Monday, January 21, 2008

Historical Text

Shaft is a 1971 award winning film directed by Gordon Parks.

Shaft is an action film that has elements of film noir*, it tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob in order to find the missing daughter of a black mobster. The movie is widely considered a prime example of the blaxploitation genre.

Narrative: At the police precinct, Shaft is interviewed by Victor Androzzi a long-suffering white cop. Androzzi believes something big is about to erupt in the underworld [Harlem] and gives Shaft twenty four hours to investigate, threatening to revoke his license if he doesn't comply.
Bumpy Jonas[black crime kingpin] surprises Shaft by calling to ask for his help in finding his daughter, Marcy, who has disappeared. Jonas claims that Ben Buford, the leader of a black militant organisation[Black Nationalists], is behind Marcy's kidnapping.


Shaft travels uptown to meet his old friend Ben at his hideout. Gunmen burst in, and although Shaft and Ben manage to escape, the other militants are massacred. Jonas is the obvious suspect, but he insists that he was using Shaft to enlist Ben and his army to rescue his daughter. Shaft convinces Ben to help with this mission, at a price. Jonas is convinced that the Mafia are behind Marcy's disappearance - as they want in on the Harlem drug trade that he controls.

Shaft traces the kidnappers to an Uptown hotel, then he and Ben's men plot their assault. One team work up from the kitchens, another down from the roof, until they have cornered the kidnappers. A fierce gun battle ensues and the Mafia guards are killed. Marcy is freed and her father pays the agreed price per head of $1000, funds which Ben will use to release political prisoners.

* Film Noir - Crime, usually murder, is an element of almost all film noirs; in addition to standard-issue greed, A crime investigation—by a private eye, a police detective (sometimes acting alone)

In the film, Shaft comes across as man who is on a 'one man mission'.
When talking to the captain of the local police Shaft tells him that he is always 'concerned about minority folks' - this highlights that the captain may not want to be directly involved with minority folks and would want Shaft to deal with them. As with groups such as the Black Nationalists and the Panthers around during this time, there would be political unrest frequently.

Black nationalist's emphasised the need for the cultural, political and economical separation from white society.
The Black Panthers were a progressive political organization who had a reputation for violence

Though there are not specific references to racism, some characters or issues may involve people being prejudice. i.e. when Shaft puts his arm out for a taxi, the driver immediately sees that he is black and stops for the white man ahead of Shaft. This shows that attitudes towards ethnic minorities may still be the same as there is still the 'fear of the black man'.
-At one point in the film, the police captain asks Shaft to 'think like a white man'.

This film also uses Binary Oppositions(Strauss)
- black vs. white
- Harlem mob vs. mafia
It can be described as hood against hood. As both the Harlem mob and the mafia where established crime organisations during this period..almost like competition, as the mafia wanted in the the drug trade which bumpy Jonas was controlling.

The film also re enforces the importance for money, as Shaft demands a large sum of money for getting back kidnapped daughter, and also bribes' potential sources' with money.

The first time a Blaxploitation film (exploiting the existence of a large black audience among the general popularity of black music and culture) went mainstream in the US, creating the first black ghetto super-sleuth. Although it featured sexism and reliance on stereotypical ideologies of black male sexuality, it was positive for the black community all over the world, since it was the first representation of a James Bond-like figure fighting inner-city oppression

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

other stuff..

Black Nationalism http://afgen.com/black_nationalist_theory.html
Classical Black Nationalist theory holds that blacks must unite, gain power, and liberate themselves. As these goals were being articulated by free blacks in antebellum America, blacks held in slavery were generating their own culture. But most free blacks did not understand that the development of an autonomous slave culture was a force that challenged white dominance, and the few who did failed to relate this development to liberation theory.

Stan Cohen (sociologist)
Stanley Cohen (2002): Folk Devils and moral panics: The creation of Mod’s and Rocker’s
- society's 'folk devils' - and the public and media reaction to them, More moral panics will be generated and other, as yet nameless, folk devils will be created...our society as presently structured will continue to generate problems for some if its members... and then condemn whatever solution these groups find.'
Moral panic refers to stories which are published in the media and make the majority of the public panic. This relates to Post 9/11 LA, where moral panics have been created involving certain minorities. i.e. when some americans switch on the news, and the reporter is reporting on another incident which many assume that a black person would be involved. This veiw is created by the moral panics that are within our society.


