Identify a positive race portrayal from contemporary film
Sari7700
angel_physical_wonder_background.pdf
Angel, Physical Wonder, Background Characters
There’s Race in my Movie? F.W. Gooding, Jr
Coming to campus
Inclusive way to look at non-White depictions in Hollywood
Stereotype vs. Archetype Stereotype:
Derogatory
Specific in their application
Archetype:
More neutral
More general in their application
The problem with the limitation of Archetypes May make a positive impression
Fail to significantly revise stereotypical limitations concerning impact
Casting minorities in the same archetypes over and over results in marginalization
H.A.R.M. Theory Hollywood’s Acting Rule for Minorities
“If and when a minority character appears in a mainstream movie, their character will be compromised in some way, shape or form.”
Usually in relation to the White lead counterpart
Premium of Proportion Theory The amount of impact a character image possesses relative to their entire racial group.
Isolated and unfavorably depicted minority roles disproportionately disparage the overall group image to which the representative character belongs, primarily due to a lack of other available images with which to provide balance.
The author has identified 6 archetype characters
Some characters embody more than one archetype
Angel
Physical Wonder
Background figure
Comic Relief
Menace to Society
Utopic Reversal
One Way Culture Sharing One group’s cultural resources are exploited chiefly to benefit a White character without a reciprocal exchange
The Angels positive qualities used solely to provide White character help
Strength
Empathy
Caring
Resourcefulness
The Angel Can be:
Servile Position
Sidekick
Source of “spiritual” strength to the white protaganist
Can be teacher type
Insightful perspectives
Life lessons
There to provide assistance to protagonist Facilitates a catharsis for white protagonist
Catharsis necessary for protagonist to reach their goal
Angel character not a developed character
Does not have significant growth
The Angel’s relationships Depicted in the film as having no other relationships outside of their relationship to the protagonist
Sole responsibility to the protagonist
Often have to help the protagonist with their other relationships
The Angel is a marginalized character Part of the story to serve the Protagonist’s goals
Once they’ve done their job, they’re done
Ghost ending
Asian Angels Martial Arts Teachers!
A recent twist?
Black Angels Bruce Almighty
Evan Almighty
EVENT TONIGHT! 6:30-8:00 in Jefferson 223/224. Can attend for additional points this week.
Submit to Moodle (assignment) a one page paper that connects things you learn/hear at the event to issues of this class (obviously not to film, per se, but to the issues of racism we have touched on)
“Radical Presence: Black Faces, White Spaces & Other Stories of Possibility” in which she explores the complexities and contradictions of the African American environmental relationship. Drawing on “green” conversations with black people from around the country, Dr. Finney considers the power of resistance and resilience in the emergence of creative responses to environmental and social challenges in our cities and beyond. She shows that by using imagination and a little true grit, these individuals challenge us to see differently and do differently in our changing world.
Back to Angels
“Researchers at the University of Southern California studied the 700 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2014, excluding 2011, and analyzed the race and ethnicity of more than 30,000 characters to reveal diversity in film. The findings showed that for nearly a decade, filmmakers have made virtually no progress in portraying more characters from non-white racial and ethnic identities.”
SOURCE: USC ANNENBERG’S MDSC INITIATIVE
It’s about distribution
Of the top 100 films of 2014, nearly three-quarters of all characters were white, the study showed. Only 17 of the top movies that year featured non-white lead or co-lead actors.
SOURCE: USC ANNENBERG’S MDSC INITIATIVE
The problem with the limitation of Archetypes May make a positive impression
Fail to significantly revise stereotypical limitations concerning impact
Casting minorities in the same archetypes over and over results in marginalization
H.A.R.M. Theory Hollywood’s Acting Rule for Minorities
“If and when a minority character appears in a mainstream movie, their character will be compromised in some way, shape or form.”
Usually in relation to the White lead counterpart
Premium of Proportion Theory The amount of impact a character image possesses relative to their entire racial group.
Isolated and unfavorably depicted minority roles disproportionately disparage the overall group image to which the representative character belongs, primarily due to a lack of other available images with which to provide balance.
A White Angel Character October Sky
Student Thoughts on Angel Archetype “When the day comes that all roles are evenly distributed and we see men/women of color assuming a variety of positions within the film industry and being recognized for their work, the "angel" character could become more of a general archetype and less of a racially-specific pigeonhole.” ---student in this class
Servitude Bringing Down the House 2003
The Green Mile (1999)
Michael Clarke Duncan received an Oscar nom
The Legend of Bagger Vance 2000
Latino Angels Often time are rooted in the Latin Lover stereotype
Sensuality, passion, romance
Shall We Dance
Latino Angels cont Spanglish (2004)
Native American Angels Shaman
Wise medicine man
Emphasis on spiritualism
Holistic healing
Strong connection to ways of nature
The Physical Wonder
Valued for their Physical or Sexual Prowess At the expense of their emotions or intellectual capacity
Ability to affect the storyline development minimal
Audience identification with the character limited to their physical attributes
Female Physical Wonders Often Strippers, Prostitutes, or showcase nudity
Rosario Dawson
Devon Aoki
Jessica Alba
Often are the breakout role for these women
Eva Mendes, Training Day Taraji P Henson, Hustle and Flow
Asian Physical Wonders Martial Arts instructor
Limited in dialogue
Ample on action
Reinforces the “un-American” status of Asians in America
Asians more likely to be portrayed as “un-American”
Asian Action characters vs. White Action characters White heros get the girl
Romantic side story prevalent
Further idealizes him as hero
Asian heros do not
Fighting machines
No emotional story development
Asian Female Physical Wonders? Sandra Oh in Sideways Lucy Liu
Payback Breakout role
Black Physical Wonders Roots in Black Buck and Jezebel stereotypes
Emasculation of the Buck Despite large stature, portrayed as:
Effeminate
Homosexual
Cross dressing
Sexually assaulted
Example: Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson in Be Cool
Ving Rhames, Pulp Fiction
Latino Physical Wonder Appreciate the finer points of love, passion, and sensuality
Sensuality often linked to physical skill (salsa dancing)
Men with accents mostly supporting roles
Women with accents marketable
Number of modern day Latina actresses v. Latino actors
Especially paired with white romantic partners
Modern Latino Physical Wonders
Native American Physical Wonder Pocahontas: also white beauty standard (see the other tribe members)
The Background Figure
Hollywood set decoration Inconsequential to the overall storyline
No or limited dialogue
Found in scenes that class for “cross-section of socieity”
Cities, disaster movies, Juries
Sometimes relationship to others in the movie
**Their scenes could be deleted from the film without any significant effect on the understanding of the film
Ugly American Minorities that display “undesirable” characteristics to serve as a contrast with the “normal” American protagonist.
Taxi Cab drivers
Convenience store owners/clerks
Made fun of for foreignness
A story Blood Diamond 2006
Hired 27 amputees as Background figures
Victims of real tribal warfare pulled from hospitals
Warner Bros promised to supply prosthetic limbs
Wait to coincide with the publicity campaign of the film
A different charity supplied the limbs
Harry Potter movies Quidditch
