Is Stereotyping a Necessity in Filmmaking?
The question ‘is stereotyping a necessity in film making’ is a gargantuan question for a meager 1000 word blog. I have decided to look at it with particular focus on black stereotypes in the late 19th century and early 20th century and how this ties in with the stereotypes of African Americans within mainstream Hollywood film.
In J. Stanley Lemon’s book “Black stereotypes as reflected in popular culture.” He raises many key points when considering if stereotyping is a necessity in film making or not. Interestingly, Lemon notes that “the black person as entertainment and comic figure has emerged twice in popular culture, and at both times race relations were extremely bad.” Following the civil war in America, the American government reverted to the segregation of black and white American’s. In 1881, many American state governments began to enforce the segregation of public transport. During this time period there were also regular lynching’s, with an average of 110 lynching’s per year between 1889 and 1902. Lemon argues that “popular culture reflected this degraded situation by trying to ease the tension with laughter.” It could certainly be argued that this is not uncommon today. In 2012 it was world wide news that North Korea had began to conduct underground nuclear tests. With North Korea’s intense hatred for America, the threat of nuclear war was not something to be taken lightly. However, during this time social media sites such as Facebook were overwhelmed with the amount of cartoons or ‘memes’ depicting racial slurs against the countries leader Kim Jong-un, many of which were based on racial stereotypes of Asians. What started off as a nuclear threat towards the western world became a nationwide joke, which begs the question, are we currently in a renaissance period for racial stereotyping? It is no longer acceptable, and rightly so, to mock and degrade black Americans, yet Asian people are now filling that void. A recent advert for Cadbury’s chocolate shows an insulting depiction of a stereotypical Chinese man that owns a corner shop yet this does not cause an uproar. Whether we are aware of it or not, stereotyping is almost a means of defense. China and North Korea are huge threats to both America and the United Kingdom and we are progressively trying to desensitize ourselves to the harsh reality by mocking and stereotyping entire nations.
In J. Stanley Lemon’s book “Black stereotypes as reflected in popular culture.” He raises many key points when considering if stereotyping is a necessity in film making or not. Interestingly, Lemon notes that “the black person as entertainment and comic figure has emerged twice in popular culture, and at both times race relations were extremely bad.” Following the civil war in America, the American government reverted to the segregation of black and white American’s. In 1881, many American state governments began to enforce the segregation of public transport. During this time period there were also regular lynching’s, with an average of 110 lynching’s per year between 1889 and 1902. Lemon argues that “popular culture reflected this degraded situation by trying to ease the tension with laughter.” It could certainly be argued that this is not uncommon today. In 2012 it was world wide news that North Korea had began to conduct underground nuclear tests. With North Korea’s intense hatred for America, the threat of nuclear war was not something to be taken lightly. However, during this time social media sites such as Facebook were overwhelmed with the amount of cartoons or ‘memes’ depicting racial slurs against the countries leader Kim Jong-un, many of which were based on racial stereotypes of Asians. What started off as a nuclear threat towards the western world became a nationwide joke, which begs the question, are we currently in a renaissance period for racial stereotyping? It is no longer acceptable, and rightly so, to mock and degrade black Americans, yet Asian people are now filling that void. A recent advert for Cadbury’s chocolate shows an insulting depiction of a stereotypical Chinese man that owns a corner shop yet this does not cause an uproar. Whether we are aware of it or not, stereotyping is almost a means of defense. China and North Korea are huge threats to both America and the United Kingdom and we are progressively trying to desensitize ourselves to the harsh reality by mocking and stereotyping entire nations.
Lemon concludes by saying “we remain so sensitive to negative stereotypes that it is unlikely we shall ever return to anything as crude as that which existed at the turn of the century.” Of course this is true, there is no way that society will revert to the offensive stereotypes of the early 20th century, but that’s just it, they weren’t offensive at the time. In fact, the Vaudeville theatrical entertainment chain run by E. F. Albee (a prominent playwright) specifically wanted Vaudeville shows to be ‘family friendly’ and ‘polite entertainment’. Racial stereotyping was such an integral part of society that it was never even thought to be hurtful or damaging to an entire race. A century ago, racial stereotyping and racism itself were not current affair issues and were arguably ways of desensitizing inter-racial issues. It is clear that racial stereotyping is still hugely prominent in films today but must be done in a more subtle way, with less negative connotations. Ayanna Guyhuto seeks to highlight the five modern stereotypes for black actors in mainstream Hollywood cinema in her article for Yahoo online. The new stereotypes are undoubtedly more forgiving but there is a trend nonetheless. These stereotypes range between the ‘victim of society,’ in which black actors are playing a character in a pitiful, victimized state that is in need of help, more often than not from a white person, to ‘the first kill’, a male or female black actor in a horror/thriller that is always the first to be killed before the audience has a chance to develop any real connection to the character.
