Pursuit Of African American Cinema In 1960

Pursuit of the African American Identity: The American Cinema in 1960

The horror genre in the late 1960’s was booming in the film industry, with an abundance of social and racial issues. The majority of the social issues were predicated on the unequivocal civil rights among African Americans and Caucasians. The race of the cast in films began to change over the course of this decade, as the number of black actors increased exponentially. The majority of critics and historians in this genre attribute the change in the motion picture industry to the continuous expansion of the civil rights movement. Consequently, this narrowed segregation among both races as the presence of black culture grew with the limelight Hollywood provides. Despite
George Romero’s film in 1967, “Night of the Living Dead”, sustain the critical notions on race, identity, and social issues that have been so prevalent in the course thus far.

“In short, they were the perfect dream for white liberals anxious to have a colored man in for lunch or dinner”. (Donald Bogle) Donald Bogle, a renowned film historian, studied the common identity that one of the most famous actors in African American history possessed in his films, named Sidney Poitier. Poitier maintained characteristics of an obedient, well dressed, and competent man. “Night of the Living Dead”, has an African American protagonist that emulates the Poitier characteristics he possessed in all of his films. Duane Jones, known as Ben on screen, held the lead role in the film. Ben’s persona is parallel to that of Poitier, in terms of appearance and dialogue. Both characters wear slacks, a collared shirt, a sweater, and a nice gold watch. Also, they don’t challenge white
For instance, there is no dialogue in the film where Ben is referred to as an African American. In addition, there are no direct remarks to Ben about his race by other characters in the film. Although, the film indirectly points at Bens race through camera lighting and the entrance Ben makes into the film. Camera lighting was to a gray scale, and often showed a blurred depiction of Ben’s skin color. From the audience’s standpoint, at times you are unable to tell if he is black or white. This camera technique is portraying a sense of inferiority with whites amongst blacks. Further, Ben’s introduction in the film begins with a situation that relates to stereotypes tied to racism. Barbara is in the farmhouse and is startled by car lights, and then sees Ben approaching her. There is no conversation between the two as zombies begin approaching, and Barbara’s facial expressions suggest she is not sure which person is evil. If a white man were approaching, visibly not a zombie by posture, there would have been no question who is out to kill one another. Barbara continues to not respond to Ben for and extended amount of time and this reassures the audience that a white woman lacks trust for a black man. Soon after, Ben becomes frustrated with Barbara’s acting hysterical over what happened to her brother Johnny.