Satire and Stereotyping in the Birth of a Nation and Bamboozled

In this movie the African Americans were treated nicely but in reality they did not feel this way. The masters mistreated their slaves but in the movie they were actually having conversations. There is a scene in the movie where a group of African Americans were shaking hands with the white Americans. The producer of the movie wanted to inform others that the “birth” of America was founded on the basis of equality rather than discrimination. If the producer of the movie did not show how the slaves were mistreated, the people will just see the world in only that point of view; the slaves’ point of view does not exist. Ruling countries oppressed both the undeveloped, barren places and the African Americans. The Birth of the Nation is a perfect example of a form of travel writing; the Americans wanted to inform others about America but this movie was only produced in their perspective. Rather than recording the reality, the produces or writers record history with the input of their own influences.

The film Bamboozled is an attempt to reappropriate black stereotypical presences in film. Several of the characters correspond with the classical and enduring stereotyped roles such as the Uncle Tom and the coon, however their utilization within the film’s satirical context allows for a historical exploration of the stereotypes as well as a reconfiguration of their meaning in terms of contemporary relevance. Through an analysis of the central figures Peerless Dothan, Manray, and Womack, one can identify the ways in which the film allows for them to transcend and redefine their roles. Additionally, the figures of Sloan and Dunwitty provide further commentary about black cultural identity and white hegemony in the twenty first century.

Firstly, a brief background of Early Black cinema is important to note. In 1915 The Plantation Genre (form of genre) came about with the release of Birth of a Nation an overtly anti-black film, which included three main mythic stereotypes. These included the “unlawful slave” who represented black slaves as unpredictable, cunning and violent; this representation was used as reasoning for whites sustaining control. The “subordinate slave” stereotype, which represented blacks as dependable, loving and accepting of their position; this allowed white audiences to displace any guilt about slavery. Additionally, there’s also what is known as the “clown entertainer” which included characteristics of innate humor and the

The film took place during a time when people perceived African Americans as evil. This was in partly due to the first major blockbuster film The Birth of a Nation. This film was produced after the Civil War and confirmed the perception many whites had of Blacks.

The movie 'Ethnic Notions' describes different ways in which African-Americans were presented during the 19th and 20th centuries. It traces and presents the evolution of the rooted stereotypes which have created prejudice towards African-Americans. This documentary movie is narrated to take the spectator back to the antebellum roots of African-American stereotypical names such as boy, girl, auntie, uncle, Sprinkling Sambo, Mammy Yams, the Salt and Pepper Shakers, etc. It does so by presenting us with multiple dehumanized characters and cartons portraying African-Americans as carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, savage Brutes, and wide-eyed Pickaninnies. These representations of African-Americans roll

Although I found the film “Bamboozled” to be ignorant and stupid, the characters such as, Pierre and Sloan humored me with their crazy personalities. Also, I felt as though Spike Lee made a valid point to the public and the media in regards to the way African Americans are portrayed in films as false and degrading characters. When watching “Bamboozled”, I could sense an outraged producer, venting his personal thoughts and feelings on how the media is run. Lee makes it known that he is upset at the unjustified context of many stereotypes that appears repeatedly in public crafts and arts. It is obvious racism is a topic people frequently avoid addressing, but Lee wants his viewers to understand how hurtful these stereotypes are.

Whitewashing can be referred to as the misrepresentation of minorities in film, specifically referring to placing racially diverse rolls into stereotypical parts. The misrepresentation of racial diversity is a recurring theme in today’s Hollywood movies. It is more likely for someone to land a job in Hollywood if they are a white

Blackface performances were popular in American theaters for roughly 100 years, beginning around the 1830’s. In 1950’s blackface minstrel shows, white and black performers were not able to share the stage therefore they opted to paint their faces black with polish. These “black” characters were always portrayed as either villains or comedic. Blackface had been used to make arguments for slavery and why African Americans should not be given full human rights. These are narratives created by white men that were made to oppress and dehumanize an entire race of people. The minstrel show clip titled “Cotton and Chick Watts Blackface Minstrel Show Comedy” we are shown a very degrading performance put on by two white

