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http://www. thecrimson. com/article. aspx? ref=517242 “The Media has concentrated on the representation of black men and women. This has partly been because there is a strong African-American counter-culture which provides viable alternative role models and demands that they are represented. In recent years, the success of actors such as Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Laurence Fishburne and Morgan Freeman in a diversity of roles has meant that black characters in movies and on TV are no longer ‘stock’ types. Some of the time.
However, there are many negative representations of black people, portrWhen comparing the two movies it was easier to look at the year in which it was produced. The plot of colour purple in the 1900s was believable because there was a mild amount of slavery and women where usually singled out. Whereas,Bringing down the house was made in 2003 was a modern movie based on present timeand has clearly shown a black woman in a different light The director of the movie did a good job in showing Queen Latifah’s strong character Using black American actors in moviea has opened new opportuinities for so many African Americans. t has created awarness within the soicecty about the rights of black women and changed the ideology that people have of black people. Halle Berry who won the Oscar for her role in Monster’s Ball says: “”This moment is so much bigger than me, This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll… It’s for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett Smith, Angela Bassett, Vivica A. Fox… and it’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance, because the door tonight has been opened. ” Black African American men in cinema Stereotypes- In our society today, black men are depicted as thugged out, uneducated, marijuana smoking men. They have acrimonious attitudes, only speak in “black” dialect known as Ebonics and are hell-bent on putting “Whitey” in his place. To accompany his other attributes he deems it necessary to legitimize his status as truly black. This puts him in the same category as all the other prison-bound, shiftless, misogynistic black men that he feels he can identify with. To these men, women are sexual objects: pawns to be played like a game of chess. They have insatiable sexual appetite and will go to any means to get sex.
The media is much to blame for negative stereotypes about African American men. The media promotes the images/ stereotypes above in every way possible, through books, television, movies, and even games. They expose the youth today to drugs, sex and crime that is most of the time done or orchestrated by a black male. They would never turn their backs against their white masters and always remained hearty, stoic, selfless, submissive, generous and oh-so-very kind. ” ayals which seem deliberately designed to inflame the fear and hatred of other cultures”