However, Guyhoto is not the first to criticize modern American cinema for it’s frequent use of racial stereotyping. In 2001 at a conference to 200 Yale University students, Spike Lee criticizes this ‘new’ characterization of blacks, he says “they’re still doing the same old thing… recycling the noble savage and the happy slave.” Lee argues that black people are currently not in a position in society that allows them to gain powerful careers within the film industry so they have no control over the images produced. He cited four films that were recent at the time, ‘The Family Man’, ‘What dreams may come’ ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’ and ‘The Green Mile’. Each black character possesses some sort of mystical power, yet they only use their powers to benefit white people.
I think Spike Lee highlights an important issue. Without black Americans in positions of influence within the film industry then black characters will be little more than stereotypes. The actual definition of stereotype is “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular person or thing.”. Clearly there can be no real character development that doesn’t subside to stereotyping without a man or woman of that ethnicity writing or directing the character themselves. As a white man writing a script that includes black characters, it is difficult, but not impossible, to convey a realistic character that the audience can connect to; stereotyping is incredibly easy to succumb to. Stereotyping is in no way a necessity in film making but it will stay cemented in popular culture until the white dominated film industry is fragmented. There may be numerous profound black actors today yet they themselves can be uknowingly promoting these stereotypes if their script is written based on oversimplified ideas of different races.
Word count: 964
I think Spike Lee highlights an important issue. Without black Americans in positions of influence within the film industry then black characters will be little more than stereotypes. The actual definition of stereotype is “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular person or thing.”. Clearly there can be no real character development that doesn’t subside to stereotyping without a man or woman of that ethnicity writing or directing the character themselves. As a white man writing a script that includes black characters, it is difficult, but not impossible, to convey a realistic character that the audience can connect to; stereotyping is incredibly easy to succumb to. Stereotyping is in no way a necessity in film making but it will stay cemented in popular culture until the white dominated film industry is fragmented. There may be numerous profound black actors today yet they themselves can be uknowingly promoting these stereotypes if their script is written based on oversimplified ideas of different races.
Word count: 964
Bibliography
Foster, G.A. (1999). Captive Bodies: Postcolonial Subjectivity in Cinema. New York: State University of New York Press
Guyhuto, A. (2007). Top 5 Modern Stereotypes for Black Actors in Mainstream Cinema. (Yahoo Online). Retrieved October 8th 2013, from Yahoo Online. Website: http://voices.yahoo.com/top-5-modern-stereotypes-black-actors-mainstream-573242.html?cat=9 Lemons, J. S. (1977). Black Stereotypes as Reflected in Popular Culture, 1880-1920. American Quarterly. 77(1), 102-116.
Anderson, T. (1994). Introduction to African American Studies: Cultural Concepts and Theories. Iowa: Kendall Hunt
Bogle, D. (1988). Blacks in American Film: Toms, Coons, Mulattos,Mammies and Bucks. New York: Garland
Foster, G.A. (1999). Captive Bodies: Postcolonial Subjectivity in Cinema. New York: State University of New York Press
Guyhuto, A. (2007). Top 5 Modern Stereotypes for Black Actors in Mainstream Cinema. (Yahoo Online). Retrieved October 8th 2013, from Yahoo Online. Website: http://voices.yahoo.com/top-5-modern-stereotypes-black-actors-mainstream-573242.html?cat=9 Lemons, J. S. (1977). Black Stereotypes as Reflected in Popular Culture, 1880-1920. American Quarterly. 77(1), 102-116.
Anderson, T. (1994). Introduction to African American Studies: Cultural Concepts and Theories. Iowa: Kendall Hunt
Bogle, D. (1988). Blacks in American Film: Toms, Coons, Mulattos,Mammies and Bucks. New York: Garland
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