Lecture 11: Black Masculinity in the 1980s

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Lecture 11Black Masculinity in the 1980s
Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Directed by Martin Brest

• Professor Michael Green

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Previous Lecture

• Race and Genre Anxiety in the 1970s
• Blaxploitation Setting the Context
• Blaxploitation as Genre
• Writing About Film Using Sources I

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This Lecture

• Black Masculinity and Culture
• Eddie Murphy and Black Representation in 1980s
  Hollywood
• Hood Films and the Black New Wave
• Writing About Film Using Sources II

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Black Masculinity and Culture
Eddie Murphy Raw (1987) Directed by Robert
Townsend

• Lecture 11 Part I

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Key Course Images of Blackness
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Stereotypes Have Persisted Over Time
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Black Gender Roles

• Gender roles have been especially inscribed in
  Black communities where stereotypes and myths
  have often gone unquestioned.
• Black men have been expected to be phallocentric,
  patriarchal and masculine.

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Definitions

• