On the 12th February 2018 Black Panther released in cinemas. The Black Panther movie, with the original comics created with the goal of introducing black characters into the world of comic books and with the backdrop of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States, were able to shift some of the perspectives away from the usual stereotypes about Africa in the Western world.
History of Black American Cinema
Black American cinema began in the early 1900s as Black filmmakers countered racist portrayals in mainstream movies. The "race films" of the 1910s-40s, led by figures like Oscar Micheaux, depicted Black life realistically for Black audiences. In the 1970s, Blaxploitation films brought Black heroes to the forefront, though often in stereotyped roles. The late 1980s-90s saw new voices like Spike Lee and John Singleton address Black experiences with depth, leading to broader representation. By the 2000s, filmmakers like Ava DuVernay and Ryan Coogler achieved mainstream success, making Black cinema a central and celebrated part of Hollywood.
In the 2010s, Black American cinema gained even more recognition and influence. Directors like Ava DuVernay (Selma, 2014), Jordan Peele (Get Out, 2017), Black Panther, 2018 broke new ground with films that received critical acclaim and commercial success. Black Panther became a cultural phenomenon, and Peele’s Get Out used horror to explore racial themes in innovative ways. This period solidified Black cinema’s mainstream power, with a diverse range of stories and genres that expanded representation and reshaped Hollywood.
Representations of Blackness in cinema history Sam Lucas became the first Black actor to be cast in a leading role in a mainstream film, appearing in the 1914 film Uncle Tom's Cabin. A major theme in Uncle Tom's Cabin is the problem of slavery and the treatment of humans as property .In 2012, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Due to the racial discrimination in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Hollywood tended to avoid using African-American actors and actresses. In pursuit of avoiding the use of African American actors and actresses, Blackface (used to refer to the practice of wearing make-up to imitate the appearance of a black person. The use of such make-up was associated with minstrel shows in the United States from the 1830s until the mid 20th century; it is now regarded as highly offensive.) became a popular form of entertainment in the 19th century. The roles that the African-American community were generally offered, usually fell into one or more of three themes; a tale of rags to riches, thug life, or segregation. The first black Oscar winner, Hattie McDaniel, received the Academy Award in 1940 for her portrayal of the loyal maid in Gone with the Wind. Despite the Academy Award, McDaniel faced struggle of both racism and sexism over the next decade. African-American actresses and actors are more common on the big screen, but they are still scarce in bigger blockbuster movies. Reasons for this may be that "with the stakes high, many studio executives worry that films that focus on African-American themes risk being too narrow in their appeal to justify the investment. Hollywood has nonetheless shown an interest in recent years to bank more heavily on African-American actors and themes. The consolidation of a black presence in the movies and television did not signal the arrival of a post-racial Hollywood any more than the election of Barack Obama in 2008 spelled the end of America's 400-year-old racial drama. Even in today's movies, the few roles that African-American performers are offered often fall under similar typecast roles to the roles offered in previous decades.
#OscarsSoWhite campaign The hashtag, started by activist and writer April Reign, pointed out that, astonishingly, there were no people of colour nominated for acting roles that year (2015). The following year, the same exact thing happened, prompting stars such as Jada Pinkett and Spike Lee to boycott the awards. The academy made efforts to diversify its membership. They set ambitious goals, and in 2020, announced they had exceeded them, doubling the number of female members, and tripling their members of colour. The Academy also announced new diversity-oriented changes this year. For example, to qualify for best picture nomination, films will have to meet diversity and inclusion standards. Among them is the rule that at least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group in a specific country or territory of production.
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