Kelechi Campbell

Explore the ways in which black males in the US

are represented throughout film from the 1990s to
present day
My thesis focuses on black males in the 1990s being generalised in
society through the use of stereotypes to depict them incorrectly.
Thus, a large majority of black males in the US have been
misrepresented through media such as film. My study focuses the
change in representation of black males in film from the 1990s to
present day. I will be exploring the reasons for these adaptations
considering cultural, social and political issues. I will consider how
these aspects may have changed the representation of black males
while relating it to how this is presented throughout films. A majority
of stereotypes towards black males have remained negative, the
most common stereotypes are associated with crime and violence,
which was and is still represented through media outlets such as
film today.
The 1990s marked an era of chaos as a plethora of socially
shocking events occurred, creating a spiral of riots through the US,
more specifically, South Central LA. This led to the rise of
stereotypes towards the black community. In the early 1990s, the
case of Rodney King follows the assault of speeding suspect Rodney
King by four white police officers.1 The event made national news as
it was one of the first incidents of police brutality to be caught on
tape. This sprouted an outrage through the US, bringing about the
escalation of the negative perception of police officers as they were
meant to protect the people but instead were abusing their power.
Police were then commonly associated with unlawful police brutality
of the black male. The black community chose to riot in 1991, as a
derived result of Rodney Kings assault, crime rates in all areas
rapidly escalated. Even after the population increased after the
1990s, crime rate still fell. 2 This behaviour was portrayed through
films such as Menace II Society(1993) and Boyz N The Hood(1991),
which touched upon such topics such as police brutality and
stereotypes of black males such as crime, drugs, guns and gang
activity. This is shown in the scene where Tre is confronted and
wrongfully held at gunpoint by a police officer, the use of a black
police officer connotes the issue of police brutality was boundless.
This genre of film was used to reflect Americas attitude towards
black males at the time, this further influenced and reinforced mass
audiences to believe in the genralised perception of black males.
This depicted black males in particular to be perceived in an
aggressive manner through the media. This then led to the
association of black males to crime, regardless of statistics. The
attitude towards black males became more cautious and leery. This
1 http://www.kidzworld.com/article/4255-1990s-timeline
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_California#State_statistics

Kelechi Campbell
was largely due to the media shown during the riots, depicting the
minority of aggressive acts and using it to generalise it to the rest of
the black community.3 These perceptions were portrayed through
the films of that era in such bodies of work as Boyz N The Hood &
Menace II Society.
In Menace II Society, the opening scene uses a shot reverse shot of
O-Dog, Caine and an Asian convenience store worker. O-Dog gets
agitated as the woman persistently follows them both around the
store. The director uses a medium close up shot to show the
womans facial expression, her
eyes are following the boys
connoting
feelings
of
intimidation
towards
the
audience. This displays the view
on black males at the time to
the audience, association with
crimes such as theft and
murder. This scene clearly
shows the view of black males
diminishing following the years of
the riots, the woman is so wary of
them both she chooses to follow
them to prevent them from stealing. This supports the idea of the
media at the time having influenced the US society in a significant
way. Furthermore, O-Dog ends up killing them, I believe this also
depicts the tensions of Eastern Asians and Blacks at the time. In a
scene the director uses diegetic sound in the form of dialogue to
suggest tensions between races when O-Dog says I cant stand
yall this evokes feelings of prejudice to the audience. This scene is
used to highlight the wider issues in society at that point in time,
there was a clear divide between African Americans and Asians. In
1991, two weeks after the beating of Rodney King, a 15-year old
young black woman named Latasha Harlins entered a liqour store
and was accused of stealing by a Korean woman named Soon Ja Du.
As Du tried to take her backpack, Latasha hit her in response and as
she turned her around, Du pulled out a gun and shot her in the back
of her head.4 Du was only charged with a $500 fine, south Central
residents were outraged and unfortunately it did not get much
coverage outside of LA. However, those who did hear about it, spoke
about it, such as Ice Cube, who wrote a song titled Black Korea. 5
This sparked a growing tension between Koreans (Eastern Asians in
general) and blacks, proving to be evident in the US society.

3
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/29/newsid_2500000/250047
1.stm
4 http://www.southcentralhistory.com/la-riots.php
5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFwA0UwnuS8

