Erica Lagerlof-Perez ANTH 268 10 May 2024. COPY AND PASTE INTO MICROSOFT WORD BEFORE SENDING’! + DOUBLE SPACE Within the current discourse on racism, Jordan Peele's groundbreaking 2017 film "Get Out" stands out as a potent examination of racial dynamics in contemporary America. Its terrifying story explores racism's detrimental nature in all of its forms, providing a horrifying picture of the objectification and exploitation that African Americans experience to this day. The topics covered in Edward Said's Covering Islam, Albert Memmi's Racism, Haunani-Kay Trask's From a Native Daughter, Trinh T. Minh-ha's Woman, Native, Other, and Peele's work all have a deep resonance with one another and offer distinct viewpoints to the larger discussion …show more content…
Jordan Peele’s 2017 film “Get Out” is a psychological thriller that explores themes of racism that are present in modern society. The story follows protagonist Chris Washington, a young African American man, who visits his white girlfriend Rose Armitage’s family estate for a weekend. As Chris and Rose arrive at her family’s estate, they are greeted by seemingly friendly and overly accommodating gestures from her parents, Dean and Missy, and their peculiar house staff, who are all African American. Throughout the weekend, Chris noticed odd behaviors from the other Black residents of the estate, who seem to be acting strangely and appear to be under some form of control. He also experiences a series of unsettling encounters with Rose's family and their affluent friends, all of whom make subtly …show more content…
Memmi contends that racism is a systematic phenomena with roots in historical processes of domination and exploitation rather than just a collection of prejudices or isolated instances of discrimination. The colonizer imposes cultural norms and values on the colonized, depriving them of agency and exposing them to various sorts of exploitation. He views this colonizer-colonized connection as the oldest example of racial oppression. In "Get Out," Jordan Peele similarly explores the mechanics of power in interracial relationships, namely how white people and institutions take advantage of Black bodies. The practice of "transplanting" white elders' consciousness into young Black people's bodies by the Armitage family is a terrifying metaphor for how Black identity and labor have historically and presently been exploited by white society. By using this storytelling technique, Peele shows how racism functions as a systemic and institutional phenomenon that upholds systems of inequality in addition to acting on a personal or individual basis. Central to colonialist ideology is the belief that certain races are inferior to others, which is an idea used to justify the exploitation and subjugation of colonized peoples. This idea is also used to promote a sense of benevolence in
To conclude, “The Offensive Movie Cliché That Won’t Die” by Matt Zoller Seitz, and “Race Relations Light Years from the Earth” by Mitu Sengupta, both identify and elaborate on the racism and stereotypical views throughout the stories by using nonfiction elements --authors purpose and main idea --to effectively support and explain how theme was distributed.
To conclude, “The Offensive Movie Cliché That Won’t Die” by Matt Zoller Seitz, and “Race Relations Light Years from the Earth” by Mitu Sengupta, both identify and elaborate on the racism and stereotypical views throughout the stories by using nonfiction elements --authors purpose and main idea --to effectively support and explain how theme was distributed.
This week’s readings of the reviews of Spike Lee’s ‘Do the Right Thing’ and Marilyn Fabe’s “Political Cinema: Spike Lee’s ‘Do the Right Thing’, raised a number of questions regarding not only the moral issues the film addresses but also the intention of the artist. This dialectical opposition, which Pamela Reynolds suggests “challenges the audience to choose” (Reynolds, p.138) between the narrativized hostility shown between that of the hero and villain. More specifically Lee’s portrayal of violence vs passive opposition. This can be perceived through Lee’s technical employment of contradictory quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcom X at the conclusion of the film, which not only highlights this concern but also deluges further into themes of political opposition. Marylin Fabe discusses this where she states that Spike Lee’s film carries a “disturbing political message” (Fabe, p.191). Arguably, ‘Do the Right Thing’ acmes themes of racism (Black vs White); with underlining motifs of imperialism (colonisers’ vs colonised), psychoanalytic (power vs powerlessness) and even Marxist theory (ownership vs public space/consumption), with Clarence Page stating that Lee provides a “public service… (not trying) to provide all the answers, but raising the questions.” (Reid, P.144). In saying this we explore this concept of the role of the artist, with Georgopulos stating that the role of the artist is to create a consciousness within the audience by revealing a fraught set of truths about the human condition. Thusly, the reactions and responses to the films reveal Lee to be successful in conveying his intentions, which back in its zenith, explored this issue of racism in a way that had rarely been seen, and presented the ways in which t...
In “The Help, A Feel-Good Movie That Feels Kind of Icky”, Dana Stevens discloses her thoughts on a movie that focuses on the civil rights movement. Stevens has a lot to say about the movie, good and bad, however the focal point of it is that in the media industry we like to sugarcoat the truth about times in history. This movie is about black-white relations in America and happens to end up being mostly about a white character and her journey to enlightenment. Stevens points out that in media it seems that we address issues but always have a dominant white character. The movie offers insight into what life was like during the civil rights movement but “the catharsis it offers feels glib and insufficient,” reinforcing Stevens statement about the media and it diminishing the ugly truth about race relations in America (Stevens 776). She also goes on to say that media does this to allow the viewer to not feel so guilty about racism in the past and to try while at the same time putting the viewer’s mind to rest about present day racism. Stevens believes that the movie is somewhat of a blurred line between what actually happened in the past and it being a feel good movie. For it to be historically accurate, Stevens would say it
The film observes and analyzes the origins and consequences of more than one-hundred years of bigotry upon the ex-slaved society in the U.S. Even though so many years have passed since the end of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction and the civil rights movement, some of the choice terms prejudiced still engraved in the U.S society. When I see such images on the movie screen, it is still hard, even f...
