Race and Ethnicity Onscreen

To answer some of these questions students will need this Race/Ethnicity supplemental reading. All screenings cited below will be shown in class.

What is the definition of a stereotype?

Stereotypes aren’t limited solely to race and ethnicity, of course. What other groups are stereotyped onscreen, and how are they stereotyped (i.e., characteristics, actions, etc.)?

Are the attributes you just listed necessarily true in all cases? Of course not. Then, why does popular culture continue to employ such simplistic and offensive (even when not necessarily negative) representations of people?

Why is it important — VERY important — for scholars (and film STUDENTS!) to consider the manner in which Hollywood depicts stereotypes onscreen?

Early Hollywood (and Minstrelsy)

How does early Hollywood depict the ideology of white supremacy, particularly in The Birth of a Nation?

In The Birth of a Nation how are black men and white women depicted? What is the only thing apparently on the man’s mind? Finally, what would the young girl rather have happen to her than be touched by Gus, a black man?

Films like the one above borrow unfortunate stereotypes left over from America’s Civil War, for example, “Uncle Tom,” “the black buck,” “the mammy,” and “the mulatto.” (If you are unfamiliar with the definition of these stereotypes, please look them up online.) Which of these Civil War stereotypes does The Birth of a Nation‘s Gus exemplify?

What is blackface, and why did white actors do this?

With the above in mind, what is a minstrel show, and how does it carry connotations of white supremacy?

Are there any films today that employ minstrelsy and/or black-, brown-, or yellowface (I think of Jack Black’s wrestling comedy Nacho Libre). Can you name any more of these (mostly comedic) films?

Classical Hollywood Cinema

An overly sexualized image of black men surfaces in films like The Birth of a Nation, but this is NOT the norm for classical Hollywood cinema. How, then, are, most blacks — male and female — represented in CHC?

How do you think African American audience members potentially thought of themselves while watching these repetitive (negative) stereotypes? Consider this question in light of the “doll experiment” performed before Brown vs. The Board of Education. If you’re unfamiliar with this (heartbreaking) sociological test, read about it via the link above.

In his book Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films, Donald Bogle argues that some African American performers like Lena Horne and the Nicholas brothers transcended the limitations of their supporting roles; in other words, they were so captivating and talented, they stood out over their white costars. (We’ll see an example of this via a musical number from The Pirate.)

How does the Civil Rights movement affect Hollywood’s onscreen depiction of African Americans?

Who was the African American actor that helped to break racial barriers in mainstream Hollywood films? What kinds of films did he star in? How was/is he received?

1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and Today

What are blaxploitation films? And how do they differ from films you learned about above?

Despite the fact that African Americans were now able to carry their own films, what are some problems you foresee with the depiction of blacks in blaxploitation films?

What changes have occurred over the last few decades (1980s and ’90s in particular) with regard to the representations of African Americans in film?

Can you list any of the directors who prompted these changes?

Why does the supplement suggest that it would be “a mistake to exclude whites from a discussion on race in film”?

What can we learn about everyone (not just minorities) by analyzing these films? In other words, what do we learn about whites through our analyses here? (Not always very flattering, is it?)

Watch the opening of Lethal Weapon, and explain how the white-black pairing differs from past representations in literature, television, and film. (You may fast-forward through the credit sequence to the introduction of Danny Glover’s and Mel Gibson’s characters).

What about the film’s promotional poster (see above)? Does it represent the black-white pairing equally? Explain your response.

What about the (somewhat regrettable) now-popular stereotype of the Magical Negro (look it up online if you’re unsure what this means): how does it (e.g., Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost, Will Smith in The Legend of Bagger Vance) fit into this discussion we’re having?

Minority Filmmakers and Boyz n the Hood

How do films made by whites and those like Boyz N the Hood, which are made by members of racial minorities, differ?

How do the representations of African Americans in Boyz differ drastically from those of classical Hollywood cinema?

Are there stereotypes in Boyz? If so, they MUST differ in their meaning because the film is made by an African American. What does this mean?

The word nigger is used a great deal in Boyz, but always by which race? Does this make a difference? Why or why not?

Are whites represented in Boyz? If so, how? Conventionally? As Spike Lee represents them in Do the Right Thing, for example?

What type of lead characters are we dealing with here — Tre, Furious, and Brandy in particular? Are these stereotypical black characters?

Finally, how does the climax of Boyz avoid narrative temptations common to classical Hollywood films?

What do you expect Tre and/or Furious to do at the end? Does he/they?