Kelechi Campbell
In both films, Boyz N The
Hood and Menace II
Society, it is set in South
Central LA, in the early
1990s, surrounded by a
gritty,
ghetto
environment, implying the
living conditions of the
blacks were not desirable,
the people in the area
were deprived economically and were poor working class citizens.
This is used to indicate the economic status of the characters living
within these areas, indicating them at the lower end of the
economic chain. The director uses various establishing shots of the
environment to show the audience the neighborhood. In the films,
particularly Boyz N The Hood, it touched on subjects to deal with the
stereotypes of gangs such as Bloods and Crips. There was a growing
problem of gang activity is LA in the 1990s6, and this was portrayed
in the films by the crimes committed in them. Black males were
represented in a violent and aggressive manner in the films. An
example of how they illustrated this in the movie is the use of
Bloods and Crips. For example, In Boyz N The Hood when Ricky, Tre
and Doughboy go to hang out in Compton, they are startled with
gunfire(Doughboy is also carrying a firearm), the mise-en-scene
uses costume, in the form of red clothing and jewellery, to clearly
show that the opposing people are Bloods. The colour red was
chosen as it has negative connotations and suggests things such as
blood, danger and harm. This supports the stereotypes of gang
violence in the black community and also implies that black people,
primarily males cannot even function properly with their own race,
instead of being at one with themselves, they are inclined to harm
one another. The Bloods and Crips show that even in the same race,
there can be segregation.
In both films Boyz N The Hood and Menace II Society, there is only
one character(Ricky)that talks about education, this implies to the
audience that these males do not go to school, displaying the
behaviours in that decade, the number of black people attending
college compared to the number of white children were vast. By
2000, the percentage of whites going to college in the state
California was 39.3% contrasting to the amount of black children
going to college in California, which was 16.7%. 7 This was largely
due to factors such as lower wealth, lower parental educational
levels and more dealings with the justice system. 8 In the scene
where Ricky is visited by a representative of a university, the
6 http://www.streetgangs.com/crips/blackstreetgangs#sthash.PuuhY9mE.dpbs
7 https://www.bostonfed.org/economic/neer/neer2004/neer04b.pdf
8 http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/28/us-education-stillseparate-and-unequal

Kelechi Campbell
director uses mise-en-scene such as clothing and sound to create
contrast. The contrast in costume is evident, the characters outside
are wearing dark clothing, hoodies and hats, suggesting the
affiliation to gangs while Ricky is wearing a yellow shirt and a
colourful tie, giving off a more open and welcoming appearance.
The director uses this contrast to show the audience how you can
catergorise people just by looking at clothing. The director also uses
diegetic sound in the form of dialogue to contrast also. The
characters outside use colloquial language and profanity such as
Nigga please, aint nobody going to church to catch no b***hes
reinforcing the perception of the black community using slang.
Whereas Ricky speaks in a much more presentable manner. This
connoted to the audience that the people that were not sucked into
the life of gangs and crime
followed a more academic
route and created a more
educated
and
positive
representation for the black
male as Ricky acted as a
countertype.
After
the
1990s,
the
attitudes towards the black
community
started
to
change. In 2003, there were significant population shifts and
reduced resistance to residential integration, this led to more blacks
living in the suburbs of Los Angeles and other cities rather than on
the limits of the cities. Various events led to the change of
perception towards the black community, the unemployment rate
after the 1990s began to creep lower9. The rise of black leaders in
politics was also significant. An example of this is in 2004 Barack
Obama was elected to the US Senate from Illinois 10, followed by him
getting elected as the first African American US president in 2008.
The rise of black CEOs was also a significant factor to societies
attitudes changing, between 1999 and 2010, there was the
appointment of 14 black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies 11.
Although the earlier stereotypes still existed, they were not the
dominant stigmas of black people. The black community were
starting to be seen as more intellectual and powerful than before.
These attitudes in society made black people feel more equal as
they did before. This led to the roles of black characters in films
taking a different approach. Rather than committing crimes and
being associated with gangs, they were in a more positive position,
9 http://qz.com/364354/the-level-of-black-unemployment-in-the-us-is-crisis-levelfor-everyone-else/

10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_career_of_Barack_Obama#U.S.
_Senate_campaign
11 http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/diversity_among_ceos.html

Kelechi Campbell
such as in The Pursuit of Happyness(2006). This shows the true
story of Chris Gardener(Will Smith), struggling to sell his bone
density scanners to hospitals as he is also looking after his five year
old son after his wifes departure. This contrasted from the earlier
films in the 1990s, one feature that stuck out is that in this movie, it
is a single black father looking after his son. One stereotype of the
black community is that the fathers are never around so The Pursuit
Of Happyness showed how the perception of society may have
changed in that time period. The film evokes underlying feelings of
prejudice and racism however it is overshadowed by the triumph of
the black male. For example in the scene where Chris shares a taxi
ride
with
Jay
Twistle(his
employer), Chris states he
thinks he can solve the rubiks
cube Im pretty sure I can do
it. Jay repeatedly tells Chris
that he cant No you cant.
Jays comments highlights the
dominant cultures ideologies
that African Americans are not
intellectual, but through the
short taxi ride, Chris solves the rubiks cube in a timely fashion. This
represented black males as underestimated but at the same time
portrayed to the audience that they have powerful minds and are
intellectual. It also connoted that African Americans are overcoming
adversity and are determined to succeed. This relates to my thesis
as society being influenced by stereotypes has caused them to
prejudge them incorrectly. I believe this prejudice stems from the
belief that African Americans only excelled at physical activities
such as sport and thus they were not exceptional at academics
shown through sports such as the NBA, where 76.3% of the players
are African American12. Therefore, in this one scene there are
elements that emphasize the dominant ideology of African
Americans being less intellectual than Whites while simultaneously
debunking this idea.
The use of mise-en-scene also sets Chris apart from the rest of the
people you see in the film. The director uses costumes to show
contrast between people. Throughout a majority of the film, Chris is
seen wearing a suit. But in one scene where he has an interview he
is seen wearing a jacket, a worn out tank top and paint in his hair.
The director uses this to make him stand out from everyone else,
contrasting the black male to he white males. This connotes that
Chris, although in the same establishment as them, is seen as below
the whites that are there, the clothing suggests more of a gritty and
urban lifestyle as opposed to a suit which indicates success and
accomplishment. Again, Chris actually gaining the internship
eclipses this implication. This shows even when the odds are against
12 http://www.nba.com/2013/news/06/25/nba-diversity.ap/

