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PERSISTENCE OF RACISM IN HOLLYWOOD BIRACIAL BUDDY FILMS

by

Yana Trofimova

A Third Year Research Project in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Studies at The School of Advanced Studies University of Tyumen

June 2020 МИНИСТЕРСТВО НАУКИ И ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «ТЮМЕНСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»

ШКОЛА ПЕРСПЕКТИВНЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ (SAS) ТЮМГУ

Директор Школы к.ф.н., Ph.D. А.В. Щербенок

КУРСОВАЯ РАБОТА

ПРИСУТСТВИЕ РАСИЗМА В ГОЛЛИВУДСКИХ МЕЖРАСОВЫХ БАДДИ- ФИЛЬМАХ

42.03.05 Медиакоммуникации

Выполнила работу Студентка 3-ого курса Трофимова Яна Владимировна Очной формы обучения

Руководитель Мэлби Дэвид Ph.D

Тюмень 2020 3

DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY By submitting this research project, I hereby certify that: I am its sole author and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my research project, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices of my major; and that no third- party proofreading, editing, or translating services have been used in its completion. Yana Trofimova

WORD COUNT: 4135

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………… ………………………..5 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….6 LITERATURE REVIEW………………...………………...... 7 METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………………8 THE FORMATIVE PHASE………………………………………………………….9 THE “STAPPING-STONE” PHASE………………………………………………..12 THE MATURE PHASE……………………………………………………………..15 THE SENSETIVE PHASE………………………………………………………….17 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………...18 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………...19 FILMOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………21

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ABSTRACT

Since the advent of the Hollywood studio system, mainstream American films have exhibited degrading of African , according to the reinforcement of white majority culture and its values. Responding to the , however, the appearance of two biracial buddy films in the 1960s established a new narrative paradigm cultivating a myth of interracial harmony between communities. This paper focuses on three biracial buddy-film paradigms, each distinct in its approach to characterization, plot, and theme. Considered together, these narrative paradigms portray a would-be development of interracial friendship across several generations of American life. My research traces this cultural trajectory of mythmaking from the Sixties to the present. Accordingly, I consider nine Hollywood interracial buddy films within their respective cultural moments. Essentially, the main difference I detect between these paradigms is in the nature of the portrayed relationships between the central African-American and white characters, becoming increasingly more sensitive and intimate. Despite this evolving illusion of interracial harmony onscreen, evidence of white racism nevertheless persists in these Hollywood films, regardless of when they were produced.

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INTRODUCTION

The history of Hollywood buddy films traces back to the 1930s with or comedy duos. The first biracial buddy films, however, appeared only in the 1960s, as a response to the Civil Rights Movement. The transformation of the social and political environment compelled Hollywood to introduce a new biracial buddy narrative corresponding to a raised awareness of racial progressiveness. Up to this point, the problem of racial conflict was deeply integrated within the mass culture since the release of 1903 twelve-minute film 's Cabin or D.W Griffith’s 1915 epic . Any appearance of African- Americans on the screen was contextualized by their strict subordination to the white majority, with degrading roles, narratives, and themes. This “formative” kind of buddy films, in turn, is defined by mutual respect and even a degree of friendship occurring between black and white characters. Depicting these characters as equals, these first films about biracial bonding generated varied opinions on whether they are a reflection of reality or a new escapist fantasy. Nevertheless, even if the portrayal of African- Americans evolved over the years, racism remains detectable in all three phases of biracial buddy films. The aim of my research is to explore this trajectory of illusory racial integration in American life, from the sixties to the present. Paying particular attention to the cultural context of each era in which these films appear, I define three biracial buddy-film paradigms: “formative”, “mature”, and “sensitive”. As I focus on this sixty-year span of American cinema, I address two essential research questions. First, I explore how the illusions of racial equality are constructed in biracial buddy films. And second, I consider how, at the same time, the mores of racial intolerance are perpetuated, despite these films’ best intentions. In other words, my study seeks to reveal how the Hollywood industry’s narrative approaches to characterization and theme maintain the myth of racial equality and, in turn, reinforce the existing racial order.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

