History of Black Cinema:
African American cinema, also known as Black film, is loosely classified as films made by, for, or about Black Americans. Historically, African American films have been made with African-American casts and marketed to African-American audiences. The production team and director were sometimes also African American. More recently, Black films featuring multicultural casts aimed at multicultural audiences have also included American Blackness as an essential aspect of the storyline.
Segregation, discrimination, issues of representation, derogatory stereotypes and tired tropes have dogged Black American cinema from the start of a century-plus history that roughly coincided with the century-plus history of American cinema. From the very earliest days of moving pictures, major studios used Black actors to appeal to Black audiences while also often relegating them to bit parts, casting women as maids or nannies, and men as natives or servants.
The "race films" of 1915 to the mid-1950s followed a similar spirit of "racial uplift" and educational "counter-programing" with an eye to combating the racism of the Jim Crow south. That sensibility shifted markedly in the 1960s and 70s. Although Blaxploitation films continued to include stereotypical characters, they were also praised for portraying Black people as the heroes and subjects of their own stories. By the 1980s, auteurs like Spike Lee and John Singleton created nuanced depictions of Black lives, which led the way for later filmmakers like Jordan Peele and Ava DuVernay to use a range of genres (horror, history, documentary, fantasy) to explore Black lives from multiple perspectives. Ryan Coogler's 2018 blockbuster superhero film Black Panther has also been widely praised for creating a fully realized Afrocentric urban utopia of Black people that include a foundation myth, a legendary hero and takes "utter delight in its African-ness."
Representations of 'Blackness' in Cinema History:
* Black Is King (2020) - Black Is King is a 2020 American musical film and visual album directed, written, and executive produced by American singer Beyoncé. It is a visual companion to the 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift, curated by Beyoncé for The Lion King.
Plot in a Nutshell: It tells viewers the story of a young African king who is cast out into the world as a baby — and grows up to return home to reclaim his throne. Along the way, he meets figures who connect him to his history, his family and identity – with ample music and dancing.
The storyline of the prince's journey of self-discovery in Black Is King acts as an allegory for the African diaspora's journey of self-discovery, with the film acting as a clarion call to the diaspora to reclaim their identity through black pride.
* Antebellum (2020) - Antebellum is a 2020 American horror thriller film written and directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz in their feature directorial debuts. The film stars Janelle Monáe, Eric Lange, Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, and Gabourey Sidibe, and follows a 21st century African-American woman who wakes to finds herself mysteriously in a Southern slave plantation from which she must escape.
Plot in a Nutshell: Successful author Veronica Henley is finishing a book tour before she returns home to her husband and daughter. But a shocking turn of events is about to upend Veronica's existence, plunging her into a horrifying reality that forces her to confront her past, present and future -- before it's too late.
Monáe said the film carries a powerful message. “It reminds us that the past is not the past,” she said. “The past is not even dead and I think the film is very timely and does a great job, an exceptional job of linking and connecting the dots of the past, the present and what could be our future.”
* The Color Purple (1985) - The Color Purple is a 1985 American epic coming-of-age period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker.
Plot in a Nutshell: The Color Purple documents the traumas and gradual triumph of Celie, an African American teenager raised in rural isolation in Georgia, as she comes to resist the paralyzing self-concept forced on her by others. Celie narrates her life through painfully honest letters to God.
Filmed in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina, the film tells the story of a young African-American girl named Celie Harris and shows the problems African-American women faced during the early 20th century, including domestic violence, incest, pedophilia, poverty, racism, and sexism. Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions.
* Candyman (1992) - Candyman is a 1992 American gothic supernatural horror film, written and directed by Bernard Rose and starring Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley, Kasi Lemmons and Vanessa E. Williams. Based on Clive Barker's short story "The Forbidden", the film follows a Chicago graduate student completing a thesis on urban legends and folklore, which leads her to the legend of the "Candyman", the ghost of an artist and the son of a slave who was murdered in the late 19th century for his relationship with the daughter of a wealthy white man.
Plot in a Nutshell: Skeptical graduate student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) befriends Anne-Marie McCoy (Vanessa Williams) while researching superstitions in a housing project on Chicago's Near North Side. From Anne-Marie, Helen learns about the Candyman (Tony Todd), a knife-wielding figure of urban legend that some of her neighbors believe to be responsible for a recent murder. After a mysterious man matching the Candyman's description begins stalking her, Helen comes to fear that the legend may be all too real.
