Black Representation in Film

Overview Essay

This exhibit “Black Representation in Film” examines the history of Black representation in film from how Black people were first portrayed when cinema first began as it was at first largely controlled and created for and by White people. And how this history of Black representation has led to and impacted how modern-day Black representation looks like today. This exhibit is divided into five sections Early Cinema’s Representation of Blackness, Race Films, Blaxploitation, Modern Black Representation, and Contemporary Challenges of Black Portrayals in Film. The first four pages of the exhibit were divided into four different eras and genres of filmmaking to show how the representation of Black people in film changed over time based on the events both socially and politically from that time that had an impact. Especially when Black filmmakers and actors were allowed to be more involved in the creative process of filmmaking or created their sub-genres. The last section Contemporary Challenges of Black Portrayals in Film discusses the modern-day obstacles that still exist in Black representation in film and how even with progress there is still room for growth and what can be done to allow for more Black representation in film.

Through analyzing the history of cinema it can be seen how cinema was used as a way to impact America’s social and cultural perceptions of race in our society. This was done through the depictions of Black people in cinema based on stereotypes and caricatures that were reinforced in early cinema and still are present in our lives today. In the exhibit Early Cinema’s Representation of Blackness, I have chosen three films as my items that represent the earliest depictions of Blackness that discusses the concept of the societal and cultural construction of race. When cinema first began, it existed in a society where it was still a largely held belief that there was a biological difference between races. This race science was used to treat Black people as an inferior race compared to the White race who were seen as biologically superior. In Early Cinema’s Depiction of Blackness, the first three items are films that show how media, specifically film media was used to reinforce the cultural construction of race. “There is no biological distinction that correlates with our collective understanding of racial difference. There are phenotypical differences across the global human population, eye color, height, hair texture, skin color, etc. But those are physical expressions of allelic differences in our shared, identical DNA. The concept of race is a product of history, culturally constructed and institutionally affirmed as part of a much larger hegemonic system… Anglo-European whites manipulating meaning to subjugate and control people of color, and Black people in particular (but not exclusively), to further their own economic and political goals” (Sharman 2020).

During this period, Black people still did not have equal rights and it was only a few decades after the end of slavery. Where films like The Birth of a Nation (1915) were used as propaganda to spread the notion that free Black people who now had access to voting and holding political offices and the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War were a danger to the South and White people as a whole. “Feature films were more powerful, more ubiquitous, and, in effect, more veracious than other media, however. Griffith seared images of degraded Negroes into the minds of millions. A whole new generation of consumers of American mass media was fed the same old stereotypes to shape images of African Americans” (Baker, 1998, pg.36). The films of this time reintroduce through cinema the concept of otherness that Black people were biologically inferior and through racist imagery such as blackface, stereotypes, and caricatures that Black people and Black culture were violent, savage, dangerous, hypersexual, and non-intellectuals who were happier when they were enslaved. “In both popular and scientific literature African American men, in particular, were depicted as savages who harbored a bestial lust for White women. These depravities, many believed, could be curbed only by sadistic tortures and lynchings. The routine violence perpetrated by lynch mobs was always portrayed as justice served in the name of chivalry and the "protection" of White southern women” (Baker, 1998, 36). The Birth of a Nation inspired the revitalization of the Klu Klux Klan in the 1920s showing how media has an impact on societal perception of race as it inspired more discrimination and violence to be committed against Black people because of media influence.