For many film historians, exploring how Hollywood promotes racist images of on the screen is not new. Even in the present, the absolute majority of scholars still argue that American popular culture is characterized by persistent forms of racism. In the context of my research, the most relevant papers are Ed Guerrero’s The Black Image in Protective Custody: Hollywood's Biracial Buddy Films and B. Lee Artz’s Hegemony in Black and White: Interracial Buddy Films and the New Racism. In this case, Guerrero discusses the predominant narrative strategy that displaces characters of color from their community and relocates them in a dominant white cultural context.1 Being the first scholar to discuss the biracial buddy paradigm, he argues that film industry consciously implements these techniques to satisfy both material and ideological needs.2 Artz also believes that instead of reflecting the existing racial order, biracial buddy films try to please all audiences by suggesting racism can be overcome.3 The main idea remains the same: Hollywood studious tell these stories for profit. Other historical studies, such as David Bordwell’s Film Art: An Introduction, Patricia Collins’s Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism, and Michael Klarman’s Brown, Racial Change, and the Civil Rights Movement, provide important insights into the complex dynamics occurring between the industry, society, and the black community itself. The most recent work focusing on recent Hollywood films in this context is Nancy Wang Yuen’s Reel Inequality:

1 Ed Guerrero, “The Black Image in Protective Custody: Hollywood's Biracial Buddy Films,” in Black American Cinema, ed. Manthia Diawara (New York, London: Routledge, 1993), 237-240.

2 Guerrero, “Black Image,” 240.

3 B. Lee Artz, “Hegemony in Black and White: Interracial Buddy Films and the New Racism,” in Cultural diversity and the US media, ed. Yahya R. Kamalipour and Theresa Carilli (New York: State University of New York Press, 1998), 68.

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Hollywood Actors and Racism. Specifically, Yuen explores how racial stereotypes influence the actors of color, suggesting that Hollywood still supports the structural inequality within the industry and leaves most black actors behind.4 Nevertheless, there are almost no academic studies describing contemporary interracial buddy films, and so my essay seeks to fill this gap.

METHODOLOGY

The larger approach here is to inform my narrative analysis through cultural context. Accordingly, I consider nine Hollywood biracial buddy films within their respective periods of release and how each film reflects American race relations in that cultural period. I organize my discussion into “three” narrative paradigms, with one transitional stage in between the first and second. Each of these paradigms can be defined by its characterization, plot, and theme. The first, “formative” narrative paradigm applies essentially to the 1960s, and includes the two first biracial buddy films: (directed by Stanley Kramer, 1958) and In the Heat of the Night (directed by Norman Jewison, 1967). The transitional or “stepping-stone” period includes such films as: Silver Streak (directed by Arthur Hiller, 1976) and Stir Crazy (directed by , 1980). Released in the late seventies, these films don’t adhere to the preestablished buddy formula, but, rather, reflect the industry's focus on another film . The second or “mature” narrative paradigm applies, in particular, to three action-comedy films: 48 Hours (directed by Walter Hill, 1982), (directed by John Landis, 1983), and (directed by Richard Donner, 1987). The third or “sensitive” narrative paradigm includes more cross-genre movies, released from 2000 to the present, but augments intimacy between the two protagonists in such example as: The Bucket List (directed by Rob Reiner, 2007) and 3 (directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, 2012).

4 Nancy Wang Yuen, Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2016), 16.

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The criteria I use to analyze these films come from Artz’s study on the topic. According to Artz, there are four general characteristics attracting black audiences: recognizable black culture, weak white characters, strong black characters, and harmonious black-white cooperation. The first characteristic implies a strong black identity in language, style, and behavior. The second one depicts white heroes as naive, dishonest, and inferior to their black companions. African-Americans, in turn, always demonstrate strength and intelligence. Such narrative patterns of black representation on the screen thus created a “pleasing interracial fantasy”5 that corresponds to balanced relations between warring communities. At the same time, most Hollywood films continue to support dominant plots with stereotyped black culture, white authority, isolated black characters, and “hegemonically comforting interracial fantasy.”6 These narrative contradictions allow me to analyze each paradigm in terms of “fantasy” and “reality” that these films provide. Ultimately, this essay traces an evolution of racial fantasy across these three narrative paradigms and analyzes how, at the same time, these Hollywood narratives reinforce racial stereotypes.