Sics an undead son of a former slave on a white woman, who finds herself fascinated by what she’s supposed to be afraid of. And their relationship gives viewers a bizarre tour of the harsh reality that results when stereotypes applied to black people are believed en masse.
* Purple Rain (1984) - Purple Rain is a 1984 American rock musical drama film scored by and starring Prince in his acting debut. Developed to showcase his talents, it contains several concert sequences, featuring Prince and his band The Revolution. The film is directed by Albert Magnoli, who later became Prince's manager, from a screenplay by Magnoli and William Blinn.
Plot in a Nutshell: A young musician, tormented by an abusive situation at home, must contend with a rival singer, a burgeoning romance, and his own dissatisfied band, as his star begins to rise. {A young man with a talent for music has begun a career with much promise. He meets an aspiring singer, Apollonia, and finds that talent alone isn't all that he needs. A complicated tale of his repeating his father's self destructive behavior, losing Apollonia to another singer (Morris Day), and his coming to grips with his own connection to other people ensues}.
Purple Rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the purple rain.
* The Wiz (1978) - The Wiz is a 1978 American musical, adventure, fantasy film produced by Universal Pictures and Motown Productions and released by Universal Pictures on October 24, 1978. A reimagining of L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz featuring an all-black cast, the film was loosely adapted from the 1974 Broadway musical of the same name.
Plot in a Nutshell: It follows the adventures of Dorothy (Diana Ross), a shy, twenty-four-year-old Harlem schoolteacher who finds herself magically transported to the urban fantasy Land of Oz, which resembles a dream version of New York City. Befriended by a Scarecrow (Michael Jackson), a Tin Man (Nipsey Russell), and a Cowardly Lion (Ted Ross), she travels through the city to seek an audience with the mysterious Wiz (Richard Pryor), who they say is the only one powerful enough to send her home.
The Wiz is full of symbols and associations, obvious and obscure, that relate to crucial aspects of the black experience and culture. The main themes running through the show are slavery and emancipation, the black church and religion, the great black migration from rural south to urban north.
Issues and Debates with the #OscarsSoWhite Campaign
The #OscarSoWhite controversy is, in itself, necessary. It is sadly unremarkable that a body of mostly older and white people in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, by failing to nominate people of color in the top acting categories, showed that it does not see black performances with the same eyes as a more diverse group would. This is something that is being fixed.
However, especially during this Black History Month, we might also put this into perspective. Just think: We are protesting that black people don't get enough Oscar nominations! Just 30 years ago that would have sounded like science fiction.
Before the 1980s, one could catch pretty much every black film, and any major black performance in a white one. That stopped being possible in the early '90s. Today, only an obsessive could catch the entirety of black film performance on screens (to say nothing of direction and writing).
That is neither historical trivia nor the proverbial one step forward, two steps back. When it comes to Hollywood, it's as if black people started with barely any clothes, but today have gotten to the point of being decked out in lush finery, and now just wish people would pay more attention. It's a legitimate wish. But on this, it's not just that we have "gone a long way but have a long way to go."
Sometimes you have to admit you're almost there.
To be sure, the Oscar voters have had a blind spot. If "Straight Outta Compton" were about white street toughs and introduced a slate of vibrant young white actors on the order of, say, "Breaking Bad's" Aaron Paul, it's reasonable to imagine at least a couple of them nominated for, and perhaps winning, Oscars.
That it isn't the case recalls a similar blindness only 20 years ago, when Jim Carrey was chattered about as a major thespian for his transformations into assorted crazy characters, while Eddie Murphy, pulling off a half dozen subtly portrayed and utterly distinct people in the Nutty Professor movies, was considered just passingly amusing.
Even so, the #OscarsSoWhite controversy is being conducted with the same fury, sarcasm and doom-saying of yesteryear's complaints that black people had a hard time getting cast in decent movies at all. It's as if it's always the same old, same old and all that changes is surfaces. This is typical of a dominant strain in smart writing on black film -- an almost recreational pessimism, as if the goal itself is to be indignant regardless of reality.
I'm exaggerating? The recent past suggests not. A black film executive in 2005 says "I don't think much has changed for black films. ...They still think that we're monolithic, and mostly the films are limited to urban themes and comedy." Cue the applause, right? But that year, "Hitch," "Guess Who?" "Coach Carter," "Are We There Yet?" and "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" were playing in theaters all at the same time.
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