Jenny Millard. Student Number: 12845576 How is the casting of the black police officer challenging the traditional representation of black criminal masculinity? Jenny Millard Abstract Throughout this paper I intend to examine the history of black stereotypes in film, focusing on the following texts: Birth of a Nation (Griffith, 1915), Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (Van Peebles, 1971), Beverly Hills Cop (Brest, 1984) and 48 Hrs. (Hill, 1982). I analyse these films and how they represent and perhaps reinforce black stereotypes, examining the concept of the ‘Biracial Buddy’. The ‘Biracial Buddy’ is a term define in Ed Guerrero’s ‘The Black Image in Protective Custody: Hollywood’s Biracial Buddy Films of the Eighties’. Guerrero explores how racial issues surrounding the black stereotype are still present in contemporary film as the black police officer is constructed as the ‘Biracial Buddy’, a helper to the white man. The white man acts as his chaperone and the narrative cannot function without the presence of a white co-star, maintaining the dominant white institution. Key terms/words ‘Biracial Buddy’ Blaxploitation Black Masculinity White power Stereotypes Introduction In this essay I intend to analyse the ways in which the black police officer is constructed as the ‘Biracial Buddy’ and the helper of the white man, consequently trapped in an institution built on whiteness. I intend to begin by exploring the history of the representation of black men as criminals and the disquiet surrounding the racism within this. Stereotypes From examining the history of the black male in cinema, I have found that Donald Bogle’s chapter Black Beginnings: from Uncle Tom’s Cabin to the Birth of a Nation has aided me in this research. Bogle begins by identifying the different stereotypes of the black actor and establishing when they first originated. He explains, ‘The early silent period of motion pictures remains important, not because there were any great black performances – there weren’t – but because of the five basic types…’ (Bogle, 2001, p.4) Bogle goes onto discuss ‘The Tom’, who is thought to be a ‘Good Negro’, known to remain positive and humble despite always being ‘chased, harassed, hounded, flogged, enslaved, and insulted’ (Bogle, 2001, p.4). This creation of stereotypes could be seen as an early example of how black masculinity in cinema can be seen as controlled by whiteness. Birth of a Nation The representation of black men as criminals can be traced back to the early 1900s in films such as D.W Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915). This film was particularly significant because it was an epic blockbuster of its time (and is still one of the highest grossing films to date) and it was ‘the first feature film to deal with a black theme’ (Bogle, 2001, p.10) This naturally caused such a controversy as ‘Griffith presented all the types with such force and power that his film touched off a wave of controversy and was denounced as the most slanderous anti-Negro film ever released.’ (Bogle, 2001, 1 Jenny Millard. Student Number: 12845576 p.10) Throughout the film Griffith reinforced the fears surrounding the Negro male, such as the black man’s apparent lustrous desire for a white woman, Bogle provides an example: ‘when Lillian Gish, the frailest, purest of all screen heroines, was attacked by the character Lynch – when he put his big black arms around this pale blonde beauty – audiences literally panicked.’ (Bogle, 2001, p.14) Griffith highlighted the fears and unease regarding black men as criminals with such force that it definitely contributed to the disquiet surrounding racism. This disquiet is very apparent as the film incited race riots, picketing of movie theatres, ‘ultimately, The Birth of a Nation was banned in five states and nineteen cities.’ (Bogle, 2001, p.15) Such uproar and outrage from the public did ultimately change the way black men were represented, as Bogle elaborates ‘for one thing was certain after The Birth of a Nation: never again could the Negro be depicted in the guise of an out-and-out villain. This treatment was too touchy and controversial.’ (Bogle, 2001, p.16) Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song In his chapter The Rise and Fall of Blaxploitation, Guerrero explores how the representation of Black men in films has changed throughout history, due to events such as the civil rights movement and the strong awareness of Black Power. Because of this, Hollywood knew that success did ultimately lie with appealing to an African American audience. An example of a successful African American film that Guerrero discusses is the film Sweet Sweetback (1971), created by Melvin Van Peebles. Guerrero summarises ‘the film tells the story of a “bad nigger” who challenges the oppressive white system and wins, thus articulating the main feature of the Blaxploitation formula’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.86) Although the film grew to be a ‘nationwide smash hit that had grossed $10 million’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.86) it was the overly precarious methods of production