Revised Forward, Backward, or Standing Still

Forward, Backward, or Standing Still?

          There have been many great African-American performers in the film industry since the 1900's, including Bill “Bojangkes” Robinson, Sidney Poitier, and more recently actors like Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Don Cheadle. These pioneers, have paved the way for many other black actors to enter an industry that is less than welcoming at times. Yet, these current African-American actors still play into stereotypes of the past. You would think the characters they would choose to portray were beyond the choices of other black actors such as Tyler Perry and the Waynes brothers, but the truth is, they really aren't.

           Black people have been exploited in film for many years. They have been misrepresented as dumb, lazy, and animalistic in film culture. This blatant racism, constructed by white film makers and studio executives throughout Hollywood history is utterly disappointing. In recent years, more and more black film performers have been emerging, yet the image of black people on screen is still only slowly changing. I believe part of the reason for this is the fact that many of these African-American performers are giving in to the cultural stereotypes that have oppressed them for so many years by choosing to portray them. So, I suppose the question is 'why?' Why would black performers continue to project images of African-Americans in the way they were originally represented by racist white filmmakers of early Hollywood?

            As we saw in the film “Hollywood Shuffle,” many black actors are only offered roles that portray them as dumb servants, drug-dealers, or gang members. As an actor, if you have to chose between eating or playing a dumb servant, you play the dumb servant. And I sympathize with and understand African-American's who don't always get to take the higher road like Bobby Taylor did in “Hollywood Shuffle.” But, after a certain point in someone's career, when you have more options, why would you chose to continue down the degrading path that you were forced to take to get there? Not only does it pigeonhole you, but your peers and entire community as well.

           Denzel Washington is the greatest African-American actor of our time and perhaps of all time. He is an Academy Award winner for best actor and has also directed two major studio films, “Antwone Fisher” and “The Great Debaters.” In my opinion, Washington has done as much for the advancement of African-American's in film as Sydney Poitier. Yet, for his Academy Award win as Det. Alonzo Harris in “Training Day,” Washington portrayed a very stereotypical corrupt police officer, who will stop at nothing to get his way. Why couldn't it have been Ethan Hawke as the good guy and Washington as the bad guy? Just because he was given an award for this performance doesn't mean it does racial justice, in fact I feel it does the opposite. There are many roles that Washington has portrayed, that I feel were on par with or even better than his work in Training Day and that didn't include racial stereotypes. His performance in “Remember the Titans” was more than notable, yet he was not even nominated. Perhaps, it was because he didn't play a stereotypical black man, instead he played a football coach, a role rarely filled by an African-American in reality. 

Halle Berry's name is another that is associated with huge strides forward in film for black actors, yet has the same troubling track record for some of her “battered poor black women” roles, such as her 2002 Academy Award winning performance in “Monster's Ball.” In which, she plays a down and out poverty stricken black women, who gives into every bad stereotype we have of black people and on top of it becomes dependent on a white man in the end of the film, played by Billy Bob Thornton. In 2002, both Berry and Washington took the two top honors at the Academy Awards for best actor and actress, yet I wonder if this was step forward for the African-American film community? Both roles they portrayed were disappointingly stereotypical and I feel took steps backward in how African-American's are portrayed on screen. Berry was the first African-American actress to every receive the prestigious award. Also, 2002 was the first year in which both a black actor and actress won both top honors. So, with so many forward achievements, why are these great actors choosing to portray negative stereotypes that only end up holding the black film community back in the roles that have always been assigned to them?

          People like Tyler Perry and the Waynes brothers continuously reinforce negative stereotypes of black people, with characters like “Medea” played by Tyler Perry and Tyrone C. Love in “Requiem for a Dream,” played by Marlon Wanyes. Yet, other actors such as Berry and Washington are also doing it as well, just on a different more “prestigious” level. But I don't think it's prestigious at all. Why would these talented actors chose these roles? Is it because audiences want to see black people portrayed as cartoons of the past? Do they think it's entertaining to see black people made to look like poverty stricken fools or devious criminals? I don't believe the answer is 'yes', but perhaps I'm giving everyone too much credit. Wouldn't it be easier and more dignified to say 'no,' just as Bobby Taylor did? Or maybe it isn't that simple, to be honest, I can't say.