Since The Beginning, Television Has Not Known Quite What

Another stereotype seen in Gone with the Wind is the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Mammy, played by Hattie McDaniel. In the film, it is very patent of how important her role is. “Bogle's ‘Mammy’ category is often associated with the comic characteristics of the coons, but she is visually and psychologically distinctive. "Big, fat, cantankerous" and fiercely independent, the Mammy" was a role memorably defined by actresses. (Bogle) Hattie McDaniel was excellent in her role as Mammy, she was portrayed as very close to equal in some parts of the film. For example, when she is dressing Scarlett in preparation for the Wilkes’ barbeque she insists that Scarlett eat before she leaves, the way they talk it is clear that she is on a different status than the other house slaves. Mammy carries herself with a lot of dignity and at times is not afraid to express how she feels when it is necessary. Also, in the same scene she confronts Scarlett about her crush on Ashley Wilkes. In the movie Mammy gets away with a lot of things that the average slave wouldn’t. She is seen as the glue and rock to the O’Hara’s and she uses her strong voice and distinct facial expressions to keep Scarlett in line, and she is expected to not react when Scarlet blatantly disrespects her and her advice.

The 1987 film documentary Ethnic Notions directed by Marlon Riggs, identifies the evolution of African American cultural depictions through ethnic stereotypes and caricatures in American culture. I feel Ethnic Notions exposes the roots of false generalization from the beginning and presents a series of classifications for racial depictions that still are noticeable in today's society. These racial depictions identified with in this film begin in the mid 1800's and continue thought to the 1960's. I now after viewing Ethnic notions agree that there are generalizations and depictions that are exaggerated in American popular culture and entertainment.

Along with the Mammy stereotype, the portrayal of Black women as being lecherous by nature is also a continuing stereotype. Lewd, hypersexual and loose are a few descriptive words associated with this stereotype (Thomas et. al, 2004). The Jezebel is everything the Mammy is not. Physically, she is seen as being a mixed-raced woman with Eurocentric features that those who fall into the physical characterization of the Mammy try to achieve. She has light-skin, less kinky hair, smaller lips and a more slender nose. Although the Jezebel fits the Eurocentric beauty standards, this image “branded Black women as being sexually promiscuous and immoral” (West, p. 294) due to the sexual violence committed against them during slavery. Hutchings et. al (2010) argues that, “explicit racial cues are not necessarily a thing of the past and under certain conditions they can be

When you look at the amount of African American stars on television, it is easy to tell that stereotypes of African Americans are being portrayed negatively. Since the 1960s, black television has thrived in many different ways. From “Different Matters” to “Insecure”, African Americans have tried to get rid of this stigma. African Americans are constantly shown as. However, with the increase of representation comes an increase in misrepresentation. The amount of discrimination has risen exponentially in the United States. This is due to the increased hatred and miscommunication of black struggle and black problems in the world, causing an inhumane belief and standard of regular African Americans in the world.

“‘Don’t you ever wish you could change things?”’ (10). In Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960’s, woman ahead of her time, Miss Skeeter, proposes an idea to write a book about the lives of colored maids in Jackson. Aibileen and Minny, two maids, are among the first ones to agree to help Skeeter, despite the potential danger to themselves. In The Help, Kathryn Stockett creates an engaging and immersive world that explores racism and social injustice by using well-developed writing, the ideal amount of imagery, and strong characters.

African Americans have consistently been the target of cinematic and television comedy. Considering African American women, the Mammy has emerged as an icon throughout the 20th century, representing the foil to American white women (cf. Atkinson, 2004: 3). Having its roots in antebellum Southern America, the Mammy “was an important figure in the socialization of white Southern children” (DelGaudio, 1983). Considerably, various depictions of the Mammy present her performing arduous domestic duties in the household of their slave owners. Therefore, the Mammy replaces the white lady in educating and taking care not only of the white children but also of the home (cf. Jewell, 1993: 38). In their work, Jennifer Bailey Woodard and Teresa Mastin stand their

Different archetypes have been used to represent black people through television, live performances, and film. These stereotypes consisted of “Coon”, “Mulatto”, “Mammy”, and “Tom” (site—Johnson). Prior to films and television, African American’s were depicted by white actors wearing “blackface” in which white people entertained audiences through plots that portrayed African Americans in stereotypical ways that had prevailed since the time of slavery. “Coon” for instance, was created as a from of comedy and amusement for white individuals, as this image allowed for comic relief through idiocy. “Coons” had, in essence, a low level of intelligence with minimal common sense. Their dull-wittedness advocated the view that African American people were unintelligent beings who were incompetent and unable to formulate intelligible thoughts. This further reinforced the idea that African American people were in need of instruction and guidance from white individuals—just as they did during slavery—in order for African Americans to sustain and remain alive, or else they would be damaged by their own incapabilities. Similar to the “Coon”, Mammy was also a common character who was portrayed as an obese and grumpy woman who also provided comic relief to white folks. Mammy’s creation was

