Still, Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1977)
What economic, political and social circumstances led to the "Great Migration" of African-Americans to U.S. northern urban centers in the early 20th century?
What impact did the Production Code of 1934 have on the use of African-American stereotypes and actors in Hollywood films?
What were the economic and social challenges faced by African-American independent filmmakers emerging in the 1970s and 1980s? How is Spike Lee's career an example of the negotiation of critical and socially relevant filmmaking and the Hollywood industry?
In Takaki, blacks were driven by particular pushes. After emancipation, most blacks were forced to become sharecroppers and tentant farmers.Dependant on white landlords and enslaved by debt. They had painfully come to reelize "no rise to the thing. This passage reminded me of part of Maya Angelos poem, "Still i Rise"Leaving behind the nights of terror and fear, I rise, into a day break thats wonderously clear, I rise, bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I rise,I am the dream and the hope of the slave, I rise,,,
ReplyDeleteProduction code of 1934 was a severe form of institutionalized racism and the culture codes of glamor and beauty. African americans played only domesticated roles. I read where Hattie McDaniels, in 1939 in her acceptance speech she said i hope i am a credit to my race, bust out crying and walked off the stage. I couldnt tell if she was happy or embarrassed.
In the 1970 during the blaxploitaton films, black youth started dressing and acting like the lead character, a pimp.
The movies were glamorizing pimps and prostitutes.
Spike Lee, one of my favorite directors, next to West craven, who made the 70's version of the (last house on the left). Mr. Lee, like i said before was ahead of the times, white America was not ready for these types of movies,which only told you what black Americans were going through at the time,but we all got ready, and thy were and still are very good movies. Crooklyn is one tear jearker, that i would play for my children when they were little, to let them know anything could happen to momma.
In our Takaki reading we learned that there were many push and pull factors that ultimately lead to the "Great Migration" of African-Americans to northern industrial cities of the United States from the early to mid 20th century. After slaves became free in 1865 many were faced with a predicament of what to do. Most did not own land or have a job but still needed to provide for their family so they became sharecroppers thus becoming slaves again by they debt they owed white land owners. World War I and World War II provided enough jobs for lower skilled worked thus many poor former sharecroppers moved to the north for these better paying jobs.
ReplyDeleteIn our Benshoff and Griffin readings we learned that Production code of 1934 was a form of racism that was rampant in the film industry were blacks just as in the past would play/perform stereotypical roles
in the 1970s and 1980s many African American communities were faced with growing poverty as well as a large drug problem. Directors like Spike Lee as well as others brought us to these communities and showed us what life was like for African Americans living in these communities.
Between 1910 and 1920 some 187,200 African Americans joined the population of northern cities such as Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, and New York. This period of time is known as the “Great Migration.” A major “push” encouraging blacks to travel north was the new form of black exploitation known as sharecropping. Despite emancipation, blacks had become tenant farmers to their once owners, providing crop in exchange for property costs. Often times harvest wouldn’t yield enough to cover their costs; the majority of sharecroppers went deeper and deeper into debt with every season. There were also many “pulls” from the northern states. Due to a fallout of European immigrant laborers, production companies were desperately seeking new cheap labor. WWI created a tremendous demand for labor, and African Americans both male and female were rapidly filling the factories. These young workers sent greeting cards as invitations to their unfortunate families and friends still under the gun in southern states.
ReplyDeleteThe production code of 1934 reduced the number of derogatory images of African Americans in Hollywood. Though still prevalent throughout the 30’s and 40’s, racism in Hollywood was substantially reduced in this classical period. Black actors were cast in minimal supporting roles so that prejudiced audiences wouldn’t be offended. Little by little African American culture worked its way into Hollywood films such as Hallelujah and Hearts in Dixie. These films consisted mostly of musicals depicting black’s religious, artistic, and liberal ideals.
Throughout the late 60’s and 70’s civil rights movements became increasingly more violent and aggressive. Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party advocated this movement as a way of self-defense. This change shifted African American filmmakers out of the pleasant musical era and into a more radical and controversial time period. Blaxploitation films such as Shaft and Superfly became more and more popular. Blaxploitation refers to the way in which these types of films exploited blacks and put money in the pockets of white Hollywood producers. Spike Lee’s career began in 1986 with She’s Gotta Have It and by 1988 he had a distribution deal with Hollywood. The black community couldn’t get enough of Lee’s films as he continued to challenge issues of racism and prejudice. Hollywood recognized the profitability of such a movement and gave Lee full support.
