Black Panther Cultural contexts
Throughout history, Black Americans have either been misrepresented or had no representation at all. A main area where this happened was within media and film. When film began to be shown all throughout America in 1896, so did Black Hollywood. In his book about black film, Gary Null said Hollywood had a “practice of portraying black males as slow talking, irresponsible, slew-footed, dimwits and lazy bucks. This practice continued well into the 1930s and even appeared in children’s animated films". In the 1900s most African Americans were portrayed by white actors in blackface as Black people were not given opportunities to be within mainstream media.
In 1915, a film called “The birth of a nation” was released, written and directed by D. W. Griffiths. It is a silent film though apart of film history due to its technicality and the first film to ever be screened in the Whitehouse, it is claimed as one of the most racist films ever made, denounced for its racist ideas towards African Americans. It follows a half historical narrative about the assassination of Abraham Lincon, American Civil War and the founding of the Ku Klux Klan. African Americans in this film are played by white actors in blackface, depicted as sexually aggressive and unintelligent. In contrast, members of the KKK are seen to be heroic people aiming to uphold American values (which in this film is seen to be the belief in white supremacy and protecting white women). Although popular among white audiences, it led to protest all throughout the US by African Americans. The NAACP (who later become a key organisation within the civil rights movement), advocate for the banning of the movie as it promoted further racial divide and could lead to violence between races. However, these efforts were unsuccessful as “The Birth of a Nation” still remains one of the highest grossing movies ever made.
In 1919, Oscar Micheaux became the first became the first black person to write produce and direct a film. “The Homesteader” is a black and white silent film, discussing themes of segregation and the ban of interracial marriage. Most of the characters are played by actors of colour, showing a genuine representation of African Americans, written by an African American. Additionally, despite its heavy themes, the ending to this story is positive. Unfortunately, the original copy of this film has been lost so cannot be found in any public archive, studio collection or private collection. Micheaux was born on a farm in Illinois, his family then moved to a city so he could receive a better education until they ran into money issues and were forced to move back to the farm. This inspired his writing in later years, about the social issues he has faced. In 1913, he anonymously published his first book “The Conquest” a mostly autobiographical book about his lief as a Homesteader and the failure of his marriage, printing 1000 copies. The novel also focuses on African Americans realising their worth and potential to succeed and became the main source material for his first movie. He went on to write 7 novels in his lifetime and independently produce 44 films.
In 1939, the film “Gone with the wind” was released, following the spoilt daughter of a plantation owner. The film became controversial and sparked protests due to its depiction of slavery and racial prejudices. The black characters are seen to be content with their enslavement, the character Mammy seen to view the people who employ her as good, and other black characters are referred to by racial slurs. Despite this severe misrepresentation the African American actress for Mammy, Hattie McDaniel, won an Oscar for her role as best supporting actress, making her the first black person to ever win an Academy Award. However, at the actual event McDaniel was segregated from the rest of the attendees due to her race.
This movement started trending in 2015, started by activist April Reign with the aim of highlighting the fact that out of all 20 Academy nominated Actors, not a single one of them was a person of colour. The Hashtag instantly went viral, highlighting the Oscars history of a lack of diversity to a broader audience. Reign's original tweet read “#OscarsSoWhite they asked to touch my hair”, published 15th January 2015, an immediate response to the nominee announcement. The hashtag was shared by many people, including people of colour within the film industry. It was mostly shared with humour, as seen in the original tweet, however did not withdraw from criticising the ethics of the industry at the same time.
In 2016, a year after the #OscarsSoWhite campaign, they announced their nominees for the upcoming awards and again they were all white and the hashtag was revived. Many people criticised the academy as the majority of their members are white men, showing their is no drive for a more diverse crowd in the Academy.
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