Blacks Entertaining for the Enjoyment of Whites
Black characters have appeared in American films since the late 1800s(Horton, Yurii). But in early cinema and theatrical plays that weren't shown in the best of light. They have been stereotyped as; lazy, stupid, animal-like,(Horton, Yurii) the list just goes on and on. But now even more than 150 years after Civil Rights Era, Blacks still have a little light to express their art on the small and big screens. They are to this day, are being oppressed by the entertainment business, just they were in the chains of the whites.
In American history, blacks have been subjected to the worst of the worst of stereotypes and misinterpretations. Stereotypes like the mammy, black face, and jim crow hit …show more content…
As an illustration of this oppressing epidemic, is the play Les Nègres: Clownerie written by Jean Genet (Kowall, Steven C.). This play was created in the 1950s(Kowall, Steven C.). In this play, there is a slew of examples of how blacks like blacks and whites in theater work. For instance, the actors Dieudonné Village and Mademoiselle Étiennette-Vertu-Rose-Secrète Dio. The village is a black actor who plays the part of a rapist and murderer who’s in love with a black prostitute, played by Mademoiselle Secrète Diop. This gives the idea that blacks, especially men, are rapist and murders who are only love and are loved by black whores. Other portals like the one by Madame Augusta Neige, give the sense of the angry black woman trope. In the play, Madame Augusta Neige plays a hostile, defiant black actress, whose moody, rebellious, and hateful envious of white women(Kowall, Steven C.). She seethes with hatred, even boasting that she will drink the blood of whites (Kowall, Steven C.). Archibald's presents his black actors in the light of the white court's expectations. At the end of the performance, he thanks his actors and congratulates them on portraying the stereotypes expected. Henceforth why the white audience assumes that black people are liars and thieves as played in the play. To repeat, these are the ideal standards, held for blacks. Granted that these the only …show more content…
Blacks still held against and punished for their actions and their words, especially in the entertainment business(1). Though not as flashy and broadcasted, bits and parts of slave codes are still alive and kicking in America(1). In the ideology of blacks as entertainment is socio-politically and socioeconomically expedient; the insidious history of black persons being celebrated for their entertain value isn’t very high (McGee, Ebony O.). And in the process, they have forgotten what it means to embrace self-determination(1). And to find diverse entertainment value in the black body has sadly just now begun to rise on a small scale. Many scholars and the general public,of all colors, have long acknowledged African Americans are often more revered for their entertainment value(McGee, Ebony O.). The context of historical objectification of black people has been such a gleaming light of research in educational venues for years now(McGee, Ebony O.). The Blackness is being interpreted as a form of entertainment mainly during educational presentations in schools and normal life (McGee, Ebony O.). Given all the information provided it would seem that the black American race isn’t getting every far in the entertainment business. But on the contradiction, the media is slowly but surely changing it looks on black
Black characters have appeared in American films since the late 1800s(Horton, Yurii). But in early cinema and theatrical plays that weren't shown in the best of light. They have been stereotyped as; lazy, stupid, animal-like,(Horton, Yurii) the list just goes on and on. But now even more than 150 years after Civil Rights Era, Blacks still have a little light to express their art on the small and big screens. They are to this day, are being oppressed by the entertainment business, just they were in the chains of the whites.
In American history, blacks have been subjected to the worst of the worst of stereotypes and misinterpretations. Stereotypes like the mammy, black face, and jim crow hit …show more content…
As an illustration of this oppressing epidemic, is the play Les Nègres: Clownerie written by Jean Genet (Kowall, Steven C.). This play was created in the 1950s(Kowall, Steven C.). In this play, there is a slew of examples of how blacks like blacks and whites in theater work. For instance, the actors Dieudonné Village and Mademoiselle Étiennette-Vertu-Rose-Secrète Dio. The village is a black actor who plays the part of a rapist and murderer who’s in love with a black prostitute, played by Mademoiselle Secrète Diop. This gives the idea that blacks, especially men, are rapist and murders who are only love and are loved by black whores. Other portals like the one by Madame Augusta Neige, give the sense of the angry black woman trope. In the play, Madame Augusta Neige plays a hostile, defiant black actress, whose moody, rebellious, and hateful envious of white women(Kowall, Steven C.). She seethes with hatred, even boasting that she will drink the blood of whites (Kowall, Steven C.). Archibald's presents his black actors in the light of the white court's expectations. At the end of the performance, he thanks his actors and congratulates them on portraying the stereotypes expected. Henceforth why the white audience assumes that black people are liars and thieves as played in the play. To repeat, these are the ideal standards, held for blacks. Granted that these the only …show more content…
Blacks still held against and punished for their actions and their words, especially in the entertainment business(1). Though not as flashy and broadcasted, bits and parts of slave codes are still alive and kicking in America(1). In the ideology of blacks as entertainment is socio-politically and socioeconomically expedient; the insidious history of black persons being celebrated for their entertain value isn’t very high (McGee, Ebony O.). And in the process, they have forgotten what it means to embrace self-determination(1). And to find diverse entertainment value in the black body has sadly just now begun to rise on a small scale. Many scholars and the general public,of all colors, have long acknowledged African Americans are often more revered for their entertainment value(McGee, Ebony O.). The context of historical objectification of black people has been such a gleaming light of research in educational venues for years now(McGee, Ebony O.). The Blackness is being interpreted as a form of entertainment mainly during educational presentations in schools and normal life (McGee, Ebony O.). Given all the information provided it would seem that the black American race isn’t getting every far in the entertainment business. But on the contradiction, the media is slowly but surely changing it looks on black