Task 5- Essay Plan

Introduction- I will introduce my topic and what I hope to aim from this topic throughout my research. I will write what I will be discussing, which will include representations, African-American films and stereotypes

1) As my critical investigation is to investigate how black characters are represented more positively in contemporary films like Snakes on a Plane and The Pursuit of Happyness and I Am Legend in contrast to dominant more negative representations of past eras. I will be discussing for my first paragraph what are stereotypes and how they have come about. This will allow me to elaborate to my chosen group of black people and how different stereotypes have been developed over the years to be placed within films. I will also discuss how early stereotypes from the 20th century have had a major impact on the way black characters are represented in films for example in films like Amistad where black characters had to portray themselves as salves. This will allow me to place a quote such as

"Racist stereotypes identified by Hall include the 'single slave'-devoted to his master but seen as a threat to civilised white manners and decorous-as represented in films like Gone with the Wind (1939)"

This quote will allow me to discuss how black characters being labelled turned into stereotypes. I will also discuss how accurate stereotypes are and how overtime stereotypes can be a way of identifying people in a negative way.

2) Genre- For my second paragraph I will be emphasising on how genre can have an effect on the way a character is represented. I will be discussing how and why some institutions focus their comedy films on black actors for example in films like Down to Earth and how this can influence the way the audience perceive the film. I will continue and discuss how black actors are associated with comedy films and these stereotypes have become permanent and are not seen to be serious but friendly comedians who don't play such an important part in society. This can have a dramatic effect on the audience and this will allow me to elaborate to my next point as to why film institutions use black actors to play comedian roles. However I will also discuss how this has changed and how black actors/actresses have now become to be seen in more serious Drama films. I will discuss a range of films and give clear evidence of this change but also continue to explain why this has occurred.

I will also place a quote such as

"And there is also the 'clown and entertainer' figure who jokes about his ethnic peculiarities in such a way that (white) people laugh at him, not with him".

This quote discusses how black actors have been stereotyped to be entertainers and clowns which I will discuss how this is challenged now.


3) Gender and Race- In my third paragraph I will discuss how black actors/actresses have been stereotyped and how often it is black male actors that are more sterotyped within films for example using a quote like this "Characters played by Will Smith and Eddie Murphy in various Hollywood films of the entertainer type". This shows that male black actors are more associated to films that involve entertaining and being a comedian. This will allow to explore how these stereotypes can be quite inaccurate as they have also starred in major Drama films for example Will Smith has played the hero in films like Independence Day and The Pursuit of Happyness. This will allow to argue both sides of the essay, as well

"Analysis of hegemonic media representation Hall, claims that ethnic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial (and racist) stereotypes."

This quote will allow me to emphasis how certain ethnic minorities have been misrepresented i.e. how stereotypes have been inaccurate as well as the fact that films continuing to misrepresnt black characters will have a major impact on the institution.


4) The Development of African-American Cinema

The way the motion picture industry portrays black people serves the interest of the dominant white class by keeping blacks from positions of power in American society"

For my fourth paragraph I will begin with a quote which will allow me to discuss in detail about how African-American motion pictures has become a renown insitution, that focuses its films on African-Americans and targets black communities. This will allow me to discuss how this has had a major impact on black audience as it has allowed to feel involved and using Uses and Gratification thoery, how this has allowed them to identify with the characters for example in films like The Pursuit of Happyness, they are able to understand the struggles a person must face to get what they want.

"African-Americans have been featured in motion pictures playing roles depicting some aspects of acting and purveyors of black images".

This quote above will allow me to discuss what and how African-American motion pictures came about and why this had such a major effect on institutional companies.


5) History vs. Contemporary

Within this paragraph I will be discussing how films from past era such as Amistad and Malcome X have changed and moved from slaves to heroes and why this has happened and how most importantly. How they have moved from this:

"Racist stereotypes identified by Hall include the 'single slave'-devoted to his master but seen as a threat to civilised white manners and decorous-as represented in films like Gone with the Wind (1939)"

to this

"Henry Lewis Gates puts it ' black people are no longer black, in most respect they are just like white people'. Gates argues that these 'positive images' can be counter-productive, since they suggest to the world the myth of the American dream, a world where anyone can make it, and where racial barriers no longer exist".


6) Hegemony, Is it Really Over?

Within films today, can we still see the white controlling the blacks, the slave trade, the dominant and subordinate but is there a status quo. That is the answer I will be answering in my 6th paragraph as hegemony of one group is controlling over the other within a film can no longer be seen, or is that just a case of what the institutions want the audience to think?.

"Hegemony is not a direct stimulation of thought or action, but, according to Sturat Hall, is a "framing [of] all competing definition of reality within [the dominant class's] range, bringing all alternatives within their horizons of thought".

Does that still exist, is what I will be answering.

7) Positive and Negative Representations of Black Characters in Films

Within in paragraph I will begin answering what are the main positive and negative representations of black characters in films and how has this changed throughout history. I will also be answering how are the audience effected through the stereotypes seen within films for example bring things that occur in society today, i.e. films like Boyz n the Hood, how does that impact what teenagers do today etc. and how society's norms are changing.

8) Conclusion- Summing up key points and linking them back to my Critical Investigation

Finally within this paragraph I will be concluding my main key points and referring back to my original investigation. I will discuss how times and are changing and how society is adapting to different races. I will be summing up how from the 18th century to 21st century film industry has changed, adapted and embraced a new culture and upon this changed and marked its era with and across many film institutions in many lands.

"As long as all blacks were represented in demeaning or peripheral roles, it was possible to believe that American racism was, as it were, indiscriminate, but how that has changed"