that is especially notable. Guerrero elaborates, ‘And by pretending to be making a porno flick, Van Peebles was able to vary his crew…’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.86) he continues by explaining how the film started by ‘opening in two theatres to survey black audience reaction’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.86). Despite the film’s success, this kind of safety net around the production and overall secretive approach Peebles was forced to take does also reaffirm the dominance of White power in the industry. Change of Representation: ‘The Biracial Buddy’ Guerrero’s explanation of the reasoning behind this change in representation is very insightful as he certainly acknowledges the shift, ‘It is true that mainstream commercial cinema’s representation of African Americans changed significantly’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.70) however he goes onto prove how it is directly linked to White power, as the industry recognised that there was now ‘a large black audience thirsting to see their full humanity depicted on the commercial cinema screen’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.69) although this thirst alone was not sufficient enough to cause change, but the prospect that this would greatly elevate the industry at a financial angle was very engaging. This idea of White power as an unavoidable institution central to the portrayal of Black masculinity is very prominent in Guerrero’s writing ‘The Black Image in Protective Custody: Hollywood’s Biracial Buddy Films of the Eighties’ where he discusses the role of the Black police officer. Guerrero begins by defining his ‘Biracial Buddy’ theory, explaining how it was created due to how ‘dominant cinema has been reluctant to cast Black leads without a White buddy as cultural and ideological chaperone’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.239) he continues by revealing how the Biracial Buddy formula treats the Black man as a ‘helper’ of sorts to the White man, ‘Hollywood has put what is left of the Black presence on the screen in the protective custody, so to speak, of a White lead or co-star’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.239) 48 Hrs. Guerrero strengthens his explanation of this role by discussing the career of successful actor Eddie Murphy. Murphy has taken on the role of the cop in many of his most high rated films, such as 48 hours (1982), which Guerrero describes as ‘the film that launched Murphy’s superstar career, it literalizes the metaphor of the Black image in protective custody.’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.241) In this film Murphy portrays ‘Reggie Hammond’ a convict who is released on a temporary basis to assist the hardened White cop ‘Jack Cates’ played by Nick Nolte. Whilst Murphy embodies Guerrero’s description of the Biracial Buddy role by acting as the helper to Nolte, Guerrero begins to acknowledge the problems that reside within the black police officer role ‘However, the cinematic 2 Jenny Millard. Student Number: 12845576 terms of Black subordination run much deeper than merely volunteering Black energy to solve the problems of the dominant social order’ (Guerrero, 1993, p.242) Reggie Hammond is an example of this, as although the role can be seen as a challenge to the traditional representation of the black criminal, as Reggie’s status as a convict is temporarily lifted, he is still treated like a criminal in his transition to an unofficial ‘officer’. For instance, the dialogue between the characters when Reggie protests to Jack’s demands, ‘Don’t even try this shit man, I don’t work like this, no deal’ to which Jack snaps back ‘Listen, we ain’t got no deal, I own your ass.’ Although quite an obvious example, this incensed response reaffirms how the black officer is still answering to the authority of Whiteness. Beverley Hills Cop The idea of the contained black police officer is further amplified in the film Beverley Hills Cop (1984) where Eddie Murphy portrays Detective Axel Foley, a police officer from Detroit. At the beginning of the film we are provided with an insight into his life in Detroit, where black and whites live in harmony and have set up a seemingly well balanced community. Foley soon travels to Beverly Hills, to try and solve the murder of his friend. The contrast between Beverly Hills and Detroit is apparent, however even though the clashes of class are overcome in the film, and Axel forms a friendship with the Beverley Hills cops, (similar to Reggie Hammond) he still returns back to where he came from. This shatters the ‘positive’ reflection of the black police officer as Gates further explains how it ‘seems to undermine any serious message that the film might be making about black masculinity’ (Gates, 2004, p.27) as it becomes apparent that now the black police officer has served his purpose by conforming to more reoccurring codes that Gates describes as ‘the skills he is required to possess to defeat the enemy – violence, toughness, lack of emotional involvement’ (Gates, 2004, p.27) and because these are ultimately anti-social, he will have to return home.