The Searchers: Prejudice And Racism In Film

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.

As we were watching this film I could tell that there were many messages that the director wanted the audience to gain from this movie. One of the messages I got from this movie is that every single person is extremely similar however racial issues hold us back from discovering that. I believe the director wanted viewers to realize that stereotypes and discrimination keeps us from learning about one another. With the way things came

The Australian film ‘Jasper Jones’ directed by Rachel Perkins showcases the ideas of racism, prejudice, sexual abuse and bullying. The film is based in the small mining town Corrigan in the year of 1965. In this period, the Vietnam War had Australia sending troops to fight. The war divided cultures, victimising the Vietnamese Lu family because of their race and frequently abusing against them verbally and physically. Sexual abuse and infidelity are other issues that lurk throughout the film as the truth of Laura Wishart’s disappearance displays how prejudice occurs within the small town in outback Australia in the 1960s.

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

Using the language of the moving image, which includes cinematography, editing, sound, music and mise-en-scene, this essay will investigate the ideology of Racism in film. OxfordDictionaries.com describes racism as “Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.” When we, the audience think of racism in film, we traditionally think of movies for adults and often overlook the sinister aspect of racism in children’s films. I have chosen to contrast a recent R-rated film with a G-rated Disney movie from the 1990s. Disney films, even up until the 1990s have persistently reinforced the image of blacks or latino and asian races as being below whites. The

The degree of connection between all of the characters in the movie is so coincidental and interrelated to emphasize the point that we do not always know what is going on with everyone else we may encounter. It also accentuates the fact that racism is not one particular race against another. It also shows that we never know someone’s situation and what is happening in their life to make them act the way that they do if

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

Racial segregation highlights the racial theme within both films of Mississippi Burning and American History X. The importance of setting establishes culture during a

The misrepresentation of minorities for the sake of the mainstream film industry has existed since the foundation of the Hollywood industry. While the industry favors the white male as the ideal for audiences to cheer towards victory, those who once played both racist and stereotypical characters are now taking the opportunity to speak out against the mainstream ideal. Out of the several minority groups working to change the definition of mainstream media to favor minorities, “… the recent expansion of Asian-American roles on television has paradoxically ushered in a new generation of actors with just enough star power and job security to speak more freely about Hollywood’s larger failures”(Hess). Unfortunately, the mainstream film industry seems to continually work against the sense of positioning minorities into leading roles, or much of any role in the big blockbusters Hollywood, and other mainstream productions, bank upon each year. The Asian male has long been the victim of racism, misrepresentation, and emasculation by the mainstream, and it continues to exist. Although, films are coming out, mostly from independent filmmakers, that counteract the racist Hollywood foundation, even if it’s in a very small degree. One film to have been held up as an opposition to this victimization of the mainstream film industry, Better Luck Tomorrow, directed by Justin Lin. By using an all Asian cast of young men to tell a coming of age story, Better Luck Tomorrow is praised for

According to Lum (2007) defines discrimination as a “behavioral response that is unfavorable to members of an ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, or related out-group. It is preceded by prejudice what is a negative affective attitude and a learned condition”. Discrimination is not liking a person or a group of people solely based on what they look like or where they come from. I have been the target of racism on several occasions. I use to work at the Marriott Hotel as a wine pourer. I was talking to this man who happens to be Caucasian, he was telling me I had a nice smile and how educated I was. He noticed he was flirting with me and stated “sorry I should not flirt with the help”. During this time the movie with Viola Davis came out where she was the slave and the movie was called the “Help”. I have never felt so insulted in my entire life.

Who is the harder in Australia? Samson and Delilah is the best movie of 2009 in Australia that was directed by Warwick Thornton. The main characters of this film are Samson and Delilah performed by Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr. The purpose of the film is to highlight the issues is two young indigenous Australian living in an Aboriginal community. The film starts with when they live are changed then they fled the place where they live. This film is strongly shown the consequences of the European impact on Aboriginal Australian society by presenting injustice and uses camera work.

The moment that stood out to me while watching the conversation with white people about race was when one of the speakers a male said, “I am not involved with the conflicted I am only the beneficiary, and so I feel as though I cannot talk about it”. This moment stood out to me because hearing the problem with race, and how someone how is white might look at it opened up conversation within myself that I had never really thought about. An example, is in the movie War Dogs no one expects the people sitting behind the monitor in America to be able to understand the price of war. This is kind of the same concept, how is someone supposed to understand the price of race if you are the one sitting behind a film just doing your job, the one that you were trained for. Before now I never really thought of it like that, and it made sense so it stood out.

Racism, prejudice and stereotyping, as the main themes of the movie, control all the sub-stories that are somehow linked to each other. Moreover, as the stories go on and events develop, it becomes possible to see how characters start to have changes in their perspective and attitude towards each other, either in a good or a bad way. An incident which can demonstrate our thesis on racism and stereotyping and how it might change in just one moment which brings people closer could be shown as the conflict between the racist police officer and the African American woman who gets harassed by him, and whose life is saved by him on the next day. The first encounter of the woman and the officer resulted with the woman

The movie's main point is not about racism nonetheless it still portrays some scenes regarding racism. During his early childhood, he attended a school wherein white Americans dominate the school’s population. At first, he had low self-esteem and performed poorly in his academics. His classmates mocked him after he muttered his score, which was mistaken for 'nine' rather than 'none'. Later, he was sent to the principal's office for hitting his classmate with a lock on his hand.

“Most people pronounced his last name ‘Mee-show,’ though some who knew him insist it was ‘Mi-shaw.’ The correct pronunciation of his name is only the beginning of the ambiguities and mysteries associated with Oscar Micheaux”