After slavery was abolished African-Americans were left trying to provide for their families, but without owning land or having other work experience they were faced with the prospect of reverting to farming land owned by their former owners. It wasn’t until the world war broke out that more employment opportunities arose.
ReplyDeleteThe production codes of the 1930s only help to further stereotypes of African Americans in film. Any implication of sexuality among African Americans was forbidden, so there were no opportunities to portray romantic characters; even most dance numbers were restricted to what were deemed inoffensive pairings. This forced them into stereotypical roles as servants, or as the comic relief to white leads.
The Hollywood studio system has always attempted to push away any competition, making it hard to independently produce and distribute films. This made it especially hard for African American directors to find audiences for their work, especially since most independent theaters are largely located outside of African American communities. Spike Lee’s style of directly addressing problems of race and societal oppression has found him an audience that was tired of the same stereotypical representations. However, Lee has faced problems in finding funding for his films leaving him to find money through merchandise tie-ins, which has effectively brought criticism upon some of his work.
After slavery was abolished in 1865, African Americans wanted to expand their horizons and look for other jobs opportunities, which eventually led to the "Great Migration" in Northern cities such as; Chicago, Harlem, Detroit, etc. These job opportunities were granted to African Americans primarily because of contract disputes with European Immigrant workers, and the desperate need for cheap labor.
ReplyDeleteThe production code was implemented in a hopeful attempt to abolish negative stereotypes of African American roles in film however, the roles of African Americans on film were still subservient but were not as blatant as before. The roles of African American actors became domesticated, for example Dorothy Dandridge played the role of a "jungle goddess" the "tragic mulatto" for which she received an Oscar, we can see similar instances of the same stereotypes today, such as Halle Berry's role in Monster's Ball (sinful miscegenation)for which she also won an Oscar. It almost seems as if this production code was put in place to quiet down the protests about the negative stereotypes of African Americans, and yet films still create the same characters, subliminally.
It is also evident that Blaxploitation films were a result of the production code, because of the attempt to expand on the identity of African Americans outside of the mammie, coon, etc. During the late 60s and 70s African Americans were becoming more aggressive with their approach towards equality, movements such as the Black Panthers emerged during this time frame.These films made poor attempts to "capture the black experience" produced by white filmmakers the actors portrayed pimps, hoodlums, and drug dealers, which ultimately provoked the African American youth to imitate these roles, given that they appeared to be glamorous/admirable.
Spike Lee became a success because his films showed African Americans as they are; human. His films are about the struggles of the African American people such as racism, double-consciousness, and their dreams, which are just like every other American, to have an education, raise a family, experience happiness, pain, etc. It is still a struggle today for Spike Lee to find funding for his films and as a result he does have to conform to the societal demands of Hollywood productions. For example, he made the film Inside Man, a more socially accepted film with a diverse cast, in order to get funding for the film Miracle at St. Ana which told the story of African American soldiers in World War II after having a dispute with Clint Eastwood because of the lack of African American soldiers represented in his film "Letters from Iwa Jima" which also told the story of WWII. Spike Lee's films are definitely telling the stories of African Americans, unbiasedly and overall, I believe Spike Lee is an incredible filmmaker, it is sad though that even in today's era he along with other people of color still have to conform to a "cultural norm" in order to be broadly accepted among all American people.
What economic, political and social circumstances led to the "Great Migration" of African-Americans to U.S. northern urban centers in the early 20th century?
ReplyDeleteFrom the readings we see that the economic and political social circumstances that led to the “ Great Migration” had to do with sharecropping. We see that after slavery was abolished in 1865 African Americans could not afford to leave their once owners so they staid and worked for very little. They tilled the grounds, planted crops and went on with what they were doing before. Some African Americans wanted to really be free and they found job opportunities up north. These jobs didn't pay well but they paid and the news spread like wild fire. The employers like it because there was no fighting over labor contracts and the African Americans where hard workers.
What impact did the Production Code of 1934 have on the use of African-American stereotypes and actors in Hollywood films? We learn that the production code was just another way to keep blacks in traditional black rolls. But eventually they where cast into lead or main rolls
What were the economic and social challenges faced by African-American independent filmmakers emerging in the 1970s and 1980s? How is Spike Lee's career an example of the negotiation of critical and socially relevant filmmaking and the Hollywood industry?
Spike Lee has made leaps and bounds for African Americans and the film industry. His movies depict real life of African Americans. They have showed people that African Americans are just the same as everybody, they want education for there children, success and safe families. They have taken the gangster, drug dealer stereotype and tossed it.
