In Marlon Riggs’ 1992 documentary film titled Color Adjustment, Riggs, the Emmy winning producer of Ethnic Notions, continues his studies of prejudice in television. The documentary film looks at the years between 1948 and 1988 to analyze how over a 40 year period, race relations are viewed through the lens of prime time entertainment. The film examined many of television’s stereotypes and mythes and how they changed over the years.
Crash is one of those movies that make us rethink even what we think we know about the world we live in. The film Crash has several sociological concepts, prejudice, social class, Thomas theorem (examining issues of race) and ethnocentrism. Crash also uses several literature devices like irony, pathos, and tone. These Literature devices demonstrate police brutality, violence and racism. Crash shows a lack of civil liberties, rights, social justice, and prejudices from the people. This movie did a great job of showing how certain society’s work, races such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Persians/Asians were being treated wrong in the movie, and it displays the sociological concepts.
It is truly evident that the fundamental focal point of the whole motion picture is bigotry. Bigotry is characterized as the conviction that all individuals from each race forces attributes or capacities particular to that race, particularly to recognize it as substandard compared to another race, which prompts preference and oppression somebody of an alternate race.
The oxford dictionary had much to say about the word “nigger.” The oxford dictionary said, slave masters got the name “nigger” from the Latin word “Niger” meaning black. They also got the word “Negro” from the meaning of the Spanish diction meaning “black” also. They used the word “black” to describe African American’s instead of letting them have their names or giving them an actual name. It wouldn’t be so bad but, they used the word in offensive ways that gave the word a bad meaning. The word wasn’t bad but the meaning behind it became bad which smeared onto the word which made it a horribly offensive
Leaving last week’s class, my mind was darting in all sorts of directions. While the “Eyes on the Prize” excerpt gave me a concrete understanding of the historic events of the desegregation of Little Rock High School, “Little Rock Central High: 50 Years Later” brought up all sorts of observations and questions on race in America that I hadn’t necessarily thought to address before. I think these two films were particularly interesting to view back to back because of their difference in style, content, and execution.
Disney Channel’s The Proud Family (or TPF for the duration of this paper), is an animated show about a middle class African American family that focuses mainly on fourteen-year old Penny Proud. Her family includes her father Oscar, mother Trudy, grandmother Suga Mama and baby siblings BeBe and CeCe. These characters all live under the same roof. Other main characters include Penny’s friends Dijonay, LaCienega, Zoey and Sticky. The show circulates heavily around Penny navigating life as a teenager and dealing with problems with family and friends. The show is a sitcom, therefore the storyline of every episode is focused on the presentation and resolution of the typical problems that arise for Penny. Social cognitive theory,
Racism is always issues which take a huge part of American history. Until the twenty-first century, although people tried to make the country becomes the freedom and equality nation, these issues are still happening everywhere. According to "In Living Color: Race and American Culture," Stuart Hall argues that racism is still widespread in the society and "it is widely invisible even to those who formulate the world in its terms" (qtd. in Omi 683). Indeed, situations about race quietly exist in the movie industry, which "has led to the perpetuation of racial caricatures" to the majority audiences and even minority audiences (Omi 629). Like the media, Hollywood has a significant impact on viewers to perceive life and to
Martin Luther King once said “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”. Racism is the intentional act of antagonism against someone of a different race/culture based on the belief that one’s own race is more superior. This problem is major in the society today, it doesn’t matter if you’re black, Caucasian or Asian it can affect you. Racism is such a big issue that it has made it has made it into many films some being; Remember the Titans (2000) and The Boy in Striped Pyjamas (2008). These films are all thriving for one outcome and that is to change the minds of all citizens about racism and end discrimination.
In Terrance Hayes’s poem “Mr. T-,” the speaker presents the actor Laurence Tureaud, also known as Mr. T, as a sellout and an unfavorable role model for the African American youth for constantly playing negative, stereotypical roles for a black man in order to achieve success in Hollywood. The speaker also characterizes Mr. T as enormous and simple-minded with a demeanor similar to an animal’s to further his mockery of Mr. T’s career.
Although race relations in the United States between whites and African Americans have significantly improved since the abolishment of Jim Crow laws, director Spike Lee’s socially conscious satire, Bamboozled shows that discrimination has only evolved.
To begin I just want say that i love black cinema films, i have a couple of favorite of films for example "baber shop" by Tim Story, "Remeber the Titans" by Boaz Yakin, and my all time favorite "Boyz n the Hood" by John Singleton. From the begining of the movie "do the Right Thing" it felt famaliar to me, like i knew some of the techniques that were being used. The editing, camera angles, and the music all rang bell. Comparing this film to the preview films weve watched this one was beyond in a different level. The film broke the hays code the
Media misrepresentation of African Americans as an industry issue has been a major concern in our American culture; and is also a component of media bias in the United States. Unfortunately, the media representation of minorities has not always been in a positive light. Instead there has been publicized, controversial and misconstrued images of who African Americans truly are. Since the mass media is an important source of information about African Americans and their image, it influences the public perception and reinforce opinions about African Americans. Typically, these opinions are unfavorable and highlight negative stereotypes associated with African Americans. Sadly, the overrepresentation of white characters in American culture contributes
The movie “Boyz N’ the Hood” is a story centered on the issues that are seen in the urban areas of Los Angeles every day. Tre (the main character) is raised in a way that seems to be correct but he still ends up being a part of criminal activity. While watching this film in an academic setting it is easy to see the social and political reform messages that are being communicated to the audience. On the political side it is easy to see the race and ethnicity of the film maker while on the social side the audience can tell the filmmaker is spreading a message. All together “Boyz N’ the Hood” is a very good film that depicts the type of stuff that happens in the poorer parts of Los Angeles.
In recent years, there has been a movement for Disney animations to reach out to previously underrepresented audiences (e.g. Moana, Pocahontas). However, the films were not always received how the producers had originally intended. The Princess and the Frog was a Disney princess animation released in 2009, based off The Frog Princess. The story is a young African American waitress living with meager funds, working towards her dreams of opening a restaurant. When Prince Naveen who has been turned into a frog kisses her, thinking her a princess, turns her also into a frog. The two go on an adventure to break the curse, along the way they make friends with an alligator (Louise) and a firefly (Ray). The story is set in New Orleans, all the characters speak accented English (i.e. African American Vernacular English and American Southern English). Princess and the Frog is an exemplary case of how Disney presents African Americans in their animation films.
The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. Skeeter, a southern society girl, interviews the black women who have spent their lives being servants for wealthy white Southern families. There are various scenes throughout the film that show social stratification, racial inequalities, gender inequalities, and class inequalities.