Flim Essay

1. across-the-

street

minorities

a character whereby little ambiguity exists as to

their racial identity based on their appearance

2. Affluent Prototype

the plot or character arc is facilitated by

affluence or access to significant capital

depicted through implied affluence or financing

fantasy

ex) Christopher Walken as US Treasury

Secretary William Cleary in Wedding Crashers

3. A-list actor an actor deemed uber-important within

mainstream society and worthy of constant

attention due to their ability to consistently

draw a large following

4. anchor moral, political, social orientation of a

character around which the events in the movie

revolve

5. Angel Archetype

found in servile position or as a sidekick

serves as a source of spiritual strength,

guidance, support to the central white

character

ex) Paz Vega as Flor Moreno in Spanglish

ex) Chow-Yun-Fat as Monk in Bulletproof Monk

6. archetype a broader character pattern by which individual

conduct is classified

7. asymptote non-white actor whose physical attributes

approach the White Beauty Standard or allow

the actor to portray white characteristics

8. Background

Figure

Archetype

inconsequential to overall storyline

limited dialogue and does not advance plot

visual illusory of diversity

ex) people in background of Harry Potter

9. bankability the degree to which an actor or director's name

alone can raise financing up-front for a movie

10. blockbuster movie which proves to be an overwhelming

financial success at the box office

11. catharsis emotional or psychological release of tension

resulting in revelation or personal growth for a

character

12. character

arc

charting of emotional or psychological change

within a character as they progress through the

story

13. color-blind

movie

a movie with an almost exclusively white cast

and a miniscule or non-existent minority

presence; although presented as "universal," the

movie focuses on whites

14. Comic Relief Archetype

culture serves as a fodder for most jokes

boisterous and uses improper grammar,

exaggerated motions and facial expressions,

intense emotion in contrast to white

behavior

ex) Fook U and Fook Mi in Austin Powers

15. common

denominator

broad theme that most people can relate to

based on the general human experience

16. connective

switch

ability of a viewer to adopt the perspective

of a character in order to form an emotional

connection with the character

17. contra-

juxtaposition

exaggeration of an existing minority

stereotype contrasted against typical white

norms

18. controlled

universe

a secure setting whereby the movie's

creators can manipulate all objects and

persons depicted on film to create a

particular image captured onscreen

19. copycat

behavior

when individuals imitate behavior displayed

in a mainstream movie

20. cross-casting wherein a movie studio casts a minority

actor in a role originally slated for,

designed for, portrayed by, or written for a

white actor

21. cycle of

blamelessness

cycle whereby major studios and

mainstream audiences each hold the other

responsible for the lack of substantive

minority characters

22. emasculation when the male identity of a minority

character is compromised or challenged in

the face of gender roles

23. ethnicity group affiliation based on cultural ties such

as country of origin

24. Family-Tied Prototype

stresses strength and value of relationships

between whites family members, maintains

reunification or preservation of core family

unit despite challenges or struggles

ex) Stave Martin as Peter Sanderson, Jean

Smart and Kate Sanderson, Kimberly J.

Brown as Sarah Sanderson, Angus T. Jones

as George Sanderson in Bringing Down the

House

25. faux presence when the marketing misleadingly suggests

that a minority character has a more

prominent role or more screentime than

actually depicted

Race & Ethnicity in Cinema Study online at quizlet.com/_3g6j09

26. finite

fantasy

many mainstream movies spearheaded by

minorities are limited in the spectrum of

social experiences that they portray due to a

limitation of resources

27. first-run

movie

feature typically 90min-3hr that is first

exhibited to the public in national and

regional movie theater chains

28. greatest

possible

audience

ideal number of willing consumers that

purchase or view a particular mainstream

movie

29. greenlight process by which an idea for a movie project

receives authorization for filing by a major

movie studio, matched with financial backing

30. HARM

theory

Hollywood's Acting Rule for Minorities

when a minority character appears in a

mainstream movie, his character will be

compromised in some way, often in relation

to a white lead counterpart. Minority

characters are confined to 6 archetypes

subservient to white prototypes.

31. Hero Prototype

destined one, chosen one, smart one, lucky

one authorized to do whatever necessary to

complete his objective (saving or improving

the world)

