Racial movies are described as simply films that are related to a
certain race. Bamboozled and Django Unchained are considered to fall under this
category of race themed films. These are also films that are widely watched by
Caucasian viewers. Why do these movies about slavery and African American
stereotypes do so well in the box office when it portrays the suffering and
torture of African Americans? Sut Jhally’s article about The Cosby Show
mentions that people like to watch these types of films because it shows that
these issues are from the past and no longer need to be worried about and
instead we can watch and be thankful that we are in a better place now. If that
is the case then why are films such as The Best Man Holiday and other films
with mostly an all African American cast considered movies for black people?
Why don’t people want to watch an African American family or two African
Americans fall in love? This is very interesting because films about racial
issues are popular, but romantic uplifting black comedies are not.
It’s a problem of racism. People have a problem watching successful
African Americans because it is out of their norm. Instead it is normal to feel
bad for the African Americans and continue to do so by watching white movies
that portray exactly that.
Can you find differences when it comes to the mainstream romantic comedy
and a romantic comedy with an all black cast? Most likely not.
I'm not sure if it's still on Netflix, but I watched a romantic comedy called What my husband doesn't know, which involved an all black cast. One difference is that is was a play rather than a film. Another difference is that this revolved around themes of betrayal, infidelity, and temptation. The play is about the wife cheating on her husband while he's out of town. In the end, it is revealed that her biological father is actually her Pastor (her mom cheated). The fact that these themes are being portrayed by an all black cast can perpetuate the stereotypes that blacks are promiscuous and immoral. Mainstream romantic comedy, however, typically involves an all-white or mostly white cast. I think that the common themes in these films (love at first site, frenemies, man/woman being "best friends" etc) further reinforce gender stereotypes rather than racial stereotypes which can play into the idea of normative whiteness or maybe colorblind racism.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, Caroline. It is very unfortunate but society has become so acclimated to racism in film that anything going against the norm is considered "not worth watching," which is problematic. There are no differences in a romantic comedy and a romantic comedy with an all black cast. They are both just romantic comedies. I still remain puzzled at why films with a theme of slavery or heavy portrayals of racism are critically acclaimed over other movies with a positive message.
ReplyDelete