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Racial Discrimination in the Movies
Historical representations of African Americans in the media
Historical representations of African Americans in the media
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Popular Culture, Media, and Globalization: The way in which black people, especially black women, are represented in film perpetuates harmful stereotypes about black people in the real world. The heavy bias against black people, both on film and off, creates an environment in which black people are held back from the opportunities that white people take for granted in a variety of arenas. This relates to gender politics, which, while wide reaching on a global and societal scale, are deeply rooted in firmly personal matters. In order to more fully understand the larger gender relations on a state-wide basis, it is important to view them in relation to the more personal politics of the individual. Unless one is already cognizant of the issues in contemporary society, the politics around those issues are so buried in emotion that they can hardly be perceived, a trait that is common in gender politics, which are primarily based in small, intimate interactions (Connell 2009). An example of this could be portrayals of black women as servants as a widespread trend that has continued since the inception of film and television. Politics can be defined as “power-structured relationships, …show more content…
The intimacy of these small politics cannot be discarded when the transition is made to the bigger, public politics (Connell 2009). Movies are not about black people themselves, but about what white people think of blacks, which makes it exceedingly difficult for black women to tell their own, true, stories (Representations of Black People in Film).Our current American culture has not changed in this regard, and black people are still most often portrayed in badly stereotyped
On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.
Film not only portrays the surface level issues in a depicted society, but it also sheds light into the unconscious problems and social structures in a particular community. In the United States, in the 1700’s and 1800’s, privilege belonged to white people only. Later on the hierarchy of opportunity shifted, giving a select few the benefits of mobility, sexual preference, and economic superiority, and instead of the divide consisting of only black and white, it stratified even further into light and dark. The films Imitation of Life, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Shaft, and Daughters of the Dust show the different roles and rights of different shades of black women over time.... ...
In Jacqueline Bobo's article, The Color Purple : Black Women as Cultural Readers, she discusses the way in which black women create meaning out of the mainstream text of the film The Color Purple. In Leslie B. Innis and Joe R. Feagin's article, The Cosby Show: The View From the Black Middle Class, they are examining black middle-class responses to the portrayal of black family life on The Cosby Show. In their respective articles, Bobo, and Innis and Feagin are investigating the representation of race, particularly African American race, in the mass media. The chief concerns of their investigations lie in how African Americans deal with the way these representations portray them individually and their social group as a whole. In this paper I will compare the issues in each study, analyze the larger sociopolitical implications of the media representations and apply a similar framework of concerns to my own reception analysis project.
The object of this paper is to portray the role of African Americans and Whites in modern contemporary films. It is evident that there has been a great deal of effort in the integration of black people into American society. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has strived to undo the ties of segregation and disenfranchisement of African Americans. The NAACP has used several strategies to overturn segregation rules and obtain suffrage for black citizens. With the introduction of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s, the motto “We shall overcome’ served as inspiration for the fight against segregation. Although much effort has been made to integrate black people into society over the years, there still exists significant segregation with respect to roles in motion pictures and modern film. However, great advancements have been made in recent years to overcome this struggle to equally include African Americans in the wealth and success of the media culture. With the recent surge of technological advancement and media industry, the black role has simultaneously advanced. The African American history of struggle, misrepresentation, and segregation has been the theme of many modern movies, music, and television shows. African Americans are taking advantage of this opportunity to represent the African American culture, even though it serves to explain their historical oppression and misfortune and not of their success and well-being. They are turning a negative history into a positive career and future. Approximately eighty years ago, it was only a thought that African Americans should indeed make movies and appear in the big screen alongside white actors and actresses. Today this dream is now reality. The road to making motion pictures with the inclusion of African Americans has been evolutionary on all levels with lots of observable changes. The movie industry has become more willing to produce new themes and films featuring African Americans as stars.
Hollywood’s diversity problem is well-known; however, the extent might be surprising to most Americans. According to a 2014 report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television, Film & New Media, found that females comprised only 30% of all speaking characters among the top grossing films of 2013. (Lauzen, 2014) However, minority women faired far worse than their Caucasian counterparts. As a matter of fact, if one looks at the numbers even female characters from other world’s were as better represented in film than some minority women; the numbers are as follow for women: Caucasian (73%), African American (14%), Latina (5%), Asian and other world tied (3%). (Lauzen, 2014) If the lack of representation were not enough consider a 2009 study which found that when minority groups are portrayed on television the portrayal tends to be negative. (Alexandrin, 2009) A study by Busselle and Crandall (2009) found that the manner in which African-Americans are portrayed, often as unemployed criminals, tends to have an influence on the way the public perceives African-American’s lack of economic success. Furthermore, the news media does an equally poor job in the ways that African-American’s are presented; according to the same study while 27% of Americans were considered “poor” in 1996 the images of America’s “poor” being presented by news media was heavily Black (63%). (Busselle & Crandall, 2002) Today, this can be seen in the way that African-American victims of police brutality are depicted in the media. Even when African-Americans are murdered at the hands of police for minor and non-violent offenses (e.g. Mike Brown, Eric Gardner, and Tamir Rice) they are often portrayed as thugs, criminals, and vandals. What’s more, seve...
