Race Film The Great And Only Essay - 10250 Words

Chapter One Race Films as a Genre in American Cinema â€Å"Most people pronounced his last name ‘Mee-show,’ though some who knew him insist it was ‘Mi-shaw.’ The correct pronunciation of his name is only the beginning of the ambiguities and mysteries associated with Oscar Micheaux† Patrick Mulligan—Oscar Micheaux: The Great and Only: The Life of America s First Black Filmmaker From the very beginning of the early stages in American cinema, African Americans had a presence on the silver screen. The twentieth century created a new era of cinema that consisted of films produced for and targeted to an all-Black audience. â€Å"Race films† which existed in the United States for over thirty years (1913-1948), were films produced by African Americans that focused on Black themes and highlighted the talents of African American directors, producers, scriptwriters, and actors. However, according to African American film scholar Thomas Cripps, these early films were not truly Black because their function, more or less, were to enlighten and mollify White people’s curiosity concerning Black culture. The argument presented by Cripps creates an opportunity for speculation on how to categorize a well-known group of films about Black people that in most cases included the participation of White filmmakers. How do we define the term â€Å"race film†? Moreover, can these films be considered a â€Å"genre† or are they imitations of similar narratives produced by White filmmakers such as comedies,Show MoreRelatedThe African American Portrayal Of The Film Genre, Big Timers ( 1945 ) And Dirty Gertie From Harlem871 Words   |  4 PagesThe African American portrayal in white-American entertainment, especially in films has produced malicious and ignorant beliefs of the everyday Black person. Entertainment venues such as minstrel shows and silen t films are causes to today’s stereotypical views of African Americans. The African American community along with other American ethnic cultures had enough; therefore, between 1915 and 1950, the race film genre began its movement to increase positive cultural awareness to the world. This paperRead MoreThe Movie The House We Live 938 Words   |  4 Pages The phrase †Race is a social and cultural construct† means that race classification is socially and culturally defined and influenced, like race or ethnicity, that classifies or describes an individual based on physical characteristics like skin color or hair texture, ancestry and cultural history. Race can be constructed differently in different cultures. An example of this can be how we view sex and gender. Sex is biological and gender is what society believes we should behave or what roles weRead MoreNorman Jewison s The Heat Of The Night 1574 Words   |  7 Pagescharacters in Hollywood films were put into new cinematic contexts. Unlike the Blaxploitation films of the decade, Hollywood used other â€Å"narrative and visual strategies of ‘containment’† for Black actors and characters (Guerrero 237). Hollywood films were now â€Å"giving a Black star top billing in a film in which he or she is completely isolated from other Blacks or any reference to the Black world† (Guerrero 237). In this paper, I will demonstrate through analysis of â€Å"buddy† type films, specifically NormanRead MoreRacial Inequality : Guess Who 11352 Words   |  6 PagesRACIAL INEQUALITY IN GUESS WHO 1 The 2005 film Guess Who illustrates how racial inequality is present within society, and how race is used by our society to create and manufacture social categories. This film is about a black female named Theresa and a white man named Simon that fight against the racial inequality present within their society and choose to be together. Stereotypes, prejudice, ethnic chauvinism, and racism are prevalent concepts throughout the movie. Most of these concepts are displayedRead MoreNazi Propaganda1653 Words   |  7 PagesMost Nazi Propaganda was ineffective. Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement. The Nazis used propaganda to a great extent in Germany. It was impossible to escape and millions of ordinary Germans came across Propaganda every day. Not all the propaganda in Nazi Germany was successful but I believe that overall propaganda was massively successful in gaining Hitler and the Nazis support and influencing Germans with Nazi ideas and attitudes. By dominating all aspects of society many GermansRead MoreStill I Rise And 12 Years A Slave Essay1348 Words   |  6 PagesHas a film and a poem ever seemed the same to you? Still I Rise and 12 Years a Slave have similar issues regarding race, differences, and identity, but their positions and how the texts are represented vary in many ways. Issues with race is an obvious factor in both Still I Rise and 12 Years a Slave, It effects most characters in the film, and has a great impact on the author of Still I Rise, Maya Angelou. During the film, the main character Solomon is a free man take from his life, and sold intoRead MoreLilly Fuller. 8 March, 2017. English 11. Gabbert. My Favorite1255 Words   |  6 Pagesshould be one race, but is portrayed by another. Throughout film and television there are numerous examples of this being portrayed. However, not many people understand why whitewashing is bad or even notice that it s happening. Whitewashing takes opportunities away from people of color, alters people s perception of history, and ultimately promotes racism. Whitewashing creates lots of opportunities for white actors and in return takes away opportunities for ethnic actors. In many films such as â€Å"Stuck†Read More Night and Fog Essay591 Words   |  3 PagesNight and Fog I must say that this film is very traumatizing. There are some images in this film that will be burned and scarred into my mind for as long as I live. I have seen many holocaust films, but no one was as near as dramatic and depicting as Night and Fog. However I did like the theme of this movie. It is very sad but yet realistic. Our minds are murky and dull. We tend to only remember the important situation in our lives. Yet we don’t remember the importance of our own historyRead MoreDifferences Between Film And Othello1503 Words   |  7 Pagesmany times. The questions or race and racism that have quite often been a point of discussion with William Shakespeare’s play Othello can be seen through the bard, however some may argue that Othello’s skin colour was purely a plot device. This paper will look at two film that have been re-made since the 1960’s, which provides an analysis of the concept of race and how political ideas and events of that time have influenced each adaptation. It will be seen that the film version of Othello directedRead MoreOnline Class Paper : The United States961 Words   |  4 PagesOnline Class Paper The United States has the highest incarnation rate in the world and the only one to send kids life with no parole. In Wabash Valley Correctional Facility 53 kids are sent here because they were sentenced as an adult. Here are three kids who were sentenced as adults. Robert is 18 years old and he received a two year sentence for battery and threating to kill an officer. He wanted to get in trouble to see his brother. When he arrived at the facility his brother was already transferred