How has cinema represented racial differences and diversity? Explore the way in which the use of stereotypes has often produced biased representations of the other? Illustrate your essay with specific examples.

Essentially this essay is aimed at purely investigating the areas of representation and identity. The focus of this essay is to look at issues around racial depictions within cinema. Specifically, we’ll be looking at how these depictions may have changed throughout the history of cinema and how social and political events may have affected these representations. We will also be exploring issues around miscegenation, the blaxploitation movement, depictions in early and classical Hollywood cinema, representations in British films, particularly of the 60s otherwise entitled ‘swinger movies’, and how the films of today may or may not be progressing the representation and identity of different racial groups. Though this thesis will cover as many different racial groups as possible the focus is predominantly on the representation of black people in cinema. However, we will also touch upon the depictions and identity of Jews, Arabs, Asians and Europeans (including the British).
The history of film essentially started as a predominantly white medium. Having been set in motion by inventors, like Thomas Edison, who created the suitable contraptions to instigate filmmaking, it progressed initially by producing silent films. This term ‘silent’ in itself is actually inaccurate as the films of the early 1900’s – features and shorts – were usually accompanied by instrumental music. But as we were discussing the medium was essentially a white medium. Given the social status of black people at the time, playing a part in the progression of such a scientific and intellectual creation would have been out of the question. Other races in general were perhaps depicted negatively in early film due to the time that it came about. Though the history of film began around 1895, the institution of the cinema took a few more years to develop. It was until post-1910 that cinema really began to see its most influential films and the depictions found in those films were, whether done consciously or not, catering to a predominantly white audience.
It can be strongly argued that given the prominence of World War I on the western community that the strength of the feelings towards the majority of other races was negative. In addition migration bans had been enforced in the West mostly upon Asia. This combined with the subsequent colonisation of other countries, which were often black cultured, would have led to a stronger feeling of dislike towards other races, perhaps even fear, and in turn this would have been reflected not only politically, but also in the available social mediums of the era (Sklar, R. 1993:61). Newspapers were noted for the propagandist comic strips and cartoons. Similarly film developed this propagandist attitude, though perhaps not as prominently as it would do later in World War II. During this time film, however, was more likely to develop social norms and conventions and the depictions of different races played a major part in that and through this the establishment of cinema as a white medium. For example, in 1916 Elusive Isabel was screened (Sklar, R. 1993:85). It was a very provocative film of the era both as a form of propaganda and as a film that would contribute to the current status of racial relations. Variety described the film as “all the Latin speaking countries of the world… [banding] against the United States and finally [subduing and ruling] the territory” (Sklar, R. 1993:85). Moreover the distinct lack of other races within film added to the negative depiction of those races in film. This is not to say that alternative races were not represented. They were but they were always played by white actors or actresses. For example in the film Cabiria the lead is meant to be a lighter skinned black individual. However, as a white medium, using an actual black person would be heavily frowned upon. Therefore the lead was played by a white man who was ‘blacked up’ for the role using suitable make-up in order to get the most accurate effect.
‘Blacking up’ continued for many more years, even after sound and colour was brought into cinema. It was until the 1930s that this began to fade out and black actors and actresses began to take their place. But the depictions seemed to merely alter. Black people always played characters in slavery and were often depicted as slow or stupid. Interestingly their characters were usually represented as happy in their situation no matter that it was essentially slavery, though this may have added to the effect of satisfying the white audience and maintaining the current social stability, as did the depiction of black people as slow or stupid. For example, in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) the black slaves are shown to be argumentative, slow or hysterical. The character of Mammy (Hattie McDaniel) is very stern (www.imdb.com, 2007). Her very size makes her both firm and cuddly. The fact that her name is Mammy also suggests that nannying or being some sort of mother figure, particularly towards Scarlet O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), is the only appropriate role for a black woman in cinema. Incidentally, this argument is strengthened by the fact that Hattie McDaniel continued to play similar roles in subsequent films like Affectionately Yours (Lloyd Bacon, 1941), They Died with Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh, 1942), In This Our Life (John Huston, 1942), George Washington Slept Here (William Keighley, 1942) and Janie (Michael Curtiz, 1944). In fact she played the maid character in at least 50 different films between 1932 and 1949 (www.imdb.com, 2007).
Similarly her co-stars in Gone with the Wind, Oscar Polk and Butterfly McQueen, who played Pork and Prissy respectively, were depicted in ways that are negative. While Pork was slow of speech with a definite slur to his voice and a strong southern accent insinuating that he was stupid and probably incapable of carrying out any other tasks than that of a farm or stable hand, Prissy was childish and hysterical suggesting that she was incapable of looking after herself and couldn’t handle the smallest amount of responsibility. This was most evident in the scene between her, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and Belle Watling (Ona Munson) where she pleads with Captain Butler to come to Scarlet’s aid when her close friend Melanie Wilkes nee Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland) is giving birth. He returns to the bar with Belle laughing at Prissy’s behaviour and ridiculing her, whilst she collapses to the ground and sobs hysterically, screaming for him to come back and help. The fact that Prissy is depicted as this stupid, naïve, hysterical child incapable of doing very much is one thing but to have that depiction emphasised by the laughter coming from the white Rhett Butler and Belle Watling, who is a prostitute (a figure more acceptable than a black person in this instance) only rubs off on the social attitudes of the people consuming the products of the medium, in particular their attitudes to black people but also towards other races.
