Portrayal of African Americans in Hollywood Movies Released from 2006-2013
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PORTRAYAL OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN HOLLYWOOD MOVIES RELEASED FROM 2006-2013 Augustine Sahay Hemrom Registered Number: 1424004 A dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication and Media Studies CHRIST UNIVERSITY Bengaluru 2016 Program authorized to offer degree: Department of Media Studies ii CHRIST UNIVERSITY Department of Media Studies This is to certify that I have examined this copy of a master’s thesis by Augustine Sahay Hemrom Registered Number: 1424004 and have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made. Committee Members: _____________________________________________________ SHANTARAJU S _____________________________________________________ Date: __________________________________ iii Master's Signature iv I, Augustine Sahay Hemrom confirm that this dissertation and the work presented in it are original. 1. Where I have consulted the published work of others this is always clearly attributed. 2. Where I have quoted from the work of others the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations this dissertation is entirely my own work. 3. I have acknowledged all main sources of help. 4. If my research follows on from previous work or is part of a larger collaborative research project I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself. 5. I am aware and accept the penalties associated with plagiarism. Date: v vi CHRIST UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT Portrayal of African Americans in Hollywood Movies Released From 2006-2013 Augustine Sahay Hemrom Racial stereotypes in American movies have mirrored our general public's predominant philosophies and have impacted our belief systems since the film business started. This study relates to the portrayal of how African Americans are projected in the certain movies from a particular time period from 2006-2013. Generalizations of blacks as lethargic, imbecilic, absurd, apprehensive, easygoing, reckless, infantile, rough, sub-human, and creature like, are widespread in today's general public. These debasing generalizations are fortified and upgraded by the negative depiction of blacks in the media. Right from the early 18th century there has been a massive change in the development of African American people in field of films and television that now today they are writing, directing and acting. The Black’s perception has been changed now. Till date whatever Blacks movie released have portrayed the community resulting the better and giving more option of perceiving the movies. Whatever the movies made from earlier times Blacks has always shared the screen with the Whites and it really has been success. Keywords: stereotyping, violence, blockbuster hits, inspirational, racism. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere gratitude to my Guide, Shantaraju S, for his constant guidance encouragement and support. I also thank the course co-ordinator Fr Biju K Chacko and Head of the Department Prof. Naresh Rao for their support. I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to Suparna Naresh, Aasita Bali, Amutha Manavalan, Rajesh A., Kannan S, Ivory Lyons and Chandrasekhar Vallath for their valuable feedback and restless assistance in bringing out this research. I also would like to thank the Dean Dr. Andrew Kennedy, my family and friends for the encouragement and devotion, without whom this thesis would never have been completed. ix x DEDICATION To family and friends xii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Early Phase: ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Blacks Popularity ........................................................................................... 2 1.3 Recent Rise .................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Today’s Stars Yesteryears Role ..................................................................... 3 1.5 Early portrayal of the Blacks ......................................................................... 4 1.6 Acting and Directing: ..................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2 Research Methodology ........................................................................ 7 2.1 Research ......................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Types of Research: ......................................................................................... 7 2.3 Research Problems: ........................................................................................ 8 2.4 Qualities of researcher ................................................................................... 9 2.5 Content Analysis: ........................................................................................... 9 2.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Content Analysis: ................................. 10 2.7 Types of Interview to be done: .................................................................... 10 2.8 Objectives to be taken for study: ................................................................. 11 Chapter 3 Review of Literature .......................................................................... 13 Chapter 4 Analysis ............................................................................................... 24 4.1 Pursuit of Happyness ................................................................................... 24 4.2 The Great Debaters ...................................................................................... 27 4.3 Django Unchained ....................................................................................... 30 4.4 The Book of Eli ............................................................................................ 35 Chapter 5 Secondary Findings ........................................................................... 40 5.1 American Black Film Festival. .................................................................... 40 5.2 Birth of the Nation: ...................................................................................... 41 5.3 Civil Rights Development............................................................................ 44 5.4 The Film industry with Blacks:.................................................................... 45 5.5 Ethnic Notions: ............................................................................................ 50 Chapter 6 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 52 6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 52 xiii 6.2 Analysis........................................................................................................ 53 6.3 Findings and Platforms for Blacks ............................................................... 56 6.4 Limitations ................................................................................................... 57 6.5 Scope of Further Research ........................................................................... 57 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ 58 APPENDIX: EXPERT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ....................................... 60 xiv TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1 Chris Gardener with his son .................................................................... 24 Figure 2 Gardener love for his son ........................................................................ 25 Figure 3 The team of debaters consisting of Henry Lowe, Samantha Brooke ...... 27 Figure 4 Denzel Washington as Melvin Tolson guiding the young Debaters ....... 28 Figure 5 Melvin’s speech to his students ............................................................... 29 Figure 6 One of the close up shot by Quentin ....................................................... 31 Figure 7 Schultz and Django on their mission ....................................................... 32 Figure 8 Candie's violent question ......................................................................... 33 Figure 9 Candie asking Django the motive of his visit .......................................... 33 Figure 10 Schultz explaining Django about the killing to be done ........................ 34 Figure 11 Eli’s journey to the West ....................................................................... 35 Figure 12 ................................................................................................................ 36 Figure 13 Eli's nemesis Carneige who like to read ................................................ 36 Figure 14 Eli’s faith kept him alive and in search of quest ................................... 37 Figure 15 Town swallowed by grief, disease, no water and dictatorship .............. 37 Figure 16 Poster of The Birth of A Nation ............................................................ 42 Figure 17 D.W Griffith while filming.................................................................... 43 Figure 18 ................................................................................................................ 43 Figure 19 Marlon Riggs ......................................................................................... 51 Figure