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[research-report-proposal-1800170]

06/05/20

The article, 'portrayal of Minorities in the Film, Media and Entertainment Industries’, by Yurii Horton, Raagen Price and Eric Brown greatly developed my understanding of the historical implications of the misrepresentation of minorities in the film industry.

The fact that the first black owned film company was not created until 1916, exemplifies how long white film makers controlled the narrative of black characters without the consultation of black filmmakers. In other words black people in America have only had a say in how they are represented in the last 104 years, and when they did begin to have a say in the form of companies like Lincoln, their films did not achieve the status of mainstream until more recently in industry history. This could be a factor as to why ideological legacies of colonialism and race based stereotypes are still present into the film industry. I had hoped to watch the first movie produced by Lincoln Motion Picture Company, ‘The realsiation of a Negro ‘5 Ambition’, however resarch suggets the film has been lost. This issue in itself emphasises the struggle this company faced to stay afloat in the overtly white supremest era of 1910 - 1920. The birth of a nation is considered art and is immortalised in American film history, while the first ever film featuring black characters as people rather than caricatures has been disregarded so much so, that it is completely lost. Although i can't say much about the representation of black people in this film,  i have drawn some inferences from the articles description of it, that contradict the articles claim that balck people played non- stereotyped roles. I definitely do agree that this representation was far more positive than all films representing black people at the ime, because it contradicts the stereotype that black people are uneducated by making the lead a black university graduate. However, the plot of siad graduate ‘getting an admirable position from a white racist businessman for saving the man's daughter’,  participates in the perpetuation of the ‘notion that black’ characters ‘can only be good when they are serving the interests of white folks a stereotype that i had not thought about before reading literature by Hooks. The article also suggests that the film attempts to ‘show that Afro-Americans were allied militarily with Anglo-Americans’, which only further supports my inference. In truth, black people fought for a white surpresmist country, but they were never considered as allies. They fought separately, were still considered as second class citizens even after their service. To suggest that black and white men fought side by side as allies would simply not be the truth. Even the military was segregated:

‘ On May 24, 1916, Johnson was ambitious enough to create his own movie company and became the president of Lincoln Motion Picture Company. This was the first movie company organized by black filmmakers. The first movie produced by Lincoln Motion Picture Company was The Realization of a Negro '5 Ambition and was released in mid 1916. It was the first film produced in America that featured blacks in dramatic non-stereotyped roles. (Sampson 1977; 2) It portrayed a Tuskegee graduate leaving the South and getting an admirable position from a white racist businessman for saving the man's daughter. The second production was titled A Trooper of Troop K and was released in January of 1917. It attempted to build race pride by "showing that Afro-Americans were allied militarily with Anglo-Americans." (Rhines 1996; 21) Lincoln Motion Picture Company was an all-black company and was the first company to produce films portraying blacks as real people with real lives. (http://www.mdle.eom/ClassicFilms/FeaturedStar/perfor39.htm) In the past, B lacks had been relegated to roles of slaves, rapists, and stupid buffoons.’ - chapter 1

The article discusses the first hollywood film featuring an all-black cast, Hearts in Dixie, which i intend to watch as part of my research. Interestingly the film was produced for FOX, which even in modern day has been accused of intentionally mis-represenating black men who died at the hand of police officers to justify their killing and the officers excessive use of force. The article suggests that motifs of minority misrepresentation have been present in Fox’s publications from the beginning. The article discusses the films ‘most problematic figure, Stepin Fetchit’. Stepin Fetchit’s character played a significant role in the creation of the deropgatry image of a ‘good nigger’ used to reinforce white dominace over black people, by showing images of an uneducated black man that ‘konws his place’. Even his name, which derives ‘from a racehorse that he won money on, Step and Fetch, carries connotations of subservience.

