Week 7
Cinema has changed significantly from 1992, when the book In Black Looks:Race and Representation by Bell Hooks, was written. In chapter 7 of the book, Bell hooks describes how people of color have been seen through media. A great recent example of a movie where a black female character is empowered and is an example of a non stereotypical black character, is the 2019 horror movie, Us.
In the film, Adelaide defends her family from doppelgangers that have appeared and begun killing people. The idea of the gaze plays a major role in the film as the doppelgangers often stare at the family or vice versa. To pull a quote from In Black Looks, "The politics of slavery, of radicalized power relations, were such that the slaves were denied their right to gaze" In the film, the right to gaze is literally denied to the doppelgangers as they dwell under the earth. When one of them finds the surface, it is through a fun house mirror revealing their "other" on the opposite side of the mirror. The whole deeper meaning in the film is more connected with Hands Across America, rather than African American issues, though the Hands Across America idea does connect with how people of lower classes can become more connected and rise, even though there are holes in their connections. The stereotype with many black characters, especially initial ones in film and media, is they are created to serve white people. Typically a maid or a secondary character, comedy relief role. However, with the increase in black film makers in Hollywood, their representation has gotten better, though it is still lacking compared to their white counterparts. Many television shows and movies where the black character isn't placed as a comedy relief or as an assistant character, they're surrounded by white characters. Even when the black character is the main character, there is an odd trend among certain mediums, specifically animation, where the black character transforms or is hidden in some way throughout the movie. It's hard to see representation as a child, when you literally can't see representation.
Hi Nathan, you did a great job on your blog post this week. The connection between the reading and the movie Us is very interesting. I really like how you were able to connect the two. It's also nice to see more POC lead roles in movies as well. Hopefully that continues to grow. A question I have for you is were you able to find any other movies that have connections to this week's reading? Overall, you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteCurrently in development is the Candyman remake and is being directed by Nia DeCosta, a black female director. The whole focus of the initial film is a woman's relationship with black supernatural ghost. The original film doesn't have many moments between the two, though the Candyman's imagery and presence is felt through out the movie. I wanted to include it in my initial post, though I struggled with where to put the information.
DeleteHi Nathan. OOH, sounds scary. I'm not able to watch horror movies because I get too scared, and since I can't "unsee" it, the images pop back into my head at random times, re-scaring me. But I did enjoy reading this post. I was trying to think of other movies that portrayed black people in a non-stereotypical way, but since I'm not a big movie person anyway, I couldn't think of any. Can you think of any others? Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I do not have much knowledge about genres outside of horror. The few animated projects I am aware of that feature black characters, have a really terrible stink about turning them into animals or little creatures, so that the white audience and overseas audiences don't feel uncomfortable. The only exception I can think of is Spiderverse, but Miles is in a mask for the film.
DeleteYou make some solid points about black representation in film then versus them in film now, Nathan. The scale of black directors and stars has greatly increased in recent years with hit movies like your example Us and Black Panther. Good job on your post this week, you conveyed your thoughts in a very easy to read way, I only have one question for you. What other movies can you think of or may have watched that represent black people in a more positive light?
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