The circumstances that led to the Great Migration was that after slaves had been freed in 1865 they were basically in the same position but now they were free. Africans Americans had no other choice but to become sharecroppers to try and survive since they had nothing else after being freed, but this resulted in them falling into debt for land owners. In Takaki it says the sharecropping was crushing and at the end of the harvest and that sharecroppers found themselves in more into debt and they found themselves in economic bondage. They were still kind of being treated like slaves but the difference was they were free. The North was providing opportunities for African Americans to escape sharecropping and falling into debt. Two old tenants named Uncle Ben and Uncle Joe didn't have the money to escape to the North and when the land owner came around asking where everyone had gone they told him they had gone up to the North and they had stayed behind out of loyalty. The land owner gave them money for their loyalty and as soon as he left the two men bought train tickets for the North. This shows what the tenants would have done to escape to the North and how horrible it must have been being a sharecropper in the South. The two old men escaped a cycle of mistreatment and hard labor just to get more into debt almost similar to slavery. The impact the Production Code of 1934 had in Hollywood was it was just another way of keeping African Americans down and force them to play the role of the Mammy, Uncle Tom and Coon. It was Hollywood's way of enforcing discrimination while profiting from keeping African Americans in stereotypical roles like the sidekick or villain. The Production Code was also an attempt at preventing progress. The Production Code of 1934 also helped exploit African American actors with movies like Shaft and Superfly. Since these movies were popular it made the film industry want to promote the type of character who was a hero fighting the man and could get any woman he wanted. It seems like whatever was popular and made money that's how this industry wanted to use these actors. In the 1980s, Spike Lee was getting recognition as a filmmaker, and he showed the problems with society concerning race and racism. Through his films, he showed issues that people try to forget or not think about. He is a respected filmmaker who has helped advance independent filmaking. When a studio threatened to take a film away from him for going over budget, he said white filmmakers go over budget all the time without getting threatened. Through the stories he tells and his actions in his own way he has helped change the way that African Americans are viewed and treated.
ReplyDeleteAfrican Americans had a hard time living a normal life in the South in the early 20th century. Many of them were suppressed and looked at as inferior. They saw the North as a haven and a place to start a new life. They were unable to get good paying jobs in the South so they moved to the North, worked blue collar jobs, and got paid twice as much. There was still a lot of racist tension in the South and African Americans were treated horribly by white supremacy groups and even political leaders. There was no life for them in the South so they packed up and moved North in search of better paying jobs, better living conditions, and most of all respect.
ReplyDeleteThe Production Code of 1934 tried to lift the stereotype that many African Americans had to play in movies. It was easier for African Americans to take their smaller roles and turn them into something great. They were still a long way off from playing the leading role in movies, but they now played more respectable roles compared to the demeaning ones they were forced to play in the past.
Blaxpliotation films became very popular in the 1970s. These films showed tough black men busting out against the white institution. These films caused problems because they took money from African American communities to support these films. Many blacks were portrayed negatively in these films by playing gangsters and drug dealers, which made other blacks look bad. Spike Lee became a popular director because he did not sugar coat black life. He showed the every day struggle of an African American in society while trying to life a normal life. His films attracted black and white audiences alike, which really helped Lee out in the film industry. I think people gained more respect for African Americans after Spike Lee came along.
Economically, sharecropping in the South was a disaster for African-Americans – the small cash crops they could bring to market weren’t enough to keep them out of debt. Combining that with a drop in emigrating European immigrants, and the factories of the North drew blacks up from the plantations by the thousands. Socially, the escape from old southern world of subservience and the desire to join family or friends already in the North motivated African-Americans to move to cities like Chicago, New Jersey and New York. Politically, Jim Crow laws, steady lynchings and violence added to the opportunities offered by cities in the North.
ReplyDeleteThe Production code of 1934 actually reduced the types of roles African-Americans got when the code was enforced and old stereotypes were used more than ever. Actors like Lena Horn and Bill Robinson for example, were unable to showcase their dance talent and were relegated to simple characters that filmmakers felt would not offend white audiences.
In 70’s and 80’s African-American independent film makers were faced with difficulties drawing large audiences. Many of the films were well made, but couldn’t draw white moviegoers. Hollywood largely avoided “black” films because they too couldn’t consistently draw large numbers. That began to change with rise of Spike Lee in the mid-eighties. He made a series of movies that shook the status quo and is today considered one of the great African-American filmmakers. But his success has not been without challenges: he still struggles in getting financing to make films that generally address issues of race and assimilation. Currently, he makes more traditional Hollywood movies like Inside Man which in turn allow him to produce other independent films. In this sense, he still has to negotiate the resistance of Hollywood to make truly controversial and groundbreaking movies.