THE FORMATIVE PHASE

One significant moment during the 1960s that was powerful enough to have an impact on American cinema is the Civil Rights movement. At that time, African- Americans tried to resist racial discrimination and fight for social justice, especially in the South. Although the prohibited discrimination based on race and color, the black community still demanded actual changes. In a few years, the politically charged environment resulted in the nationalist Movement. According to Reynolds Farley and Albert Hermalin, such attitude affected white consciousness and encouraged whites to treat blacks with respect “on a number of

5 Artz, 73.

6 Artz, 76.

10 fronts.”7 Poverty in the black community diminished somewhat, since their income, occupational, and educational opportunities expanded.8 Despite visible progress, the white community continued to commit racial violence towards people of color. Promises to grant equal rights to African-Americans turned out to be an illusion suggesting that institutional racism had not been overcome.9 Popular American cinema reinforced the same myths as well. In the early 1960s, Hollywood studios faced a serious financial crisis, and so began to experiment with interracial buddy films to attract new types of audiences. Eventually, such films evolved into a new narrative paradigm focusing on biracial bonding with two men becoming friends through a shared adventure. The message of these films implies not only the importance of male friendship but even the possibility for racial equality. Despite this, the dominant narrative techniques still perpetuate the social advantages of white citizens over blacks. The “formative” narrative paradigm, based on the first two biracial buddy films, focuses on black and white characters who hate each other but who eventually achieve mutual respect. The first film The Defiant Ones tells the story of two escaped prisoners who are handcuffed together and forced to cooperate in order to survive. Both characters, although having very different goals, are portrayed as victims of an unfair system. Because of this, each of them wants to kill his buddy, which refers to the complex dynamics of racial relations occurring within the country. In the Heat of the Night reflects a similar reality. Here, the same Sidney Poitier is placed in a racist environment to help a white sheriff investigate a local murder. In this story, he represents a smart, self-sufficient, and talented homicide detective. Throughout the

7 Reynolds Farley and Albert Hermalin, “The 1960s: A Decade of Progress for Blacks?" Demography 9, no. 3 (1972): 367, www.jstor.org/stable/2060859.

8 Farley and Hermalin, 367.

9 Wendy Sung, "Mainstream : The Struggle for Black Images in Hollywood,” in African Americans in Popular Culture, ed. Todd Boyd (London: Praeger Publishers, 2008), 256.

11 film, he exhibits strength and dignity, and, according to Artz, is much more respectable and influential over white characters. Although Poitier is not in charge in The Defiant Ones, he tends to be an understanding and selfless person. At the same time, the white hero remains a true racist who almost changes Poitier for a woman he doesn’t know. In that way, the 1960 fantasy of equal race relations is constructed by the presence of strong blacks, weak or self-serving whites, and biracial communication that appears possible. As noted by Guerrero, black protagonists usually sacrifice themselves for their white partners. Portrayed in the circumstances they would have escaped, both Sidney Poitier's characters indeed choose not to escape, but to stay and help their pals who also start to respect them. It follows that the main message of the formative biracial buddy-film paradigm implies that African-Americans are no longer the enemies of the system, in which any manifestation of racism can be overcome. Although blacks become full participants in the story, they still operate within the dominant narrative that isolates them from the love experience and makes these characters want to be part of a community they don’t belong. One feature of this world is a romantic subplot The Defiant Ones engages with. Despite being a that usually excludes women from the story, The Defiant Ones still provides a white character with a love interest. By allowing him to contact a woman, the film represents a classical Hollywood narrative that only a white person can participate in. The sexuality of the Black character, in turn, appears to be suppressed or removed from the screen. The way this widow treats the black men suggests that he is less important and can only be a supportive character as he is isolated from the white emotional context. In the Heat of the Night portrays Poitier in a completely different way. In the context of new black representation, he become the main protagonist of the film who surpasses all the whites in the city. Nevertheless, there is one perspective of Poitier that turns him into a “one-dimensional, saintly black man”10 who humiliates the black community

10 Ed Guerrero, “The Rise and Fall of ,” in The Wiley‐Blackwell History of American Film, ed. Cynthia Lucia, Roy Grundmann, and Art Simon, (New Jersey: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2011), 6.

12 and continues to satisfy “Hollywood’s liberal fantasies.”11 According to Guerrero, being different from the stereotyped representation of a black person, Poitier’s character shows not his personal development, but only the desire to be white. It follows that despite his explicit superiority, he still finds himself in a subordinated position, dreaming of a community that hates him. Thus, this mixed narrative is the reason why buddy films managed to reflect both racial equality and the dominant social order. By placing a progressive image of blacks in the white buddy world, the industry indeed please black and white communities, maintaining the its ideological climate.

