The author primary argument/thesis was the NAACP Hollywood Bureau in 1942 led by Executive director Walter White. During World War II the goal of the organization corresponded with the war aims of the allies. In 2003 the NAACP opened a new Hollywood bureau. Both Bureau’s continuing endeavors to affect film and television and equal opportunity for the minority. Although both organizations share the same common goal, these two agencies had different tactics, and that is because they came from different era.…
In “Two Afro-American Contributions to Dramatic Form” Eleanor W. Traylor discusses the importance of the slave narrative, and the minstrel show in regards to the development of American theatre, and how they were developed. This essay includes origin stories, famous writers, critical opinions, and textual excerpts from theatrical pieces.…
This essay opens itself to a wide range of audience. It reaches out to the black men and the…
The 1987 film documentary Ethnic Notions directed by Marlon Riggs, identifies the evolution of African American cultural depictions through ethnic stereotypes and caricatures in American culture. I feel Ethnic Notions exposes the roots of false generalization from the beginning and presents a series of classifications for racial depictions that still are noticeable in today's society. These racial depictions identified with in this film begin in the mid 1800's and continue thought to the 1960's. I now after viewing Ethnic notions agree that there are generalizations and depictions that are exaggerated in American popular culture and entertainment.…
Beginning in the 1950s, however, things began to change. As Coontz writes in What We Really Miss About the 1950s, it’s important to “understand the period as one of experimentation with the possibilities of a new kind of family, not as the expression of a longstanding tradition” (31). People needed help navigating a new way of life that necessitated new rules and they looked to the media for guidance. “At the time, everyone knew that shows such as Donna Reed, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It To Beaver, and Father Knows Best were not the way families really were. People didn’t watch those shows to see their own lives reflected back at them. They watched them to see how families were supposed to live” (33). Looking for Work by Gary Soto echoes this notion. In the story he talks about his childhood attempts to convince his family to mimic the people he watched on television. When his siblings press him for the reason why he says, “If we improved the way we looked we might get along better in life. White people would like us more” (25). Interestingly, he cites many of the same shows as Coontz as influencing his behavior. Even a child could see the framework for living these shows provided and the belief they instilled that following their lead would lead to success. But this again flies in the face of reality. Minorities faced, both then and now, difficulties that cannot be resolved by acting out the…
Have you ever wondered why television shows lack people of color? Many people in the television business claim that diversity is a priority but many people who watch primetime television today, it isn't. Instead of focusing on a variety of ethnics, television shows choose to only present white people as the main character, the supporting cast member and every other relevant role in the television series. Television show producers do not seem to understand that ethnic diversity is important in order to get more ethnically diverse people to get invested into the television program. Caucasians are predominant during the primetime hours of television and are usually the protagonist in any televised program they partake in.…
The evolution of musical theater in America can be viewed through many lenses. Through the lens of hindsight, it is easy to reflect on the treatment and portrayal of African-Americans in the contextual fruition of live entertainment in the United States. Dating back to the later half to the nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, ethnic representation in musical theater underwent a gradual change paralleling a shift in societal opinion toward racial equality. Though by today’s standards, its depiction of African-Americans may seem archaic at best, Show Boat changed the way audiences viewed musical theater through its success as the first show to deal with racial issues in the United States.…
Many television shows portray the lives of typical American families; both African American and European American. I have chosen to compare and contrast two television shows: Family Matters and Home Improvement. The two shows are surprisingly similar in many aspects, but there are a few differences in the communication styles and other aspects of the two families. Communication theories can be used to help show and analyze the communication between each family. These theories include interactional, dialectics, speech community, and cultivation. Do prime time television shows really represent and portray the differences and stereotypes between African American and European American families?…
Ethnic Notions is a documentary that has really opened my eyes. The documentary shows to the viewer the attitudes and relations between “white” Americans and African Americans in the 1940’s. The display of the historical accounts of how African Americans were portrayed in media is still shocking even after all this time. The amount of propaganda and hatred that fueled the exploitation was ridiculous. A large number of “white” Americans today still show a complete lack of respect toward the African American culture as a whole. The documentary portrayed how various cultural characteristics have been used in the past abusively in different theatrical ways, i.e. cartoons for children, books for children, journal, magazines, posters, films, etc. Throughout the film many inappropriate and uncomplimentary words were used to label African Americans as being uneducated, unmotivated, lazy and uncivilized human beings. In the 1940’s the dominant social group, being the “white” Americans began brainwashing people with hatred towards African Americans through the various strands of propaganda. To substantiate the “white” Americans prejudices, they would try to convince others in the way of how an African American male or female looked by exaggerating their facial features, skin color, no educational accomplishment and the way they acted by putting attention on their low social and economic standings. Marlon Riggs, the director of this documentary shows us children’s books for educational purposes in which African Americans are called ‘niggers,’ as if that is exactly how we are to address them. One children’s book was brought to our attention in the film, “Seven Little Niggers,” the content and illustrations were not only cruel but for a children’s book, they were appalling. The documentary demonstrates that throughout cartoons in the 1940’s and so would have very stereotypical names for those in the cartoons, i.e. Mammy, Auntie, Uncle, boy, girl,…
Riggs begins the documentary by displaying the images of black caricatures that was introduced during the slavery time period, and explaining how those same caricatures have been seen around the world. Even today those same black caricatures can be seen in people homes, including in the homes of many African Americans. The people portrayed in these characters are all extremely dark with large lips, and very unappealing. Those cartoon caricatures do not in any shape or form bear a resemblance to what black people actually look like. All African Americans do not look exactly the same, but none of them are truly as dark as the caricatures and their lips are not as large and abnormally shaped as seen on the caricatures. Even though black people do not look like these cartoon characters, people still see…
Like most industries in the United States, the film industry is dominated and controlled by profit. Throughout history, this greed and desire for monetary gain by Hollywood producers, directors, and screenwriters has often come at the expense of African American males, and how they are portrayed and represented in films. One of the earliest examples of this trend was initiated by W.F. Griffith’s A Birth of A Nation. It later perpetuated with films like The Color Purple, She’s Gotta Have It, and Waiting to Exhale. Through these films, the image of black males in the media has been hyper masculated, and in many ways tarnished. A prime example of this may be demonstrated in Byron Hurt’s Beyond Beats and Rhymes.…
In today 's culturally diverse, politically correct society, it is hard to believe that at one time racism was not only accepted as the norm, but enjoyed for its entertainment value. Individuals of African descent in North America today take the large, diverse pool of opportunities offered by the film industry for granted. Much like Canadian theatre however, there was a time when a black man in any role, be it servant or slave, was virtually unheard of. It took the blaxpliotation films of the early nineteen seventies to change the stereotypical depiction of Black people in American Cinema, as it took The Farm Story, performed by a small troop of Canadian actors, to create a Canadian theatre industry. To be more specific, it took the release of Melvin Van Peebles, Sweet Sweetback 's Baadasssss Song, in 1971, to change the tradition view of Black people in American film.…
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930 's-1960 's acting ' was an essential technique to African American survival.…
The Following Essay defines and integrates the role race plays on the African American culture in their family values and politics in comparison to the Anglo American Culture. The United States has become increasingly diverse in the last century. While African American families share many features with other U.S. families, the African American family has some distinctive features relating to the timing and approaches to marriage and family formation, gender roles, parenting styles, and strategies for coping with adversity.…
For many years the entertainment industry has been heavily criticized, particularly by groups representing various minorities, for the way ethnic groups have been portrayed in films and television programs. Although considerable progress has been made in the fight against unfair and unflattering portrayals based on false information, nevertheless the mass media is often still guilty of insensitivity in this area.…