Blackboard Jungle

Prompt 1 Mr. Dadier and Gregory Miller’s relationship throughout Blackboard Jungle reflects the socioculture happenings in the civil rights movement in relation to rock-and-roll. The beginning of the film opens with its only rock song Bill Haley and the Comets “Rock Around the Clock” and Dadier first encountering a group of students dancing, harassing a woman and gambling or as Shumway (125) describes, “helping to define the culture’s conception of dangerous youth and to make rock & roll apart of that definition.” The opening scene informs both Mr. Dadier and the viewer that rock-and-roll has already reached this racially integrated school noting that Gregory Miller has yet to be in a seen. For the viewers of this 1955 movie there would be a more profound reaction to the sight of a racially integrated school dancing to “Rock Around the Clock” because just a year before Brown vs Board of Education was passed which according to Szatmary (21) “helped start a civil rights movement that would foster an awareness and acceptance of African American culture, including the African American based rock-and-roll.” Since rock-and-roll was recognized as created by African-Americans it is easy for white Americans of the time to use African-American culture as a scapegoat for unruly teen behavior presented in the opening scene. The first scene Gregory Miller is introduced there is tension between him and Mr. Dadi...

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...ey choose to represent themselves. S ikivu Hutchinson writes that 20 Feet From Stardom is an example of how “women of color back-up singers are still treated like expendable objects, eye candy and soulful exotics while fighting tooth and nail for recognition and a shot at center stage.” None of the women in 20 Feet had exceptional solo careers because within the historical context they would never be respected as solo artist unless they asserted themselves in a sexual way that would be on the same level of Elvis. This would be harder for an African-American woman because they are already sexualized as back-up singers. There would be then a need for overt sexualization as displayed by Tina Turner. Although Tina Turner is an extraordinary performer her success is banked on that overt sexualization where’s the women of 20 Feet hoped to rely on their vocal talents.