It states “Peele’s expertise in ‘Get Out’ is using these small, everyday instances of making someone, accidentally or on purpose, keenly aware of being an outsider to create an ever growing feeling of hostility.” The frequency of the microaggressions makes the audience uncomfortable, which brings to their attention how frustrating it is to receive comments like those. The whole purpose of the movie is to bring attention to racism, one of the biggest issues in our society, in a creative, effective way.
At its release, D. W. Griffith’s 1915 film The Birth of a Nation was regarded as a revolutionary and masterful piece of cinema. It was heralded as one of the greatest films ever made for the next fifty years, and is still revered by some for its amazing visuals and ground-breaking cinematic techniques. But these praises, some of which may be well deserved, obscure the film’s blatantly racist and offensive content in the minds of many viewers. Some of the most egregious aspects of The Birth of a Nation’s deeply rooted racism are expressed through the contrasting characters of Silas Lynch and Ben Cameron.
Blum, L. (2011). A "Crash" Course on Personal Racism. Ethics at the Cinema (pp. 192-212).
As a fan of cinema, I was excited to do this project on what I had remembered as a touching portrait of racism in our modern society. Writer/Director Paul Haggis deliberately depicts his characters in Crash within the context of many typical ethnic stereotypes that exist in our world today -- a "gangbanger" Latino with a shaved head and tattoos, an upper-class white woman who is discomforted by the sight of two young Black kids, and so on -- and causes them to rethink their own prejudices during their "crash moment" when they realize the racism that exists within themselves. This movie does provoke a dialogue on race that, according to author and journalist Jeff Chang, "has been anathema to Hollywood after 9/11. " During the first viewing of this movie, the emotionally charged themes of prejudice and racism are easy to get caught up in. (125) Privilege is inclined to white males through every facet of our everyday lives that inconspicuously creates racism through classism.
...ent from the silent era of film, overt racism of ethnic minorities was blatantly apparent within the film medium. However, presently this overt racism however has shifted into a more subtle segregation of casting and racial politics within the film medium. It seems that both the problem and the solution lies in the Eurocentric domination within the Hollywood film industry – and it seems that it still remains challenged to this day.
Racism is a intricate, multidimensional construct that can be private and public, as well as institutional and personal. In other words, racism does not only consist of blatant racial insolence; subtle systemic racism is also alive and well. However, Americans are fixed on the notion that bigotry hasn’t been an issue since the 20th century mass lynchings. The United States’ distorted view of racism maintains the idea the country’s racial issues are behind us. In his article, “Between Colorblind and Colorconscious: Contemporary Hollywood Films and Struggles Over Racial Representation,” Jason Smith demonstrates the ways in which color blindness ineffectively addresses racial injustices within society. Although the logic behind this theory works towards a noble goal, color blind theory proposes that
But, still every morning we see or hear to some news saying that a black is killed or a white shot a brown man and said that ‘get out of my country’. These lines then really hurts, but, what we do, when we hear this; nothing. We can only debate or think but are unable to bring a big change. Similarly, an effort done by Jordan Peele is appreciable. He made a really good movie named as “Get Out” which revolves around experiences faced by black people. Following thesis will throw light on some of the aspects seen in the movie “Get Out”.
Often racial injustice goes unnoticed. Television tries to influence the mind of their viewers that blacks and whites get along by putting them on the screen to act as if interracial relationships has been accepted or existent. “At the movies these days, questions about racial injustice have been amicably resolved (Harper,1995). Demott stresses that the entertainment industry put forth much effort to persuade their audience that African Americans and Caucasians are interacting and forming friendships with one another that is ideal enough for them to die for one another. In the text, Demott states “A moment later he charges the black with being a racist--with not liking whites as much as the white man likes blacks--and the two talk frankly about their racial prejudices. Near the end of the film, the men have grown so close that each volunteer to die for the other” (Harper,1995). Film after film exposes a deeper connection amongst different races. In the text, Demott states “Day after day the nation 's corporate ministries of culture churn out images of racial harmony” (Harper, 1995). Time and time again movies and television shows bring forth characters to prove to the world that racial injustice has passed on and justice is now received. Though on-screen moments are noticed by many people in the world it does not mean that a writer/ director has done their
Despite many progressive changes, racism is still a major issue. No one is born racist, racism is taught and it is taught in popular culture. Younger generations are exposed to racism through popular culture; one of the many mediums in which racial stereotypes are still supported. Matt Seitz, in his article, “The Offensive Movie Cliche That Won’t Die” claims that metaphorically, in popular culture cinema, African-Americans are mentors of a white hero, but beneath the surface, it is racially offensive towards these mentors because they are still considered servants of whites. Michael Omi, in “In Living Color: Race and American Culture” adds to the claim of Seitz that racial issues in our society brought on by the media and popular culture. He
The article, “White” by Richard Dyer explores both sides of the black and white paradigm in mainstream films –while addressing racial inequalities. Dyer talks about the “…property of whiteness to be everything and nothing [and that this] is the source of its representational power…the way whiteness disappears behind and is subsumed into other identities…”(Dyer 825). Also, according to Dyer “…stereotypes are seldom found in a pure form and this is part of the process by which they are naturalized…”(Dyer 826). Through the application of binarism to the film, The Green Mile, this essay will critically analyze the identities of black and white people. For instance, specific examples of the films mis-en-scene will serve as evidence to show the visible binarism and racial symbolism that exist in this