The woman’s film of the Golden Era, otherwise termed the melodrama or sometimes dismissed as ‘weepies’, also played a role in the development of the representation of black people, particularly black women. They focussed on the intimate social relationships of white and black women, developing fears of miscegenation. In Imitation of Life we follow the lives of a white lady and her black maid and the troubles they have with their daughters. Whilst the white lady has fairly innocent and apparently forgivable issues with her daughter, the black woman’s daughter is so pale skinned for a black girl that she passes herself off as white. We later realise that the black woman shared her bed with a white man though she usually strongly denied the allegations claiming that she had been with a black man who was very pale skinned for his kind, which is why her daughter was born so pale that she can parade around as though she were white. This underlying storyline developed fears of miscegenation. Moreover, perhaps but ridiculing black people on screen as Pork and Prissy were in Gone with the Wind the white audience could gain some control of their fear and suppress black people further.
The fear of miscegenation also appeared in British movies of the 1960s – sometimes called ‘swinger films’, though the depictions were sometimes more positive than they had been previously, because of the sometimes explicit sexual content and overtones present in productions of the decade. This was probably instigated by the progressive 60s attitude towards sex. In A Taste of Honey (Tony Richardson, 1961) Jo (Rita Tushingham) starts a relationship with Geoffrey (Murray Melvin) and falls pregnant with his child. After her disrespectful mother’s hears what’s happened she shows her extreme disapproval of the relationship. Rita is forced to abandon Geoffrey and shortly befriends a homosexual. It isn’t until her mother confuses her further that by her disapproval of befriending such a character that Rita decides to go against her mother’s will and return to Geoffrey. The progressive nature of the film’s resolution is a more positive depiction of the black man but the disapproval of the white community Rita’s mother is apart of continues to instil the fear in white society that the black man especially, is an aggressive animalistic threat on white femininity and their ongoing fears of miscegenation.
Meanwhile in the United States, cinema had until now been catering for a white audience, but with the added pressure of the presence of civil rights movements cropping up more frequently – particularly Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream…” speech – Hollywood was feeling more and more that they needed to respond to these arguments. Major US production companies in Hollywood were reluctant to act upon the civil rights movement fearing that such a move would disturb the racial attitudes of their main white audience (Sklar, R. 1993:210-211). Films attempted to make some sort of generalised appeal for racial understanding as they did in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer, 1967) where a white woman brings her black fiancé home to meet her parents and his presence challenges their social and racial attitudes. This was probably one of the more forward thinking films of the era but it still seems that the black man still needed to be portrayed in a certain way so that the overall storyline would not disturb the psyche of the largely white audience. This film is also a screwball comedy – something like a romantic comedy. This may have relaxed the impact on the psyche of the white audience as the black man was portrayed alongside comedy, which like Rhett Butler’s earlier laughter, may have made the black gentleman seem less threatening.
During the 1970s, however, the positive depiction of black people began to break through a little more particularly with the introduction of the blaxploitation movement in 1971 with the release of Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971) and later its sequels Shaft’s Big Score (Gordon Parks, 1972) and Shaft in Africa (John Guillermin, 1973). Shaft was severely criticised for being overly promiscuous for the way the lead acted as a bit of a sexual predator. However, it is again strongly arguable that the same level of promiscuous can be found in Bond films of the same era. Geoffrey Macnab argues that Shaft and other blaxploitation films were actually slightly tongue-in-cheek and their presence were only heavily criticised by white Hollywood because of the fear that these films induced, making them very uncomfortable socially (Macnab, G. 2001:177). In other words, blaxploitation films had paved the way to adjust an old and stale white-black social equilibrium. Other films of the movement, short-lived though it was, were more provocative and challenged white audience’s attitudes further. For example Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (Melvin Van Peebles, 1971) deliberately tried to play off white fears about black miscegenation and animalism by being deliberately provocative and producing what is seen as the antihero. Yet the presence of blaxploitation films still remained to truly challenge the stereotypical depictions of black people in cinema and many criticised the movement for its formulaic genre conventions and its inability to really push the boundaries much further (Macnab, G. 2001:177).
Today blaxploitation could still be argued as being present in cinema. Pam Grier who played the leading lady in Coffy (Jack Hill, 1973) and Foxy Brown (Jack Hill, 1974) later appeared in Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1998) and her co-star from years before, Samuel L. Jackson was cast for the role of Shaft (John Singleton, 2000) in the remake of the seminal 1971 original. These connections perhaps heighten the progress made by the blaxploitation movement but could also be mere coincidence, yet it is still a coincidence that holds a lot of meaning.
In the 21st century depictions have begun to be more complex. Even through the crass humour of modern films like Team America (Trey Parker, 2004). In this film Arabs seem to be mocked by making the Arab characters speaking in some random mumblings designed to sound like Arabic even though it actually means nothing. But the representations here can actually be read as ridiculing the racial attitudes of white America towards Arab nations because of the insane reactions politically of a select few (destruction of Twin Towers on 9th September 2001). Similarly, Jews and Arabs are depicted as stingy with money and mistrustful of everyone. This is notable in The Mummy (Stephen Sommers, 1999), where Gad Hassan (Omid Djahlili), mistrusting the white leading characters, insists on travelling with them so that he can be sure he gets his share of the wealth. Likewise in Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000), Doug Denovitz (Mike Reid) pretends to be Jewish, wearing the appropriate headdress so that he can be more influential within the Jewish community and make some monetary gains for his own benefit.
Yet it can still be argued that other races are being able to make their own paths within the industry but their representations are often still negative. From the ignorant depictions of Arabs in Team America (2004) – particularly shown by the mocked up language and the poor make-up job done on the lead character – to the disrespectful representations of Jews in Snatch (2000) – where a leading character seems to pretend to be Jewish for his own gains – despite the massive progressions made throughout the 80s 90s, there is still a bit of a way to go in order for Black people not to be stereotyped on screen.