THE “STEPPING-STONE” PHASE

The transitional period called the “stepping-stone” phase is characterized by the emergence of a new sub-genre of black cinema that was profitable enough to attract attention of the entire film industry. During the 1970s, Hollywood released a series of new black films known as blaxploitation movies. As defined by notable film scholars, Hollywood has been making exploitation pictures for years before the blaxploitation era. Nevertheless, this narrative formula is completely different. The main feature of these films is the disclosure of black culture as a strong, independent, and even dangerous phenomenon. They always contain a lot of sex and violence and portray black characters as criminals going against the white establishment. According to Guerrero, such narratives were possible “by the rising political and social consciousness of black people.” 12 The growing and the ongoing financial crisis also influenced the industry and made it take the black cinematic experience to a new level. One of the first films that managed to attract the wider black audience was Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (directed by , 1971). According to Artz, such superheroes appeared “at a time when the

11 Guerrero, “Rise and Fall,” 6.

12 Guerrero, “Rise and Fall,” 1.

13 mass Black audience needed them.”13 Indeed, the person Hollywood brought to the screen met the need of African-Americans to fight back and see themselves as recognized people. The rise of this genre, however, was quickly replaced by its fall. Although some Blacks considered this period an "opportunity for empowerment", most viewers were dissatisfied with the stereotypical representation of African-American life.14 As noted by film actor Glynn Turman, the main problem was not the demeaning portrayal of blacks, but the fact that there were no other films that depicted them as loving, kind, or brave individuals.15 Anyway, after the industry became financially independent, it moved away from this genre to a familiar white world.16 In that way, released between 1969 and 1974, Blaxploitation movies suspended the further development of the biracial buddy films, focusing only on the sexually violent black experience. To hold the audience, Hollywood continued to produce biracial buddy films that presented the main characters with mutual respect, easy attachment, or strong friendship. Nevertheless, such pictures can hardly follow the buddy formula. On the contrary, they represent a transitional stage between the “formative” and “mature” biracial buddy-film paradigms since they deprive the black character of his significance. In the article The Rise and Fall of Blaxploitation, Guerrero points out that such “crossover” films focus on certain black celebrities “who fit into the traditional white-dominated ‘star system.”17 Released during the late 1970s, both Silver Streak and Stir Crazy match Guerrero’s category as star known for his comic storytelling style. Although these films appeared as the continuation of the blaxploitation era that doesn’t reflect white-black unity, one of them still can

13 Artz, 69.

14 Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered, and Shafted, directed by David F. Walker (2004; https://vimeo.com/135407693). 15 Walker, Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered, Shafted.

16 Guerrero, “Rise and Fall,” 2.

17 Guerrero, “Rise and Fall,” 2.

14 correspond to the framework of equal biracial friendship. Stir Crazy is a that tells a story of two unemployed buddies jailed for a bank robbery they didn't commit. Here, the two characters are already best friends who care about each other and always stay together. Being a very childish and positive person, the white character always needs a black friend to be with him and get him out of trouble. This particular way of portraying a white man suggests the presence of a strong black hero who is ready to protect the partner from his naivety. Besides, the absence of racial hostility between the characters indicates not only their possible communication but implies its necessity as they perfectly complement each other. At the same time, being ethnically progressive films that portray a white protagonist paying no attention to the color of his companion's skin, these pictures continue to turn the black character into a useless narrative element. The first feature indicating a broken buddy formula responds to Silver Streak that focuses on a white man trying to investigate a murder and save his love on a long-distance train trip. In this story, Pryor appears only after half the film and doesn’t get any closer to his companion (). Throughout the movie, Pryor plays a stereotypical black thief who keeps saying that he is a criminal and becomes unwanted after helping the white man. The only important thing he does is teach Wilder how to be black in terms of style, manners, and appearance to trick the police. Sincerely worried about his partner, the black character, on the contrary, faces an indifferent person who dreams only of a woman's kiss and tries to get rid of him. Stir Crazy also consists of a stereotyped black culture, weak black characters, and a modified narrative formula with a woman influencing a white hero. Here, Pryor gifted with the image of a slightly horny black man who teaches the same Wilder how to be a cool black in prison and gets replaced by the girl at the end of the film. As noted by Guerrero, Richard Pryor has always been a famous and powerful actor who, at the same time, was presented as “a meek clown in the protective cultural custody of a White buddy or co-star.”18 Even in Stir Crazy, he does not affect the development of the plot, relying on his friend and

18 Guerrero, “Black Image,” 241.

15 a girl in love who get them out of jail. It follows that the themes of these films do not relate to a complex racist attitude that should be changed. On the contrary, they imply the idea that love can overcome any obstacle people face in this complicated world.

