Why is the Mulatto a Tragic Figure
The tragic mulatto is a stereotype that has been portrayed multiple times in American cinema. The mulatto figure is usually played by a female character who struggles to find a place in the community due to her being mixed race. White people tend to not accept her because even if you have a small amount of black origin, according to many opinions of the time this constitutes you as black. The mulatto is not fully accepted in the black community either; this is especially apparent in early films such as Imitation of life (1934) as the mulatto character is usually played by a white actress who retains almost no features usually associated with black people.
The fact that the tragic mulatto is usually played by a white actress is particularly problematic. The main reasoning behind this is that it was seen that the audience would be more likely to sympathize with a white actress rather than an actual mixed race actress, this contradicts the message of the film as they usually attempt to evoke sympathy to the mulatto figure. In Humanities Case, In Slavery Days and The Octoroon all made around 1913, the difficulties of the fair-skinned mulatto figure are examined but for this blog post I will be focusing on The Imitation of Life. A common trait of many films involving mixed race characters is that the mulatto figure usually attempts to abandon their black heritage; this can be seen in The Imitation of life through the character Peola. The character of Peola can be seen as less of a tragic figure throughout most of the film as she so easily dismisses her mother and often comes across as ungrateful despite her mother only wanting the best for her, this makes the audience less sympathetic towards the character but this changes at the end of the film, “Her weeping by her mothers casket was Hollywood’s slick way of finally humiliating her, its way of making the character who had run away with herself conform to the remorseful mulatto type.” (Boyle. 2002. pp. 60). This is a common trait among films encompassing the tragic mulatto figure, they usually end with the mixed race character committing suicide or experiencing grave misfortune.
Furthermore, the mulatto characters in films are often highly sexualized. The reason for this can be summed up using the word ‘colorism’. According to The Color Complex (1993) written by Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson and Ronald Hall, colorism can be traced back to the Antebellum South, this is the belief that the infusion of white blood uplifts the black blood from their supposed inferiority. “light-skinned black female slaves were often valued for their exotic beauty. Darker skinned black female slaves on the other hand, were equated with physical strength” (Manatu. 2003. Pp. 88). This serves to reaffirm the mulatto as a tragic figure as the white plantation owners and workers raped many female slaves on the plantation. This means that the mixed-race children were often born under tragic circumstances adding more hardship onto their already difficult lives.
The Acceptable Face of Blackness
The image of the black man in film moved further away from the typical violent Buck stereotype, more towards a loyal companion who can be trusted, yet still in servitude to the white character.
Exploitation or Empowerment
With the civil rights movement of the 1960s, there were huge advancements towards the rights of African Americans; this included more roles in films and the emergence of the Blaxploitation films. The emergence of the Blaxploitation film as pointed out by Yvonne D. Sims in her book Women of Blaxploitation also marked the first time that audiences saw African American women playing non-servitude roles.
Blaxploitation films gave black female actresses the opportunity to escape from the usually seen stereotypes such as the mammy and play roles that arguably empowered them. Despite this departure from the negative submissive stereotypes, Blaxploitation saw the emergence of another problematic stereotype, ‘the sapphire’. Cedric Robinson refers to Blaxploitation staring back actresses as the “Bad Black Woman” motif. This reinforces negative stereotypes that are detrimental to the way that black women are perceived by society. “The genre itself did little to change the long-held images of African American Women” (Sims. 2006. Pp. 8). Despite these negative attributes of Blaxploitation films, the genre also encompasses many redeeming qualities. Actresses such as Pam Grier and Tamara Dobson help greatly in reshaping gender roles, particularly roles involving an action-centered storyline.
With the emergence of Blaxploitation there were many more opportunities and roles for Black actors and actress’s to play. The problem with most of these roles lies not so much in the representation but more to do with the roles themselves. Most of the roles include drug dealers, pimps, crime lords and violent police officers. “Blaxploitation films also exploit the sex industry (prostitutes, pimps, and bordellos). In many cases of these films we see the industrial side of drugs and prostitution in great detail” (koven. 2001. Pp. 9). Although clearly problematic many of these roles encompass the idea of the anti-hero, their methods often questionable but their motives are sometimes good, or the character is so likeable and charismatic that you are willing to ignore many of the crimes they commit. An example of this can be seen in the film Shaft (1971). Where Shaft played by Richard Roundtree doesn’t shy away from violence in order to obtain his goal. Despite there being many problems surrounding Blaxploitation films, especially regarding its use of stereotypes, I feel that the positives outweigh the negatives. Where some of the characters are not shown in the most positive of lights, the fact that the genre gave many African American actors and film makers the opportunity to express themselves is a great thing and serves to empower the African American community as a whole.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Bogle. D. (2001). Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks. United States: continuum.
Koven. M.J. (2001). Blaxploitation Films. Great Britain: Pocket Essentials.
Manatu. N. (2003). African American Women and Sexuality in the Cinema. United States: McFarland.
Sims. Y.D. (2006). Women of Blaxploitation. United States: McFarland.
Filmography
Parks. G. (Director). (1972). Shaft. [Motion Picture]. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Stahl. J.M. (Director). (1934). Imitation of Life. [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures
Bogle. D. (2001). Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks. United States: continuum.
Koven. M.J. (2001). Blaxploitation Films. Great Britain: Pocket Essentials.
Manatu. N. (2003). African American Women and Sexuality in the Cinema. United States: McFarland.
Sims. Y.D. (2006). Women of Blaxploitation. United States: McFarland.
Filmography
Parks. G. (Director). (1972). Shaft. [Motion Picture]. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Stahl. J.M. (Director). (1934). Imitation of Life. [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures