Cabi In The Sky Analysis

World War II impacted the American film industry through the influences of the war effort. Films that were made during this time often worked in line with this effort by projecting messages of unity, where racial and class differences amongst Americans were put on the backburner in order to fight one common and external enemy. Scholar Anna Everett asserts that during the war the film industry temporarily suspended its usual racist and stereotypical depictions of Black Americans for the war effort, and thereby suspending the privileging of whiteness in film as well. But in spite of this, there were still some films that contained subtle but very present stereotypical and negative representations of black people. Cabin in the Sky
(1943) is one such that …show more content…
For one, it dichotomizes the lifestyles of rural blacks against urban blacks, romanticizing and glorifying country life and demonizing the city life. Petunia and Little Joe, the main characters of the film, fight the seductions and temptations that the city gives—riches, gambling, violence, and unhinged sexuality. The countryside is presented as idyllic, where people (specifically, black people) can live and enjoy the ‘simple’ pleasures in life, and most importantly sustain their Christian morality. This is exemplified by the presence of the black church, and its ubiquitous preacher, whom, for Little Joe, acts as a double for his guardian angel when he’s traversing through an alternate world during a coma. Blacks are only portrayed as hardworking in the rustic setting, as evidenced by Little Joe’s efforts in his comatose dream to quit his gambling ways and work in the railroads in order to support him and Petunia in an honest way. In contrast, city dwellers were mainly depicted as earning a living through gambling, or through singing in jazz clubs. The use of black musical genres also problematizes the film. In Cabin, jazz is portrayed as the “devil’s music.” This is evidenced by the presence