1970's: Film Analysis

“Do you get what you’re hoping for? When you look behind you, there’s no open doors. What are you hoping for?” (Do You Know Where You’re Going To, Diana Ross)
During the time of the 1970’s women did not have many privileges they have today. Portrayed in the film Mahogany (1975), screen played by John Byrum and directed by Berry Gordy, is the struggle of which women faced every day in the early years of 1970’s. This fascinating film demonstrates the sexism and racism American women of color had to deal with during this time.
Mahogany (1975) reflects the political, cultural, and historical aspect of the issues and inequality African Americans faced throughout these years of their lives. Diana Ross, as Tracy Chambers, represents women of color very well in this film. Tracy is a young women whom aspires to become one of the world’s top fashion designer. She works in Chicago to try to broaden her fashion skills and

does not easily let anything stop her from pursuing this dream, not even the stress of racism and sexism. Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin” (History contributors, ¶ 1), was put into place, it was still difficult for African American’s to achieve what they wanted to professionally.
Times were not easy back then and you had to work hard for whatever it was you wanted, especially in a professional work environment and even then sometimes it was not enough, due to the factors of sexism and racism of men and women. Tracy, who also get the nickname Mahogany throughout the film, can be used as evidence or an example to the black feminist theories. Black feminist were sought to think that colored women were seen almost as an invisible group of human beings. They felt that their existence, wants, and needs were continually ignored. These thoughts and feelings ended up leading to the formation of the National Black Feminist Organization in New York in 1973, which was just a few years before this film came out. This organization was conducted to primarily focus on black women who were racially oppressed within the women's movement.
This film does a very well job at addressing the needs and concerns of colored women well.

Tracy starts out as a typical girl in the South Side of Chicago. She works as a secretary in a department store, goes to school, and dreams to become a fashion designer. Tracy takes her designs to her aunt, whom sewed up all her outfits and took them around to see if anyone would ever be interested in Tracy’s designs. There was not a big reaction to her designs at all, but luckily she does not give up there. She finds it hard to make it big at first, but it was only a matter of time until meets a big time fashion photographer, Sean, which then led to her start of a runaway success.
Tracy meets Brian, whom ended up in jail on behalf of Tracy’s actions of pouring milk on his bullhorn, which had then led to a fight. She bails Brian out and he promises to repay her. Late one night she hears coins falling in her mail slot, she gets up to see what is going on and finds Brian out there. She and Brian begin to get to know each other and eventually end up being

together.
Brian was not the best type of person when it came to supporting Tracy, and she soon notices that when he is telling her to basically give up on her dreams for him. Little did he know that she would be receiving a call from Sean just a little later on. Sean calls Tracy and offers her to fly out to Rome, for she was exactly what he has been looking for in a model. Later that night she fled. While with Sean, he comes up with a name for her, later calling her Mahogany. While being around Sean, an unhealthy relationship starts to form with him. He becomes controlling and very easily bothered and jealous of those who want attention from Tracy. Tracy feels bad, as if she owes Sean something for bringing her to Rome and getting her involved with what she has always dreamt about. This thought of Tracy’s leads to a bad decision to sell herself back to him. Things do not go as planned though, when she finds out he is not interested in her in that type of way. As all of this is happening, Brian comes to visit Tracy in Rome and tries his best to persuade her to rethink everything and come back home. She stays back, she knows what she wants and she thinks this is what she must do to become and stay successful. Although it does not take long before she changes her mind, for she realizes that maybe this is not what she wanted, maybe things do not always go how you expect or dream of them to be. She becomes lost within her thoughts and must decide whether to stay in Rome to continue this career as she becomes less happy with it every day, or to go back to Chicago with the guy she loves, Brian.
Okay, so yeah, maybe it was hard for Tracy to achieve her goal professionally at the time, but she came to realize that you should not have to worry about risking your own happiness for just that one thing. During the post-civil rights era times where hard for colored women, but maybe risking it all for one thing is not necessarily the best option.
Tracy represents not only women of that time period well, but even women today. It has not always been easy as a women to become successful, but especially during that time period, it was very difficult for colored women to be successful. Women back then could easily be summarized using one statement “I am women, hear me roar”. This comes from a song sang by Helen Reddy in 1972. Women felt very strong about this statement and wanted to be noticed and accepted in every aspect. Another saying that can help to easily summarize the way women felt during this time was “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle”. This statement can say so much for women. Be independent, do what you want, you do not need someone to tell you what to do, or how to do it. Women, especially colored women, related to these two sayings very well.
Mahogany was a film, primarily based on the struggles of women, especially colored women and was one big example of what they would do to get what they want or needed. I believe this film represented women of color well, and you can even relate to this in today’s society. In today’s society this is relatable because many women still feel as if they do not get all the attention they should, whether it is within the professional field or something completely different. Women should not feel like they are less important. Colored women at the time Mahogany was filmed had a very hard time for women. Back then, and even today women must live up to society’s expectations and that creates a ton of pressure for women.
Today women outperform men academically, yet are still placed below them in the workforce. I feel like Tracy was a good model for many women throughout the film. She was told by many people that she should give up on her dream, but she had her goals and she did not let anyone stop her from reaching those goals. When she met Brian he expected her to drop everything so he could pursue his dreams, but she does not. She then gets involved with Sean and tries to prove that she could become whatever she wanted, and she does. She finally reaches her goal of becoming a successful fashion designer, but she finds that she is not as happy as she expected to be. Although she needed to decide whether to stick to the lifestyle that she has always dreamed of, or come back to reality to realize that her happiness is still left behind in Chicago, she taught herself something. That lesson she taught herself was that no matter what people think of you, and no matter what race or what gender you are, if you want something bad enough and you work for it, you can reach your ultimate goal. She did not only prove something to herself, but I feel as if she proved something to all women, especially women of color.