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Stereotypical Depictions of African Americans on American Film
Žáčková, Julie ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
THESIS ABSTRACT Stereotypical Depictions of African Americans on American Film As far as the history of American "moving images" reaches, there have always been African American characters on screen. However, it was already in one of the earliest movies, D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, that they were portrayed as stereotypical types. Mostly played by white actors with their faces painted black, they were absolutely one-sided and evoking laughter, mockery and even disgust. It is, indeed, Griffith who is until today seen as the originator of stereotypical types on film. All the "basic" stereotypes appeared in his film: the "Mammy", the "Coon", or the "Tragic Mulatta" and marked the beginning of such portrayals of African Americans in movies. In the history of Hollywood studios production, the stereotypes were used over and over, some were reinvented and even new ones emerged. This proved to be an impulse to African American filmmakers who reacted by producing their own film projects, striving to create heroes of their own, heroes that they could look up to in movie theaters. Blaxploitation was the genre that introduced such characters. The wave of African American-produced films continued in the early 1990s. After the enormous box office success of John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood, moviegoers craved...
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