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“We Too, Are America: Illusions and the Myth of ‘National’ Studios”

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10509208.2011.606407

1543-5326

Frances Gateward,

Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. The history of organized protests, lawsuits, and struggles in the industry is a long one. A few examples include: the boycott of and demonstrations against D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation by several groups from its release in 1915 up to and including the attempt to stop its showing as late as 1950; lawsuits against MGM for refusing Negro admission to theaters screening King Vidor's Hallelujah (1929); the call for the removal of Disney's Song of The South (HarveFoster and WilfredJackson) from theaters in 1946; the blacklisting of actress Lena Horne as punishment for her speaking out against racism in the industry; Equal Opportunity Commission hearings against the studios in 1969; a series of discrimination cases by the unions (DGA, SAG, and WGA) against the studios in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, and 1990; the defamation lawsuit brought by Amelia Boynton Robinson, who, for more than five decades devoted her life to Civil Rights and social justice, against Disney in 1999 for her characterization in the television movie Selma, Lord, Selma, in which she was reduced to a mammy-like figure who did nothing except sing spirituals and quote the Bible; the 2003, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suit in the Los Angeles Federal District Court against Universal Studios for race discrimination (Case number LACV 03–7023) alleging that the first assistant director Frank Davis was fired from the film 2 Fast 2 Furious (John Singleton, 2003) because he is African American; and Little League coach Bob Muzikowski's attempt, after failing to get the release of the film Hardball blocked, to sue Paramount Pictures in the 7th Circuit Court of Illinois for defamation in 2001. He claimed the film constructed his team of boys not as they were, well-behaved young athletes, but as racist caricatures, foul-mouthed and delinquent. For more on this subject see Cripps's Slow Fade to Black, David, "Breakdown of Hollywood Minority Hiring," Rhines, Black Film/White Money, Fleming, "Blacks See Red Over Lily-White Film Crews." 2. Some examples include Kip Fulbeck's Some Questions for 28 Kisses (1994), Deborah Gee's Slaying the Dragon (1988), Images of Indians: How Hollywood Stereotyped the Native American (Chris O'Brien and Jason Witmer, 2003), The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in Hollywood (NancyDeLosSantos, Alberto Domínguez, Susan Racho, 2002), The Celluloid Closet (Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, 1995) and Hollywood Harems (Tania Kamal-Eldin, 1999). 3. Hollywood films typically present African Americans as existing or significant during only two periods in American history –slavery or the Civil Rights movement, usually depicted as between 1955 and 1968. 4. For an example of the immense cultural gap that exists between audiences and established film critics we can point to the commercial success of Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005). The film, which cost an estimated $5.5 million to produce, made more than $21 million its opening weekend, and more than $50 million total at the box-office. The industry was dumbfounded, and many critics struggled with trying to make sense of the film's reception. Though the Oscar has been awarded for more than seven decades, it is, in the 21st century, still considered "making history" when African American talent is recognized at the Academy Awards. As of the date of this manuscript, no African American filmmaker has ever won in the venerated categories of Best Director or Best Original Screenplay. In the seventy-nine years of Oscar history, only eleven actors have won. For twenty-five years, the Friends of the Black Oscars have addressed the lack of recognition by the Hollywood community by hosting an event on the evening before official ceremony, to acknowledge the achievements of African American talent. 5. Lee's choice of Tarantino for this role is an interesting one, given Tarantino's regular appropriation of the cultures of "Others," first African Americans and more recently Asians (with the Kill Bill, 2003–2004, films). His claim to know African American culture even better than those of the community, coupled with the racist tendencies in his films (see Henry Giroux's Fugitive Cultures), would only one year later become the focus of a public debate between the two directors. Lee criticized Tarantino for his racial attitudes and what he considered an extensive overuse of the word "nigger" in Tarantino's films. 6. As the director Joy Shannon recounts in Yvonne Welbon's documentary Sisters in Cinema (2003), the title change and art design of the video were based on the distributor's attempt to market the film to audiences whose expectations of African American films were very narrow. The Black woman featured on the front cover, half-dressed and posed provocatively, is not even in the film! In retrospect, the representative of the distribution company admitted that the film would have been marketed differently had he actually seen it first. 7. The far better known Good Hair (2009), from Executive Producer/Host/Narrator Chris Rock and director Jeff Stilson, tackles some of this same territory in a generally more superficial and lighthearted manner. 8. The contributions of Code Talkers would finally be recognized in Hollywood in 2002, with the release of John Woo's Windtalkers. Not surprisingly, the film focused its heroism not on the Native Americans, but on the white sergeant played by Nicolas Cage. As Roger Ebert asks in his review of the film – "Why does Hollywood find it impossible to trust minority groups with their own stories?" (Rev. of Windtalkers, June 14, 2002. Web. 9. The regiment to which Julius belongs, as indicated by the return address, is the 369th, historically important because it was the first all-Black infantry regiment to be shipped overseas in World War I. Serving with the French army, the Harlem Hellfighters earned their designation because of their service and bravery in combat, with the entire unit and several individuals receiving highly regarded recognition. Pvt. Henry Lincoln Johnson was the first American to receive the Croix de Guerre (1918) and by the end of the war, 171 members of the 369th were awarded the LegionofHonor. The regiment would continue to serve in subsequent armed conflicts, including WWII, the Korean Conflict, and in Iraq. 10. Or perhaps, what I should say here is most of the audience knows that Dupree is Black. Perhaps, it is true as Jeeter says, "They can't tell like we can," since when this film has been screened in my class, most of the non-African American students admit not knowing she is passing until the confrontation at the end between Dupree and Bedsford. Though one could certainly argue their inability to identify the character's race may be due to living in the 21st century, when racial passing is uncommon, African American students, particularly those who do not recognize Lonette McKee, have deduced it from this sconstruction ofconversation. 11. I am mindful that Susan Kohner's mother was the great Mexican actress Lupita Tovar, but my major point is that not only were these actresses not Black, but that it was their very seeming "whiteness" that was, literally, at stake.