Kelechi Campbell
them(due to various prejudice
and racial stigma) the black
community is shown to have
the capability to overcome
adversity they face in everyday
life.
Following the election of Barack
Obama as President, this enabled many white Americans to observe
an individual of the black community who defied the negative
stereotypes such as gang culture and crime. Contrasting to the
slavery era, this was an enormous triumph as black people went
from property of the people to president of the people. This ruptured
the limitations set onto black people in the US, showing them that in
the US, all things are possible. Seth K. Goldman carried out a study
in which he called The Obama Effect 13. Goldman found that after
the election, there was a very clear and downward trend in racial
prejudice during the campaign.14 . This led to the black community
being able to affirm their humanity and dignity, which helped to
improve status and opinions of black communities. This attitude was
transferred into modern day films such as Top Five(2014). Andre is
forced to spend the day with Chelsea, a profile writer for the New
York Times. Similar to The Pursuit Of Happyness, Top Five also shows
underlying indications of prejudice and racism but is nearly is
eclipsed by the success of the black male. This was to reflect the US
mindset at the time as black people had moved up in society yet
there is still a sense of subtle prejudice in everyday activity. This is
touched upon in the opening scene of Top Five where the director
uses a tracking shot following Andre and Chelsea. They speak on the
perception of a black president from a white persons perspective.
The director uses dialogue such as That niggers ruining
everything. to connote that even through a time of progression for
black males, there are still obstacles in the form of prejudices
preventing the stop to racism. The director also reinforces the
advancement of black males in this scene by using mise-en-scene in
the form of dialogue. Chelsea says Things are changing, you need
to wake up and smell the progress illustrating the common view on
black advancement. Andre then says Some things never change,
look at this, black man trying to get a cab, this relates back to a
stereotype that taxis do not stop for black males in the US. The
stereotype is adhered to when a taxi swiftly drives by Andre,
representing the underlying prejudices shown in this film. However
the second taxi abruptly stops for Andre, supporting the suggestion
of the black community progressing. This reinforces Chelseas
argument on how Things are changing. This is used to directly
show the views and opinions of black people advancing with time, to
13 https://www.russellsage.org/publications/obama-effect
14 http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2012-10-11/research/media-obamaeffect-and-racial-prejudice

Kelechi Campbell
the point where even in
film stereotypes such as
cabs not stopping for
black males are being
debunked.
In Top five, the audience
see the influence of the
advancement of the black communities in film as Andre is portrayed
as an already successful comedian with an equally as famous black
fiance. In earlier films we see black males portrayed us
uneducated, unemployed and gang affiliated. Andre being portrayed
as a film star represents the development of the black community in
the US society. The director uses Andres backstory to identify the
earlier attitudes towards the black community. For example, Andre
explains to Chelsea he used to be an alcoholic and also used to be
promiscuous, this reinforced the stereotypes of earlier time periods.
Andre triumphs over the addiction of alcohol and is engaged,
showing the personal growth used as a reflection of the evolution of
the black community as a whole. This is used to show that positive
representations of the black male exist however the media may not
choose to show it due to factors such as entertainment and ratings.
The development of the black community may not appeal to others
however representing them in a negative way could get the media
more attention.
The representation of black males in the US has changed in contrast
to how they were represented during the 1990s. Stereotypes
surrounding crime and gangs provided black males with an inferior
representation, and they were looked down upon in film. Although
prejudice towards black males still occur in film, the representation
of them proves to show much more respect for the black community
because of social changes. Race roles are practically equal. There
are still underlying prejudices shown in modern day film however,
due to social and political impacts too, there has been a large
transformation of the representation of black males in the US in film,
presenting them in a more positive way.
Word count: 2884

Bibliography:
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/4255-1990s-timeline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_California#State_statistics
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/29/newsid_2500000/250047
1.stm

Kelechi Campbell
http://www.southcentralhistory.com/la-riots.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFwA0UwnuS8
http://www.streetgangs.com/crips/blackstreetgangs#sthash.PuuhY9mE.dpbs
https://www.bostonfed.org/economic/neer/neer2004/neer04b.pdf
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/28/us-education-stillseparate-and-unequal
http://qz.com/364354/the-level-of-black-unemployment-in-the-us-is-crisis-level-foreveryone-else/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_career_of_Barack_Obama#U.S.
_Senate_campaign
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/diversity_among_ceos.html
http://www.nba.com/2013/news/06/25/nba-diversity.ap/
https://www.russellsage.org/publications/obama-effect
http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2012-10-11/research/media-obamaeffect-and-racial-prejudice