Gunnar Myrdal (economist)- An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (1944).
The book was generally positive in its outlook on the future of race relations in America, taking the view that democracy would triumph over racism.
Below is an extract from his book:
"Ends and Means of Population Policy," P167

[T]here is no doubt that the overwhelming majority of white Americans desire that there be as few Negroes as possible in America. If the Negroes could be eliminated from America or greatly decreased in numbers, this would meet the whites' approval -- provided that it could be accomplished by means which are also approved. Correspondingly, an increase of the proportion of Negroes in the American population is commonly looked upon as undesirable.

Yet again this links to the District Attorney who is more worried about his political career (Modern Democracy) as he is car jacked by two black males, however he does not come across as racist, but does try to resolve this 'issue' with his aides.

Manthia Diawara (1993) another theorist who’s work has been cited in books.
Black American Cinema


I have also looked at: blogs from last year to help me with research
http://getrich-ramneet.blogspot.com/
http://bilansblog.blogspot.com/

The blogs have been useful with information regarding theorists, books and websites which have been used

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

essay plan...so far

Introduction
Outlining my thesis/hypothesis
‘We’re the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the trigger happy LAPD. So, you tell me, why aren't we scared?

Why do stereotypes exist both within crash and in reality? focusing on US society, stereotypes and text.
Focusing on African Americans. In addition to showing how common racism is within society and Crash and its effects on characters’.
{Need to have a clearer thesis}
Introducing Crash - narrative
Look at the quote above, this is said by one of the black male characters in Crash, which links to racism and subverts the stereotype – white people, should be scared of black people... This is commonly based upon the stereotype
‘Here we have a country that is still emerging from a deeply racist history, a society in which white people have treated (and continue to treat) black people with contempt, suspicion and a profoundly ignorant sense of superiority’ [1]
The statement would be used a bold sentence in my introduction as after this I would present my argument.
{A, R}


Paragraph 1 & 2
The narrative seems to intertwine a few stereotypes that are commonly associated with Black males such as: being involved in drugs
How bigotry and prejudice form themes in the films. As some of the characters such as the district attorney‘s wife can be seen prejudiced in addition to officer Ryan who is a ‘bigot’ – a theme which occurs throughout the film

Introduction to my historical texts – Shaft and Do the Right Thing
Introduce Blaxploitation and how this genre has developed over the decades and also how both historical texts fit in within this genre.

link between Crash.. has it become a modern development of this movement genre
Media image and social realities – the media studies reader

{S, H} {G, R, A}

Paragraph 3
Look at how hegemony can help audiences understand the representation of ethnic minorities in western cinema.
Focus on culture and ideology. Unlike Marxist theories of domination, Gramsci relegates economic determinants to the background and brings to the fore the role of intellectuals in the process. The fact that television and cinema are central to popular culture is crucial because Gramsci says particular attention should be given to 'everyday' routine structures and 'common sense' values in trying to locate mechanisms of domination
White supremacy/ dominance – link this concept back to this as this is another theme that occurs throughout the film.
I.e. how a black man will not question a white man (police officer’s) judgement
In addition I would also link back to shows such as the cosby show and the fresh prince of bel air – black comedy sitcoms which are a success. Also looking at how black people are represented and how the situations shown in a comic manner are actually true in reality
{S, H} {A, G, R}


Paragraph 4
Comparison with historical texts (Crash and Do the Right Thing) in more depth. And why stereotypes are used, also looking at America as a country and the issue of politics. As Crash is a drama which looks at the complexities of racial tolerance in America. In addition to looking at how accurately these issues are presented as few films represent black people in an accurate way.
In addition to looking at narrative theorists such as Straus and Propp – how character roles and binary oppositions have been used.
{H} {I, R, N}


Paragraph 5
Looking at theories cited in different book based on stereotyping and American policy.

