The Buddy Movie: Tired or Classic Formula?
The question of whether the buddy movie, or more specifically the biracial buddy movie, is a tired or classic formula can be argued both ways, but I feel that the biracial buddy movie only becomes problematic if it is done badly. Unfortunately more often than not Hollywood does not handle the sensitive issue of race well as their main goal is to make a profit, the method in which they go about making a profit is by pandering to the most popular audience which in America in the 1980 is middle class white people.
During the mid 1970’s there was a huge shift in the representation of black people, this is mainly due to the massive boom of Blaxploitation films. In more popular cinema black representation changed to reaffirm common stereotypes surrounding black people. Ed Guerro points to films such as The Blues Brothers (1980) and Soul Man (1986) as examples of films that use “neo-minstrelsy” as a result of their use of blackface. “Hollywood has deployed a variety of narrative and visual ‘strategies of containment’ that subordinate the black image and subtly reaffirm dominant societies traditional racial order.” (Guerro. 1993. Pp. 237). These strategies include, confining black people to playing comic roles in films, this idea is illustrated by the careers of actors such as Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, this is a strategy used in buddy moves as it causes both white and black audiences to sympathize with the black character while at the same time potentially cause audiences to not take the black characters seriously in an attempt to reaffirm white dominance on screen. These strategies can be seen in films such as 48 Hours (1982) and Lethal Weapon (1987). Moreover another common industry practice used within biracial buddy films is giving a black star a large role in the film where he or she is isolated from the black community, the character is an individual but in the film they are there to serve the purpose of representing the entire black community.
In the 1970’s many critics pointed out that the white, male buddy moves were a reaction the emergence of the women’s rights movement. Robin Wood argues “The buddy films of the seventies, mediated a number of shares qualities, including the all-important marginalization or erasure of women from the narrative” (Wood. 1986. Pp 227-30). This is another example of where the formula is tired and it is these films that eventually transformed into the biracial buddy movies we know today. It is the mainstream Hollywood buddy movies that are often problematic as they generally serve to portray different genders and ethnicities through a white male perspective, “ Hollywood has put what is left of black presence on screen in the protective custody, so to speak, of a white male lead or co-star, and therefor in conforming with the dominant white sensibilities and expectations of what blacks would be like” (Guerro. 1993. Pp. 239). Although Hollywood’s motives for doing this are simply to pander to the majority audience this does not mean that the white audiences that enjoy watching the films like them because it places African Americans in lower position. The majority of white people going to see the films enjoy them because they enjoy seeing racial boundaries crossed and people of different ethnicities working together and getting along. Hollywood causes the problems as they are to afraid of putting in to many black characters in fear of the film becoming a “Black Movie”, “Hollywood is afraid that if you have more than one black person in a movie you have a black movie.” (Gold. 1987. Pp36).
The idea that the biracial buddy movie is a tired formula is a fair assumption to make as it is often done poorly. Many of the black characters in films are there simply to serve as token. A poor attempt to give black audiences a character to relate to due to the rising population of African Americans, “Hollywood is intent on bringing in the broadest box office possible with the installation of crossover thematic and the recognition of a few token blacks.” (Guerro. 1993. Pp. 239). To conclude the buddy movie is a tired formula as often it serves to reaffirm black stereotypes on screen, it is not entirely tired as if done well the results can be outstanding for example films such as the Shawshank Redemption (1994).
Creating a Black Aesthetic
When you think of the Black Aesthetic you think of directors such as Spike Lee, this aesthetic is formed as a result of a huge amount of community help which is often represented in the films as many story’s revolve around black community and solidarity.
Ain’t I a Woman too?
Black females in American cinema have had to overcome many issues regarding their representation and opportunities for diverse roles. Black women in films are often stereotypes who are there to serve as binary opposition towards a white woman, portraying the white woman as strong willed and intelligent and the black woman as unintelligent and hyper sexualized.
There is not a great deal written on black female spectatorship, bell hooks points out the reason for this, “The prolonged silence of black women as spectator and critics was a response to absence, to cinematic negation” (hooks, 1993. Pp. 291) when black women do appear in cinema they are often depicted as exotic or the erotic other. Their identity is defined through their body usually falling into two categories, asexual character stereotypes such as the mammie, or hyper sexualized stereotypical characters such as the The Jezabel. The film Angel Heart (1987) presents an example of the hyper sexualized exotic black female through the character of Epiphany Proudfoot, played by Lisa Bonet. During her introductory scene her nipples being obviously visible through the entire scene serves to objectify her and place her into the category of the exotic other. The representation of black women in films is highly problematic as they usually provide African American women watching the film with two choices, to identify with the white women, or resist and be forced to identify with the usually stereotypical black character.
Bibliography
Diawara. M. (1993). Black American Cinema. United States: Routledge.
Gold. R. (1987). Hiring of Black Talent a Grey Area. Variety.
Wood. R. (1986). Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan. United States: Columbia University Press.
Gold. R. (1987). Hiring of Black Talent a Grey Area. Variety.
Wood. R. (1986). Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan. United States: Columbia University Press.
Filmography
Darabont. F. (Director). (1994). The Shawshank Redemption. United States: Castle Rock Entertainment.
Donner. R. (Director). (1987). Lethal Weapon. United States: Warner Bros.
Hill. P. (Director). (1982). 48 Hours. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Parker. A. (Director). (1987). Angel Heart. United States: Carolco International N.V.
Donner. R. (Director). (1987). Lethal Weapon. United States: Warner Bros.
Hill. P. (Director). (1982). 48 Hours. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Parker. A. (Director). (1987). Angel Heart. United States: Carolco International N.V.