THE MATURE PHASE

The “mature” paradigm returns to a traditional buddy narrative and reflects the harmonious black-white collaboration that goes to a new level and undermines the existing cultural order. Introducing as the new star of the 1980s, this stage continues to maintain the illusion of racial friendship mixed with other themes of defeating the enemy only by uniting. Being action-driven stories, such films like 48 Hours and Trading Places still pay attention to intense racial dynamics occurring between characters that eventually appear to be non-judgmental people. Initially, both of these films portray white characters as self-confident representatives of a privileged community. In 48 Hours, a rough cop () teams up with a carefree convict (Eddie Murphy) to track down two escaped criminals. Despite his rudeness and independence, Nolte eventually recognizes the strong qualities of his partner, without whom he would never have succeeded. Trading Places, in turn, depicts an upper-class broker faced with a homeless “product of the poor environment”19 whose lives reversed as part of someone’s bet. In this film, both heroes transform into better versions of themselves with a positive influence on each other. However, the way blacks always make a significant contribution to the story may implicitly represent whites as less powerful characters. Another example of “more social honesty than is usual for Hollywood” 20 is Lethal Weapon starring and as two incompatible detectives working as partners. This film can be described as the first exception to the dominant narrative rule that does not show explicit racism but changes

19 Trading Places, directed by John Landis (1983; New York City, NY: Paramount Home Entertainment, 2002), DVD.

20 Guerrero, “Black Image,” 244.

16 the usual pattern of character building. In particular, Glover is depicted not as a hustler or criminal, but as a happy family man with some caring people around. Gibson, on the contrary, appears to be a lonely and risky young man who needs emotional support from the experienced black partner. Moreover, none of them hate each other because of their skin color, which only reinforces the idea that racism can be easily overcome. However, released during the 1980s, these films follow the traditional narrative formula with stereotyped black culture or does not reflect the existing racial reality at all. Firstly, both 48 Hours and Trading Places represent a mainstream African- American society with sexually available, vulgar, and uneducated people in it. In Trading Places, Murphy remains a typical example of the black culture in terms of language and manners, regardless of his final transformation into a civilized man. Moreover, this film still features the white hero using , which continues to reinforce racial stereotypes about how easy it is to become black. In 48 Hours, he also plays a horny prisoner constantly thinking about sex and looking for it at every opportunity. Even the famous bar scene, according to Guerrero, turns out to be a metaphor for the danger of black empowerment rather than a time for changing racial relations.21 In this case, he states “if Blacks were to attain social authority and leverage, and by implication full equality, they would behave as brutally towards Whites as they have been historically treated them.”22 It follows that it is always better to subordinate them peacefully. Lethal Weapon, on the contrary, refers more to building a fantasy than maintaining the existing racial order. However, even here the black character becomes too attached to his white friend. Thus, this narrative paradigm continues to follow the rules of the industry that prefers to see racial stereotypes or keep the black character protected by white people.

21 Guerrero, “Black Image,” 242.

22 Guerrero, “Black Image,” 242.

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THE SENSATIVE PHASE

The “sensitive” narrative phase is the latest stage in the development of biracial buddy films that goes beyond racial issues and respectful bonding, revealing more intimate and sensitive relations between two male individuals. The history of this paradigm traces back to the early 1990s, when cop action films started merging with other such as dramas or detectives. Nevertheless, biracial character-driven movies that were developed enough to show as little racism as possible began to appear only after 2000. The first film that focuses on the life experiences of two elderly men diagnosed with cancer and decided to travel together is The Bucket List. In this story, the white character (Jack Nicholson) is presented as a rich, arrogant, and lonely person who is deprived of happiness in his life. The black hero (), on the contrary, has a loving family and some understanding of true values which help him not to give up. The way these characters empathize with each other and become important parts of their lives suggests a completely new theme presented here. Men in Blacks 3 also corresponds to the updated thematic purpose of this genre. Released fifteen years after the original Men in Black, this film focuses on the strained relationship between () and Agent J (). Sincerely caring for his partner, Smith represents a talented, kind, and smart agent who tries to connect with his white friend. Agent K, on the contrary, sees himself as the boss who is not inclined to active communication but eventually turns out to be a grateful and loving man. By focusing on the life difficulties more than on racial prejudices, the “sensitive” narrative paradigm promotes the idea of inner harmony and happiness that everyone lacks, implying that racism has already been overcome. Nevertheless, this sensitive kind of biracial buddy films still approves the old narrative techniques of linking a black character with his stereotypical culture or pretends that racism no longer exists. For instance, sends Smith back to 1960, where he becomes a “criminal” who steals a car and cheats the police. Throughout the film, he remains a positive but typical black guy who jokes and expresses himself in accordance with stereotypical African American culture. In