Stan Cohen – moral panic [ people being more weary]
Gunnar Myrdal – looking at modern democracy and also how there is a political ideology within the film – urban policy
As the district attorney does not want to loose the black vote, as his career seems to be his sole focus, and how one event (car jacking) may look bad.
Looking at multiculturalism, patriarchy, stereotypes, segregative separatism (how different minorities are divided)

{I, A}
Looking at work by
Stan Cohen
Myrdal
Diawara
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]The Media Studies reader O’SULLIVAN AND JEWKES
-Reading Race: Hollywood and the Cinema of Racial Violence by Norman K. Denzin (2002)
-The African American Image in Film: Framing Blackness
-Ed Guerrero (1993) - Black representation and Urban policy – Albert K Karnig
-Robert Ferguson – representing race

The books listed above have helped me with research

Below are the websites i have used for research
http://flowtv.org/?p=63
http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-rol6.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_%282004_film%29 http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/media_literacy/35640

Historical Text

Do the Right Thing is a 1989 motion picture directed by Spike Lee and released by Universal Pictures. The film tells a tale of bigotry* and racial conflict in a multi-ethnic community. Issues of pride and prejudice, justice and inequity come to the surface as hate and bigotry smoulder--finally building into a crescendo as it explodes into violence.
Narrative: Three businesses dominate the block: a storefront radio station, where a smooth-talking' deejay (Samuel L. Jackson) spins the platters that matter; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighbourhood. Sal serves up slices with his two sons, genial Vito and angry, racist Pino. Sal has one black employee, Mookie (Spike Lee), who wants to "get paid" but lacks ambition. His sister Jade, who has a greater sense of purpose and a "real" job, wants Mookie to start dealing with his responsibilities, most notably his son with girlfriend Tina Two of Mookie's best friends are Radio Raheem a monolith of a man who rarely speaks and Buggin' Out , nicknamed for his coke-bottle glasses and habit of losing his cool. When Buggin' Out notes that Sal's "Wall of Fame," a photo gallery of famous Italian-Americans, includes no people of colour, he eventually demands a neighbourhood boycott, on a day when tensions are already running high, that incurs tragic consequences

* A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions I may use this film as a comparison as it deals with racism and prejudice in a multi ethnic community, where all the issues come to a crescendo, and it results in boycotts.

The opening song for the film has the line ‘fight the power break/get free’. This can be seen as a reoccurring motif as the same song is played at various points throughout the film. The line refers to breaking free from ‘white supremacy’ so that black people are free.
The only white business in the neighbourhood is ‘Sals famous Pizzeria’, however one of Sal’s son can be seen as prejudiced as he does not like his younger brother being associated with their only black employee ‘Mookie’, who he seems to trust more than his brother. But Mookie asks him who his idols are and all of his idols are African American singers or actors, however he despises the black people in the community.
Like Crash, Do the Right Thing deals with numerous situation involving the same or different characters and also disastrous consequences i.e. one of the black characters gets killed by the police at the end of the film.
The film has a ‘Love Hate’ theme, as most characters have a love hate relationship.
-Sals son despises Mookie
-The Spanish group don’t like Radio Raheem
-The policemen think that the black community are a waste
-The Korean shop owners have run in’s with some of the community over petty things i.e. beer and batteries
The radio Jock (Samuel L Jackson), acts like a narrator, describing the surroundings whilst everything is going on as his booth overlooks onto the street. The music he plays sets the setting for the scenes that the audience are watching.

Truth and Justice are other themes that develop throughout the film. The truth is something that is encouraged by one of older characters ‘Mayer’… who says that we should always ‘do the right thing’. All of Radio Raheem’s friends want justice after his is killed; most partially blame Sal after he smashed his stereo.
Buggin’ out also wants justice after realising that all the people on Sal’s wall of fame are all famous white people, and no black people considering that the pizzeria is situated in a black community and the majority of customers are black.
Below are quotes that appear at the end of the film, both highlight the message of violence – but different perspectives. Malcolm X believed that people should use violence to get what they wanted whereas Martin Luther King believed in the opposite, non violent tactics

‘Violence as a way of achieving racial injustice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all.’
‘Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love’
‘It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue’

-Martin Luther King, Jr

‘I think there are plenty of good people in America, but there are also plenty of bad people in America. The bad ones are the ones who seem to have all the power.’
‘I am not against using violence in self defence, I don’t even call it violence when its self defence, I call it intelligence.’
-Malcolm X
Below are clips from Do the Right Thing: