Essay on Taking a Look at African-American Cinema

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.

Audiences can easily assume for it to be the first option, but they can be quick to overlook what makes his films the latter. Perry is what the American film industry had needed for a very long time; he is that force that has been able to capture the attention of all, rebuild the careers of many black performers, and put black cinema into the mainstream spotlight. Long has there been a history of black performers and directors who were not able to successfully portray themselves without the intruding opinion of white authority in the industry. Media representation of all creeds and colors matters to those that rarely receive the representation in the first place, and Perry ultimately has the power to bring this to light. One could argue that he does manage to do this, but at the end of the day the question to ask is, ‘to what

All of this proves that Hollywood is not doing a good job in making up for the blatantly racist films of the twentieth century. Hollywood needs to do more to reverse the stereotypes of early film because such stereotypes are still seen today along with their respective repercussions.

There are hardly any films involving African-Americans that accurately represent black culture and it is something that has rarely been accomplished in the mainstream film industry. In the 30s, black film had an extraordinary presence as they were shown to large segregated audiences. However, by the 80’s black film was seen as simply comic relief with no true depictions of real life. In 1986, She’s Gotta Have It was introduced by director, editor and actor Spike Lee who wanted real people with real lives in his work. The film offers a new perspective on sexuality and the double standard that is applied to men and women. This portrayal allowed audiences to visualize African-Americans as any other race when it comes to loving one another and

Once Jim Morrison said that whoever controls the media controls the mind. This shows that he had recognized the immense power and influence that the media has in our day to day lives. The media plays a very important role in the society as the source of information for every person. Hence, it is very hard for the modern society to live without the media. As a result of the media being the major source of information in our society, it is an undeniable fact the media shapes people’s opinions, attitudes and actions on particular issues (Czopp & Monteith, 2006).

These stereotypes depicted “drug dealers, prostitutes, single mothers, and complacent drag queens” (Harris, 51). In the 1980s, African American filmmakers began to make a name for themselves. These films are “social commentaries, indictments of racism and depictions of ‘everyday’ American lives” (Harris, 51). Compared to the traditional representations of blacks and blackness, New Black cinema takes on this cultural intervention and the recoding of blackness. Harris describes this as “revising the visual codes surrounding black skin on the screen and in the public

In most films, African Americans are also shown in a stereotypical manner that promotes notions of moral inferiority. When it comes to the terms of movie characters shown by race African Americans use more vulgar profanity than whites. African Americans are also being physically violent and restrained than whites. The despite history of African Americans in television, there has been improvement in some of the television and movie roles and portrayals. Improvement in media roles still needs to accurately reflect our diverse roles in society.

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

According to Tukachinsky, Mastro, and Yarchi, prior to 1930, the role of Blacks on screen were seen involving mostly in criminality and idleness (540). That role still persists until the present, with Blacks usually have to withstand to “longstanding and unfavorable media stereotypes including sexually provocative females and aggressive male thugs” (Tukachinsky 540). 1970’s movies such as The Mack, Black Caesar and Coffy have reinforced this stereotypic image of the black community. The

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

In the earlier years of the 1990s, African American directors such as John Singleton and Hughes Brothers seemed to focus on race. More importantly the statistics of the majority of African Americans and life within their community. These statistics include, “at least 56 percent of black families headed by a woman, 45 percent of black children living below the poverty line, and black unemployment generally tripling the rate of white unemployment.” (Quart 197). It was these figures that inspired the largest movements about African Americans since the 1970s.

Between 1970 and 1980 there was a cultural film explosion, there were over 200 films released by major and independent studios that hyped major black characters and themes. Prior to the Blaxploitation era black actors had been relinquished to playing small parts that usually presented stereotyped images of the black race with roles such as waitresses or shoeshine boys. This however all changed when in 1971 when the first successful black film "Sweetback's Baadasss Song" showed a black man coming out on top over the white establishment. The term blaxploitation both helped and destroyed the genre. While many blaxploitation films were box office successes, they also fueled the public's perception of blacks as cold-hearted heroes, gangsters,

Quentin Tarantino’s film Jackie Brown, released in 1997, challenges the pervasive stereotyping of not only blacks but specifically black women. Nowhere is the cinematic devaluation of African Americans more evident than in images of black women which, in the history of cinematography, the white ideal for female beauty has overlooked. The portrayal of black women as the racial Extra has been fabricated through many semblances in the history of American film. Film scholars and feminists alike have long been plagued with lament for the negativity and stereotyping that sticks with black women in American cinema. In this paper, I will argue that Jackie Brown highlights and stresses the racial variance of the female African American protagonist,

Films have the power to both influence and reflect society. The stereotypes prevalent throughout American culture are reflected in most films. While the United States is becoming an increasingly diverse country, this diversity is not portrayed within American cinema. Minority figures often occupy

In the 19th and 20th century, Hollywood tended to avoid using African American actors due to the perception that this would lead to racial tension. Clarence Muse, the first African American to star in a major film, wrote a book that considered 'The Dilemma of the Negro Actor. ' In it, he argued that African-American performers were caught in a trap; 'there are two audiences in America to confront, ' he wrote, 'the white audience with a definite desire for buffoonery and song, and the Negro audience with a desire to see the real elements of Negro life portrayed (Muse 1934). ' However, the most