Classwork!!

Media representations rarely challenge the dominant values of society nor do they give a voice to those with little power. To what extent is this true for the group or place you have studied? Why?

Within the ‘Heat of the night’ (1967) the black character is often misjudged. An example being when he gets verbally abused and arrested by the white police officers, merely because he has too much money in his wallet. However, when the white police man finds out that the black male is a police officer in a different state, he does not challenge him. In conclusion the representation of African Americans is rarely challenged. The white police officer assumed that he was of an higher economical status compared to the African American and therefore, thought that he had more power. This is a stereotypical view that white people have more economical power compared to African American’s. (James Monaco, Racism pervades American film because it is a basic stain in American history.

Stereotypes have changed dramatically since earlier films, such as Gone with the Wind (1939), where societies were segregated by race, Hattie McDaniels who won an Oscar for the best supporting actress was not allowed to go to the premiere of the film due to the state being segregated by race. This is outdated, because recent films such as Monsters Ball (2001) where Halle Berry won an Oscar for the best supporting actress. Within her acceptance speech Halle Berry states : “It's for the women that stand beside me.....it's for every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened. This connotes that she is proud of her roots and also it is made obvious that the sequence of events have changed, because black women within the 1930’s were not allowed to go to certain places. Hattie McDaniels quotes back from the 1930’s : " I am certain that my broad smile could never be termed an inane grin. Are we to forgo all comedy parts because we are Negroes? " Although Hattie McDaniel’s is talking about receiving a role within the comedy industry. the quote denotes that she is being discriminated against due to the colour of her skin.

In conclusion one could say African American’s rarely challenge the dominant ideologies of society, this is made clear through the use contemporary and early black hollywood cinema, therefore this is a binary opposition.