After the emancipation many African Americans were faced with employment issues. A lot of African Americans were working as tenant farmers and sharecroppers. There was not enough money in this business to support themselves, and since a lot of their friends and families had started moving north, some were just scared that they would end up being alone and not have any of their friends and family to support them. The Production Code of 1934 was a censoring system that limited the way African Americans were depicted in Hollywood. After this code was established roles of the “Tragic Mullato” were eliminated and the “Black Buck” which put a savage-like sexual twist on the African American actors was also not as popular. Most African American actors were portrayed as the childish figures such as the “Coon”, “Uncle Tom” and “Mammy”. These roles were viewed as not being hostile or offensive. During the civil rights movement and after the assassination of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, violence was promoted more due the lack of progress that was being made in the civil rights movement. Tolerance for the original roles played by African American actors, such as the mammy and the coon were wearing out. From this independent African American filmmakers started making “blaxploitation films” which challenged the old roles and presented a new gangster appeal. Spike Lee lead the movement for independent film-making by making films that mostly appealed to African Americans instead of just white people.
ReplyDeleteThere are many different reasons for the "great migration" of African American from the rural south to the urban north. Many African Americans left the south because of racial discrimination and the Jim Crow Laws, others left because of failed crops and an increase in the need for factory workers in the northern cities that were churning out tanks and weapons for WWI.
ReplyDeleteIn 1934 the Hollywood Production codes were made and they stayed until 1968. These codes spelled out what was morally acceptable and unacceptable for movie viewers. The codes were a form of racial discrimination they caused most black roles in cinema to be the stereotypical roles of blacks seen in the antebellum period and the early 20th century.
In the 70's and 80's the black community saw the rise of the drug industry and an increased poverty in their neighborhoods. Spike lee focused on these communities in his movies, raising the viewer’s awareness of what was going on and dispelling some black stereotypes.
After the emancipation, many of the slaves were turned into sharecroppers or tenant farmers to the former slave masters. Many of the farmers were born into slavery and did not know anything but the task at hand. The former slave’s children saw more for themselves and the north is the place that will give them that opportunity. As World War I started, the immigrations of Europeans had dropped significantly therefore, leaving a shortage of man power. The shortage made the industrial workforce hire women and African Americans. The word of higher paying jobs in the north floated south. Soon after the words had leaked, people were migrating towards the higher paying jobs and better opportunities. People showed up by the thousands, which led it to be called the “Great Migration”.
ReplyDeleteThe Production Code of 1934 used less of the stereotypical images of African Americans of early depictions of the “tragic mulatto”, “black buck”, and any images that were considered taboo. As Hollywood swayed away from those images, they somehow changed the images of African Americans child-like and nonthreatening. Their roles became more of the supporting role, but never the leading role.
Independent African American filmmakers at the time were projecting what the young angry film goers were feeling at the time with the assassination of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The popular imagery in those independent movies was the “justified” white cop killer, the hustler, and the sexual stud. Hollywood saw that this was what they wanted to see therefore, used blaxploitation to make more money. Spike Lee career in film making is influential to many. His movies depict real life issues and puts in on the table for others to see.
Early on in American film, African Americans were locked into a set of stereotypes that they could depict on screen. Because film makers felt that European American audiences wouldn't be able to relate to an African American in the leading role, they were forced to play smaller parts. These parts were often along the same stereotypes that originated in minstrel shows a hundred years prior. If African Americans wanted to be actors in Hollywood, then they would have to conform to playing stereotypes in films. At the same time, African American film makers were producing films that kept the same genre codes from Hollywood films but cast African Americans in the leading roles. These films were aimed at the African American community and focused on themes and issues that they could related to. They produced African American versions of gangster films and western films. It's interesting that in western films specifically, traditionally the heroes wore white to represent honor and justice while the villains would wear black to represent evil and crime. These color codes were kept in the African American versions even though both roles were played by dark skinned actors. As Hollywood branched out in the late 60s, it started making films that were directed at African American audiences. These would be known as the blaxploitation films. They were usually low budget relied on a new set of genre codes that represent how African Americans were feeling at the time and what they wanted to see in film. These new codes would eventually give-way into a new set of African American stereotypes.
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