Come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up? Come here rude boy, boy, is you big enough? These are the lyrics that we can find ourselves mindlessly singing to on our way to work. Pop star Robyn Rihanna Fenty, the co-producer of this song, made history at this year’s American Music Awards when she was awarded the first-ever Icon Award, which according to the show’s producer, Larry Klein, was created to honor an artist whose body of work made a profound influence on popular music at a global level. Needless to say, Rihanna’s iconic fashion taste and innovative sound has enabled her to become one of the most influential and best-selling artists of all time. Rihanna however, is not the only woman making history in the music industry; Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Lopez, and Katy Perry, just to name a few, are also very empowering women in the industry. Female pop-culture artists, alongside many male rappers in the industry, contribute tremendously in influencing American culture. Their immense contributions to the American culture are engraved in their catchy, explicit music lyri...
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
Many argue that culture, along with the norms and traditions of humans of all different backgrounds is one the most important aspect of our species. Some take this belief to an entire new level. In the article titled “Once Upon a Time, Literature. Now What?”, by James Salter, argues that literature 's importance in modern day society is dying because pop culture is overtaking it. Salter begins his article by writing about the importance of language, claiming that “is the requisite for the human condition.” Salter then goes on to talk about the ongoing death of literature, arguing that pop culture, such as “Star Wars”, is more popular over masterpiece literature topics. Overall, Salter does not write an effective argument because of his problems
Yet, we find that representation in media – specifically in women of color – is severely lacking. Out of the top 100 films of 2016, 47 films didn’t include any black women. We need to do better.
In the evolution of media so many things have changed. At one point in time to main course of communication would have been newspaper or the news. These were the sources that made people aware of what was happening around the world. As of today things have changed dramatically. Some people have adapted to those changes while some rely on the older version of news communication.
Mass media has a direct effect on modern culture. This is especially true in the United States where the majority of mass media originates. The moods and attitudes of our society are influenced by messages delivered through mass media channels. Mass media and advertising affect our actions, thoughts, and values. We are at the point where mass media creates and reflects our culture–a mediated culture.
Popular culture and media are concepts deeply intertwined, as media often acts as the driving force behind the ever-strengthening phenomenon of a universal culture. Assisted by modernisation, the importance of media and popular culture in contemporary society has shifted, demonstrating that the concept of modernity is integral to an understanding of popular culture and media. Furthermore, popular culture and media are interrelated with the concepts of power and agency, as they are fundamental players in society (Habermas, 1989). The concept of ‘celebrity’ is also interweaved in this. Whether popular culture and media are positive or negative forces in contemporary society is debateable. Some perspectives argue the connective nature of media, claiming that it has enabled globalisation. However, other perspectives demonstrate that media and popular culture have spread detrimental problems in society.
Media imperialism is a specific way of discussing cultural imperialism and in order to define media imperialism we must understand cultural imperialism. Essentially, it’s described as a theory based upon over-concentration of mass media, from larger nations as an important variable which affects smaller nations in negative way. These nations have lessened because of media control from Western countries. As media imperialism is a sub-category under the broader of heading of cultural imperialism the dependency raised due to the global media system, which results in what is known as media imperialism– which is a highly debated concept amongst sociologists. There are two known models of media imperialism, the 'Schiller one ' which is focused on the media dominance by the UK, France, and U.S. And the alternative model; which is the 'generic model ' initially developed in Europe stating the great influence of media expansion of media powers, and unlike Schiller It recognises the multidimensionality of media forms (Thussu, International Communication: A Reader, 2010)
In recent years, there has been a growing body of research on the topic of globalization. Globalization is generally a process that we experience every day. According to the Professor (Terhi Rantanen), “Practically, there is no globalization without media.” Media globalization has aided in both the production and distribution of information. Dominick (2002) has noted that the production rate of information doubles every eight years. In addition, "information is being produced at a rate that is four times faster than the consumption of information" (p. 513). Media globalization is a lengthy topic, which includes TV, radio, movies, music, the Internet, and other forms of digital media. The purpose of this essay is to summarize the relation between globalization and media and discuss the revolutionary changes caused by media in past few years.
Loss of group identity and individualism because globalization promotes a western ideal of individualism. This advocate a homogeneous set of values.