ex) Christian Bale as Batman

32. Hollywood's

racial

makeup

racial categories most consistently portrayed

onscreen

Asian, Black, Latino, Other, White

33. identification

process

method by which the moviegoer physically,

emotionally, psychologically connects with a

movie's character that resembles the viewer's

emotional, physical, psychological profile

34. Intellectual Prototype

inherently knowledgeable about anything and

everything; cultural arbiter who understands

other' culture

35. key art promotional materials that distill the movie's

central themes into succinct symbology

36. mainstream

culture

the prevailing yet intangible current of

contemporary thought within society

37. mainstream

injection

attempt to distribute a mainstream movie

within the mainstream pipeline, improving its

chances of becoming embedded or infused

within mainstream culture

38. mainstream

movie

movie designed, produced, and marketed

with the purpose of reaching the greatest

possible audience

has full length release, large box office sales,

A-list talent, widespread distribution,

production/marketing costs, mainstream

media exposure

39. mainstream

pipeline

assortment of major media outlets reaching

the widest possible audience due to

nationwide marketing and distribution

networks

40. major movie

studios

corporate conglomerates responsible for the

majority of mainstream distribution

41. Manipulator Prototype

ability to reject other circumstances at face

value and manipulate/change them to fit

personal needs

ex) Tom Cruise as Chief John Anderson in

Minority Report

42. masking when an actor is able to hide his race on or off

screen and blend in with the white majority

through superficial change

43. Menace to

Society

Archetype

possesses a value system that poses a threat

to civil normalcy either through violence or

moral corruption

ex) Rick Yune as Zao in Die Another Day

44. Minority

Cycle of

Movie

Making

few opportunities exist for minorities to make

movies due to risk-averse studios, which

accounts for fewer opportunities to overcome

the risk

45. minstrelsy popular form of entertainment that denigrated

Blacks and lampooned their status as victims

of systemic racism

made light of slavery and discrimination

46. moral

compass

the unwritten rule guiding major studios so

that they consistently produce mainstream

movies communicating the ultimate victory of

good over bad

47. one-way

culture

sharing

where one racial group's cultural resources are

exploited to benefit a white character without

reciprocal exchange

48. pararealistic

movie

a mainstream movie crafted or based upon a

historical event containing a mixture of

hyperbolized or fictional accounts, usually out

of necessity to maintain the movie's

entertainment value and mainstream appeal

49. Physical

Wonder

Archetype

has physical or sexual prowess, typically

sacrificing intellectual or emotional capacities

ex) Shaobo Qin as The Amazing Yen in Ocean's

Eleven

50. premium of

proportion

amount of impact a character image possesses

relative to entire racial group

51. protective

stereotype

exaggerated images of bigotry or racial hatred

that allow common white audience members

to distance themselves form such abnormal

displays of anti-social behavior

52. race group affiliation based on physically observed

characteristics

53. racial

capital

amount of power (social, economic, political)

ascribed collectively to a particular racial

group

54. racial

requirement

where a minority actor fulfills a specific role,

often stereotypical, that is not deemed to be a

universal character playable by a person of

any other race

55. Romantic Prototype

frequent and fantastical matchups with an

"average" white character paired with an

attractive character that gets the guy/girl in the

end as a reward

ex) Jack Nicholson as Harry Sanborn, Diane

Keaton as Erica Jane Barry in Something's

Gotta Give

56. sacrificial

sofa

when an actor feels the need to accept a

marginal or racially disparaging role for the

opportunity for more lucrative and satisfying

roles in the future

57. stereotype negative classification based on specific

characteristics ascribed to a particular racial

group

58. tipping

point

the imprecise number where too many

minorities involved in a movie brands it as a

minority movie, curtailing its budget and

universal appeal

59. ugly

American

minorities that display undesirable

characteristics to serve as a contrast to the

normal American protagonist

60. umbrella

image

a unique visual rendering used to convey

information about a movie's central characters

and/or overall themes

61. unclean

hero

when a minority protagonist represents the

driving force of a movie yet does not

experience the pure moral, financial, or sexual

victories associates with white heroes

62. Utopic

Reversal

Archetype

occupies high social position or authority

whose authority is undermined

ex) Don Cheadle as Henry Moore in After the

Sunset

63. visible

continuum

observable part of a movie's timeline as

portrayed to the audience between credits

64. What film

character types

were Antonio

Moreno and

Lupe Velez most

known for?

Latin Lovers

65. What was the

Chinese

Exclusion Act

(1882)?

the first major law restricting immigration

to the US, enacted in response to

economic fears from attributing to

Chinese workers unemployment and low

wages. Chinese immigration was halted

for 10 years.

66. What was the

Good Neighbor

Policy?

a US foreign policy doctrine adopted by

FDR in 1933 designed to improve

relations with Latin America

67. white balance due to high levels of racial capital,

negative roles for white characters do not

disproportionately represent the full

range of white characters

68. White Beauty

Standard

actresses who approach the white

aesthetic

69. Who was Anna

May Wong?

the first female Asian American

Hollywood movie star

70. Who was

Franciso "Chico"

Day?

the first Latino admitted to the DGA

71. Who was Jose

Ferrer?

first Latino to win an oscar in 1950 for

Cyrano de Bergerac

72. Who was

Margarita

Carmen Cansino

better known

as?

Rita Hayworth

73. Who was Rita

Moreno?

1 of 12 people to win an EGOT

74. Who was Sessue

Hayawaka?

one of the first Asian American actors to

have a successful Hollywood career and

be one of the highest paid actors

75. Who was the

first Asian to win

an Oscar?

Miyoshi Umeki for her role as Katsumi in

Sayonara (1957)

76. world-stop

scenes

scene in which a character takes personal

action that interrupts the actions of

others, emphasizing the importance of

the character's decisions