The first Hollywood film to feature an all-black cast was Hearts in Dixie, which was produced in 1929 and directed by Paul Sloane for Fox. "This film introduced to wider audiences, one of the film industry's most polemic figures ever -Stepin Fetchit." (http://www.moderntimes.comlpalace/black/introduction.htm) In the film, the audience is introduced to the faithful black plantation workers, toiling hard in the fields all day and relaxing at night by singing and dancing. Stepin Fetchit typifies the lazy, but good natured slave, unwilling to work, but forgiven for his errant ways. When the white boss playfully" kicks Fetchit in the rear-end, Fetchit grins broadly and winks slyly at the audience. This is an example of the typical screen 'darkie." Fetchit, a 'black clown," is a 'good nigger," lazy and shiftless, yet "all right at heart. Most importantly, he "knows his place. (Noble 1969 [1948]; 50) Fetchit's depiction of blacks is extremely degrading and demeaning. Blacks across the country were presumed to fit Fetchit's stereotype of being lazy, stupid, foolish, and yet well intentioned. For those who had never encountered black people before, but had seen a Stepin Fetchit film, they were left with a warped, skewed view of blacks by Fetchit's performance. -chapter 1

He acquired his name from a racehorse that he won money on, Step and Fetch it." - chapter 1

The article has also provided me with some modern example of films that use racial stereotyping, which i intend to watch as part of my research:

Even the roles that blacks have in films produced today are sometimes reminiscent of those degrading "darkie" roles that Stepin Fetchit played so well. In the recent comedy, Nothing to Lose, starring Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence, it is abundantly clear that Hollywood has yet to abandon those negative stereotypes of blacks first created in the early 20th century. Robbins plays Nick Beam, a nice ad-executive, who loves his wife dearly. He is "the quintessential white guy, a square straight and narrow, while Lawrence plays the "wise-ass, street-smart black guy." (http://www.salonmagazine.som/july97/entertainment/nothing970718.html) -chapter 1

In the film, the white guy lectures the black guy about the immorality of armed robbery ("You are a bad person") and the black guy ridicules the white guy for his wimpiness ("You don't have the respect of your woman"). The Hollywood tradeoff is evident. The "white guy gets to be virtuous and the black guy gets to be cool." Throughout the whole movie, Lawrence plays the part of the court jester sidekick to "Robbins' lanky aristocrat, trading full humanity and dignity for sassing rights." Lawrence essentially plays the part of a modern day Stepin Fetchit. In one scene, Lawrence jumps from the car and dances around comically screaming "My ass done fall asleep I dint know an ass could fall asleep!" (http://www.salonmagazine.som/july97/entertainment/nothing970718.html) Lawrence's character perpetuates the existent negative stereotypes of blacks as buffoons and yet no one seems to notice or mind. - chapter 1

The notion that a movie mainly featuring fictional characters and robots could be an example of coded racism had never really occurred to me.

Negative stereotypes of minorities in film can be found in Hollywood as recently as May 19, 1999, with the release of "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace." Many of the extraterrestrial creatures have ethnically tinged caricatures. One character, Jar Jar Binks, has created quite a conflict. An amphibious creature with floppy ears surprisingly similar to Rastafarian dreadlocks, he has a wide nose, bulging eyes, and fat lips, speaks in a Caribbean-style pidgin English and acts as the stupid, bumbling, good-for-nothing sidekick to the Jedi Knights. "Wall Street film critic Joe Morgenstern called Jar Jar 'a Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit on platform hoofs, crossed annoyingly with Butterfly Mequcen,"' a reference to a slave servant in "Gone with the Wind." Additionally, "Los Angeles Times critic Eric Harrison said the primitive tribe that Jar Jar belongs to - the Gungan - is ruled by a fat, buffoonish character, seemingly a caricature of a stereotypical African chieftain."' Media arts professor Daniel Bernadi from the University of Arizona is troubled by the role that Jar Jar plays in the movie. "'He really is sort of your 'Amos 'n' Andy,' Stepin Fetehit, loyal, bumbling colored other???. Even when he saves the day, he does it by accident, so his heroism is sort of a joke, and what makes it more problematic is he does it in the service of 'whiteness."' ( The legacy left by Stepin Fetchit is still evident in movies today. - chapter 1

I've found some articles that further elaborate on the subject of the influences behind the design of Jar Jar and the role of animation in the production of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace:

https://www.awn.com/animationworld/animated-side-star-wars

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/01/jar-jar-binks-actor-ahmed-best-racism-suicide-contemplation-1202032520/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/star-wars-accused-of-race-stereotypes-1097783.html

Article hyperlink -  https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/portrayal.htm

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