are able to have or not have

The films, Remember The Titans and The Sapphires are both discovering significant social messages of racial conflict. With these messages and the techniques used in both films they have resulted in two powerful films that highlight racial discrimination. This essay will explore the relationship between the filmmaking and the social messages it is trying to highlight, as well as the similarities, differences and techniques shared between both films

There were many scenes in the film that were meaningful to the theme of racism. One important scene is at the Gettysburg battle location. Here, Coach Boone makes an impacting speech to the players on overcoming

The film Ethnic Notions examines the various caricatures of African Americans in popular culture and the consequences of these representations from the 1800s to the 1980s. The film showed how America went through a face of injustice for a period of time. The internet defines stereotype as qualities assigned to groups of people related to their race, nationality and sexual orientation, to name a few. (Kemick) Throughout American history, African Americans have been victims of stereotypes in many ways. White majority use violence caricatures, stereotypes, dominance, subordination and the media as ways to overpower African Americans.

There is a long and intertwined history between America and race. As we have not only read and discussed in class, the film, “The Story We Tell”, expands upon the notion that the concept of race, much like that of America, is a recent development. Race is a social constructed concept often used to further economical and/or political gain. As we learned watching the film, race has always gone deeper than how you look, it has more to with the meaning persons assign to how you look. The words, “all men are created equal”, harvest a moral contradiction, we, a nation that takes great pride in that very foundation of equality, can also portray the idea of race in such a scale that would suppress and eliminated such a multitude of people for our own gain.

There are many people in our world today, that believe racism is a problem of the past, that segregation and inequality are expressions that are not relevant today. The cold heart felt reality of this statement is that racism, is even more alive in our world today, than ever before. Circumstances such as, Caucasians being paid more than African Americans for the same job and Caucasian police officers gunning down innocent African Americans and being acquitted for it, are just some examples of the racial tensions in our society today. The people that believe racism is no longer a problem in this world, are simply ignoring the recent and past tragedies of African Americans. The inequalities this minority group has endured, has caught the attention of certain groups of people, that are trying to bring change, by taking a stand for a solution. In this challenge, the media has been very effective, in not only bringing the problems to the surface but also in seeking to effect resolutions. Throughout our countries’ past, the media, and even more specifically, movies, have been a powerful tool in bringing light of many types of injustices brought onto minority groups. A prime example of a movie that presents some of these issues is “Remember the Titans”. Throughout this essay, I will be analyzing this film, identifying some of the aspects of the film’s form, content and symbolism, regarding the impact on American culture, that can be seen within it.

The history of African Americans in early Hollywood films originated with blacks representing preconceived stereotypes. D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film, Birth of a Nation, stirred many controversial issues within the black community. The fact that Griffith used white actors in blackface to portray black people showed how little he knew about African Americans. Bosley Crowther’s article “The Birth of Birth of a Nation” emphasizes that the film was a “highly pro-South drama of the American Civil War and the Period of Reconstruction, and it glorified the role of the Ku Klux Klan” (76). While viewing this film, one would assert that the Ku Klux Klan members are heroic forces that rescue white women from sexually abusive black men. Griffith

After World War II, Baseball was most beloved game in America. Africans had served their country gallantly with others. However, they return home fighting to free the world from tyranny only to find racism, Jim crawlism and segregation still waiting at home. The film is about the challenges Robinson face to come to play Baseball as a first negro player through social segregation.

[2] For films concerning slavery, the role of the filmmaker as educator is substantially heightened. All too often slavery films categorically vilify whites as oppressive forces, polarizing race and stereotyping the white

Race does not play a large role in this movie, which tells you a lot about the community the movie is set in. None of the characters in the movie are people of color. This tells the audience that the movie is dealing with an all-white, poor, rural community. This allows the audience to fill in information regarding this community based on what is already known about such communities.

Another issue in the movie was attitudes. All races have attitudes towards people that are not like their own, whether they are good or bad. Attitudes I believe are connected with experiences. What one experiences with another race can affect the way their attitude is towards them.

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.