Race films and Blaxploitation films eras are when Black people began to gain creative control in the film industry. They began to create a Black film industry where it was meant to be made for a Black audience. These films were made during a time when Whiteness was still socially considered the norm, but it was innovative to make films that aimed to depict Black lives as the center of these stories and films. “Without a doubt, the African American political, scientific, philosophical, and aesthetic movement of the interwar years changed the fabric of American culture. For the first time there was a concerted effort to challenge the derisive and stereotypical images of African Americans produced by blackface minstrelsy, magazine publishers, and racist science” (Baker, 1998, 140). Blaxploitation films began in the 1970s and were influenced from a post-Civil Rights Movement era where they now had legal equal rights, but still felt largely ignored in receiving representation that they enjoyed in pop culture and media. These films during these two eras aimed to humanize and empower Black people, but they received criticisms from the Black community on what they considered to be good representation. Race and Blaxploitation films by some audiences felt they leaned into only reinforcing stereotypes of Black people and were not considered respectable representation of Blackness, but some creators in their efforts of representation still leaned into Eurocentric standards they had colorism in their films based on how they portrayed lighter and darker skinned Black people in their films.

Modern Black representation emerged from a generation of filmmakers who begin their careers making acclaimed independent films. They work their way up to working with mainstream studios giving them access to large budgets and general audiences for their films. Many contemporary filmmakers have worked to depict to improve the representation of Blackness on screen by wanting authentic depictions of the lives of Black people in their films. Some of these filmmakers have addressed modern-day racism also known as colorblind racism. “Rather than dodge complicated themes about race and identity, the film grapples head-on with the issues affecting modern-day black life" (Smith 2018). Filmmakers do not want to portray stereotypes but also do not want to de-racialize the Black characters they are portraying on screen. Modern Black representation aims to show a positive portrayal of Black people and culture whether or not their story has examinations of race or inequalities modern filmmakers do not want to shy away from portraying diverse forms of Blackness. Even with this progress, there are still some contemporary challenges with Black representation, especially for Black women. Black women are rarely leading ladies and the majority are portrayed based on Eurocentric beauty standards that shame darker-skinned women and their natural hair. How can a group be truly represented if they are not the creative forces making representation? For there to be true diversity in the film industry there needs to be diversity both on and off the screen with Black actors, writers, directors, and producers working on these films.

In conclusion, Black representation in film has existed since the beginning of film and has changed alongside the development of film and historical events. The existence of Black representation in film began when films were made for and by White people and solely for White audiences to enjoy. During, a time in our history when racism against Black people was still largely accepted in our country, and believing in race science and biological differences between races was still considered the norm. This influenced how Blackness was portrayed in films.  Leading film scholars identified five categories of Black stereotypes that would influence how Black people would be represented in every other era of film that was discussed in this project. Black representation struggled in the era of Race films and Blaxploitation where films that aimed to be made for and by Black people wanted to create films that inspired Black audiences and give humanized portrayals of Black life. But this led to debates about what is considered acceptable of portrayals of Blackness and Black filmmakers were leaning into stereotypes that White filmmakers were using in their films. These Black-centered genres faded out when White filmmakers took over the genres. But that innovation has inspired contemporary filmmaking today to once again have Black filmmakers take control of Black representation and the stories of Black experiences within a film. Overall, there is still progress to be made for representation as there are still prevalent issues of colorism, texturism, and stereotypes that are affecting what is being represented on screen. Part of the solution to give equal and diverse representation of Blackness on screen is to have Black creatives on and off the screen helping to create diverse Black representation in film.

Works Cited

Sharman, R. (2020, May 18). African Americans in Cinema. Moving Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from https://uark.pressbooks.pub/movingpictures/chapter/african-americans-in-cinema/

Field, A. N. (n.d.). Black Cinema at its birth. The Criterion Collection. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6845-black-cinema-at-its-birth

Haughton, A. (2021, February 16). The history of Blaxploitation Cinema. Viddy Well. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://www.viddy-well.com/articles/the-history-of-blaxploitation-cinema

Baron, Z. (2018, July 30). Spike Lee just made the movie of the year. GQ. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://www.gq.com/story/spike-lee-blackkklansman-profile

Martin, S. (2021, June 24). A Look at Liberal Racism and Representation in Jordan Peele's Get Out. GUAP The Home Of Emerging Creatives. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://guap.co.uk/a-look-at-liberal-racism-and-representation-in-jordan-peeles-get-out/