Portrayal Of Black Women Essay

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The portrayal of black women has evolved greatly over time. From Oliva Pope in Scandal to Annalise in How to Get Away with Murder, black women are on-screen professionals now more than ever. Although black women are seen dealing with issues in their stories’ plot, the great majority of these plots take a back seat to the subplot of romance. The success of black women in media is relentlessly measured by their love life. Regardless of the success of their financial, employment, or platonic relationships, black women are still conceived in the media to act as if love will complete them. The long lasting effects of minstrel stereotypes placed on black people at the beginnings of American theatre has allowed for this trope to continue on into the …show more content…
However, to equate the way white women and black women face sexism would be trivializing the experiences of black women. It is apparent that white women in film are also often times shown to have love be the focal point of their movies. However, even in these situations, there are other things that create depth to their characters. For example, in the movie Trainwreck which stars Amy Schumer, the main character has many reasons for why she is single. She faced childhood trauma and received negative influences from her father that caused her to want to stay single (Apatow). Also, her character is work driven as seen by her trying throughout the film to write a good story for her editor so she can receive a promotion. Shumer’s character is given depth and drive that is geared not only towards her romantic life but her platonic and professional lives as well. However, in the two examples of movies with black women, neither of them are given any reasons as to why their love lives are the way they are. The audience is supposed to accept this and continue to watch as she mindlessly falls in love with the first man to tell her what she needed to

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