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” Barack Obama. The question is always asked does the media reflect the reality of society, or does society try and imitate the reality shown by the media? There are a number of stereotypes associated with African Americans in our society such as African American men are athletes, rappers, criminals, deviant, streetwise, uneducated, and unemployed just to name a few. African Americans in the media have changed through the years. The history of African Americans on TV or minorities in general is hampered by the racial conflicts and segregation that are embedded in American society. Historically, black actors have been grouped stereotypically and assigned to comedy. This has often been traced to the genre of black minstrelsy that was popular in the early 20th century.

The women of Jackie Ormes images encouraged Black women to reimagine themselves as having a voice and visibility. These women, Torchy, Candy, Patty Jo, and Ginger reflected Ormes’s pride in herself and her culture. Ormes makes it okay as a Black woman to want to wear high fashion, travel, fall in love, receive an education and question authority. These women created a counterstory to the historical image of the monstrous beast, therefore, allowing Ormes the opportunity to use her platform at the newspaper to make Black women in comic and cartoons human and visible.

In the last several sessions, we discussed a variety of black stereotypes portrayed in the media during the Harlem Renaissance. During the 1920s, there were specific stereotypes associated with Classic Blues vocal performers-especially black female artists. These stereotypes were based on the “Mammy” figure, which dates back to slavery. Female classic blues artists were portrayed as buxom and “hyper sexualized.” The idea of sexually independent women was considered immoral, so it is of no surprise that the stereotypes were unfair and damaging to the black culture. For further understanding of the common stereotypes, we looked at W. C. Handy’s St. Louis Blues. This short film featured many popular artists of the time, most notably, blues

They wanted to represent the in a fashion that was unattractive and seen as unfeminine. The Black Mammy

The Help (2011) by Tate Taylor is a film set in 1962 Mississippi, which portrays issues of racism and discrimination in the small town of Jackson. Hilly Holbrook (Miss Hilly), a Southern white character, views African-Americans as people who are lazy, dirty, diseased, and are in general less intelligent and less valuable than Southern whites. She enforces the need for segregation and punishes anyone who disagrees. Miss Hilly's perspective of African Americans is a representation of the dominant perspective in the society of Jackson, Mississippi 1962. The "help" referred to the African-Americans who were considered to be low class, if they were considered to be a part of society at all. Miss Hillys’ perspective reflects the harsh stereotype

The movie “The Help” was based In the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. During this period of time it was very segregated, very much so that whites did not want African Americans to have contact with them, but were expected to fully take care of their children from birth to adulthood. Most of the African American maids later developed a strong bond with the children that they looked after. They tried teaching the kids to see no color, just to later witness them grow up to be brainwashed by the world to think of African Americans as less than. Except for one southern girl named Skeeter Phelan, who saw the equality in everyone. And one day she decided to interview the maids to get their perspectives on life and to get their story out to the world. At first the maids were hesitant because it would be serious consequences if anyone knew who exactly spoke up, but Skeeter did whatever she could to make sure all the maids were anonymous and no one knew. She risked many hardships like losing her relationship with her boyfriend and also building tension with the women of the Junior League. Successfully the maids stories got out and it opened eyes little by little.

The Help () depicts the life of African American maids in Jackson, Alabama during the 1960s and the stories that were told in perspective of them. The film could easily be portrayed in different manners which includes negativity. However, The Help has a significant message to us. Because the book and film were inspired by true events, they have a historical background that includes logic and emotion. The Help gives a clear message of significance in history, relationship, and hope.

There were not too many roles created in mainstream film world that flattered the African American woman unless they were created by African American filmmakers which still focused on racism. Women who were dark-skinned or brown-skinned were specifically cast as roles that degraded their true intellect and presented them as nothing more but uneducated housemaids, house servants and house slaves who kept themselves “busy” throughout the film. Those who were fair complexions and could escape their bi-racial or black identity would hide their true ethnicity in hopes of landing higher paying and respectable parts such as the familiar damsel in distress These roles were mainly marketed towards white American women. Viewers are subconsciously taught through media that there is a distinctive look stars are so supposed to possess, this can be associated with a character’s gender, sexuality or race. Lee goes so far as literally making the depiction of both rivalry groups’ face Hattie McDaniel and Judy Garland. What I found particular interesting when observing this scene and the racial ambiguity the musical score shared is the “bad hair” characters are compared to Mammy in “Gone with the