Often in many films that undermine African Americans, they are depicted as thief's, murders, or unintelligent. These images are used to show that African Americans are unlike their white counterparts. According to Friedman, "This formulation undermines the racially and sexually based violence toward African Americans, wiping out the memory of rape, castration, and lynching of slaves that occurred in the past" (Friedman). The development of African American films, or films that truly put African Americans in any type of positive light did not really start to occur until the 1970's or 1980's. Before then films were often negative in spirit. Paula Massood describes the Hollywood depictions of African Americans in the previous era as, "failing to recognize the sociopolitical changes in the American landscape. African American characters most often appeared within a southern setting, largely ignoring the black city space and culture that figured in the lives and the imaginations of a vast majority of African Americans" (Massood). However, in the following years the development and progression of African American films was able to be seen.

that impersonating another person ’s culture in the form of parody was wrong and racist on many levels. Performance, in this regard, popularized racist ideologies across America and continued to exist due to the impact a white person would gain from watching these performances. African Americans would, once again, create resistance to this new wave of racist culture by creating theatre performances of

The 1987 film documentary Ethnic Notions directed by Marlon Riggs, identifies the evolution of African American cultural depictions through ethnic stereotypes and caricatures in American culture. I feel Ethnic Notions exposes the roots of false generalization from the beginning and presents a series of classifications for racial depictions that still are noticeable in today's society. These racial depictions identified with in this film begin in the mid 1800's and continue thought to the 1960's. I now after viewing Ethnic notions agree that there are generalizations and depictions that are exaggerated in American popular culture and entertainment.

There was a stereotyped image about colored people and this ideology was appeared in the movies at the 20 centuries. In the minstrel show, white actors colored their faces black to imitate African American people ("Separate Cinema: The Vintage Years," 2008).

When looking at the origins of African-American Dramas specifically in Mulatto, Native Son, A Raisin in the Sun, Funnyhouse of a Negro, Great Goodness of Life, and Dutchman, the emotions of all these characters created the sense that everyone in this time were still searching for their identity. Each character in the plays had to overcome difficulties relating to their skin color, thus causing either confusion or confidence in their search for what defines them as their self. It created internal conflicts and they often blamed society for specific expectations and stereotypes. How the characters decided to express their feelings in emotions demonstrates a sense of realism and how they viewed themselves. In each play, we are able to see how the characters deal with the searching of their identity through various emotions and internal conflicts through their life choices.

Though Passing by Nella Larsen and The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith were created within fifteen years of each other, the two works are vastly different presentations of notions of race in the United States during the first half of the 20th Century. Passing is a short novel that tells its story through the intimacies of everyday life, while Birth of a Nation is an epic film that attempts to tell a large swath of history and significant changes in the United States as a whole. Due to these differences, Passing defines race and whiteness in the smaller facets of individual thoughts and conversation and Birth of a Nation defines these ideas through its interpretation of history. In Passing, whiteness is the capacity to always be viewed as “usual” and the absence of identification (either by oneself or by others) with the odd. Whiteness in Birth of a Nation is the ability to change a narrative beyond the point of recognition. These two come together because whiteness’s ability to change the narrative acting is the reason that it is never identified as odd because control of the narrative means control of defining what—and who—is odd.

The popularity of blackface however was still present, and with such success, it was obvious that the practice of blackface would make the transition to the early cinema in Hollywood in the early 20th century. The legacy of the negative and stereotypical portrayal of African American of the minstrel show and its impact continued in the film industry with many movies where actors played African American with black face makeup in an era where racism and discrimination was still strong. The most notable use of blackface in cinema was in the 1915 movie “the Birth of a Nation” by D. W.