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Hollywood Racism

Like many successful industries in the U.S., the motion picture industry is one that is primarily owned and controlled by white males. As such, there is often criticism that the people these men empower and represent in their films are largely those like themselves, white men and white women. This is not to say that minorities like African Americans are not represented in Hollywood films, but until recently minorities and women had little power or control in Hollywood and when presented on screen it was generally in stereotypical roles. African Americans historically are the victims of extremely stereotypical portrayals in Hollywood films, with few gaining lead roles that portray them in a positive or role model light. Further, few African American have been able to win Hollywood’s highest accolade, the Oscar, particularly in lead roles or positions of power such as director and/or producer. Despite this historical imbalance, over the past two decades African Americans have been able to break through the “color barrier” traditionally witnessed in the motion picture industry. From the Best Actress and Best Actor Oscar being awarded in 2002 respectively to Halle Barry and Denzel Washington to the success of Black film producers like Spike Lee, John Singleton and Tim Reid, African Americans are moving beyond the color line in the motion picture industry.

In an overwhelming majority of cases the historical portrayal of African Americans in Hollywood films has been stereotypical at best and racist at worst. When Blacks did get screen time in the first half of the twentieth century, they were often in subservient or negative roles like slave, servant, illiterate, or criminal. Such roles were in part based on the racism and prejudice against Blacks in society as a whole during the era, but even after the Civil Rights Act of 1965 positive Black roles in major motion pictures were rare until individuals like Sidney Poitier help...

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Hollywood Racism. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:16, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1685659.html