18 addition, the film makes a clear statement about how much the life of the black community has improved over the past fifty years. At this point, the very idea of ignoring the complexity of race relations in contemporary American culture can also be considered as a certain form of racism. The Bucket List, on the contrary, doesn't portray a black character in the context of an isolated or stereotyped culture but also doesn't reflect any racial dynamics happening within the American society at the moment. CONCLUSION

In the context of American racial relations, this study contributes to the ongoing discussion by confirming the idea that despite the dynamics between the characters indeed evolved other the years, racism still remains detectable in Hollywood films. Further work will include visual analysis of the selected films, which will go beyond narrative analysis.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Artz, B. Lee. “Hegemony in Black and White: Interracial Buddy Films and the New Racism”. In Cultural Diversity and the US Media, edited by Yahya R. Kamalipour and Theresa Carilli, 67-78. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998. Bogle, Donald. “Black Beginnings: From Uncle Tom's Cabin to The Birth of a Nation.” In African American Communication and Identities, edited by Ronald L. Jackson II, 281-290. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2004. Bordwell, David, and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction, 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Carroll, Bret E., ed. American : A Historical Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. Collins, Patricia H. Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism. New York: Routledge, 2004. Farley, Reynolds, and Albert Hermalin. "The 1960s: A Decade of Progress for Blacks?" Demography 9, no. 3 (1972): 353-70. Accessed April 19, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/2060859. Gates, Philippa. "Buddy films." In American Masculinities: A Historical Encyclopedia, edited by Bret E. Carrol, 73-75. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. Guerrero, Ed. "The Rise and Fall of Blaxploitation." In The Wiley‐Blackwell History of American Film, edited by Cynthia Lucia, Roy Grundmann, and Art Simon, 1-35. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Guerrero, Ed. “The Black Image in Protective Custody: Hollywood's Biracial Buddy Films”. In Black American Cinema, edited by Manthia Diawara, 237-246. New York: Routledge, 1993. Kimmel, Michael, and Amy Aronson. Men and Masculinities. Santa Barbara: ABC- CLIO, 2004.

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Klarman, Michael J. "Brown, Racial Change, and the Civil Rights Movement." Virginia Law Review 80, no. 1 (1994): 7-150. Accessed April 19, 2020. doi:10.2307/1073592. Miller, Chris. "The Representation of the Black Male in Film." Journal of African American Men 3, no. 3 (1998): 19-30. Accessed April 19, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41819338. Sung, Wendy. "Mainstream African American Cinema: The Struggle for Black Images in Hollywood." In African Americans in Popular Culture, edited by Todd Boyd, 245-272. London: Praeger Publishers, 2008.

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FILMOGRAPHY

Donner, Richard, dir. Lethal Weapon. 1987; , CA: Warner Home Video, 1998. DVD. Hill, Walter, dir. 48 Hrs. 1982; Los Angeles, CA: Paramount Home Entertainment, 2002. DVD. Hiller, Arthur, dir. Silver Streak. 1976; Los Angeles, CA: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2006. DVD. Jewison, Norman, dir. In the Heat of the Night. 1967; Los Angeles, CA: MGM Home Entertainment, 2001. DVD. Kramer, Stanley, dir. The Defiant Ones. 1958; Universal City, CA: MGM Home Entertainment, 2001. DVD. Landis, John, dir. Trading Places. 1983; New York City, NY: Paramount Home Entertainment, 2002. DVD. “Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered, & Shafted.” Video file, 1:23:05. Vimeo. Posted by David F Walker, August 4, 2015. https://vimeo.com/135407693. Poitier, Sidney, dir. Stir Crazy. 1980; Burbank, CA: Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1999. DVD. Reiner, Rob, dir. The Bucket List. 2007; Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2008. DVD. Sonnenfeld, Barry, dir. Men In Black 3. 2012; New York City, NY: Home Entertainment, 2012. DVD.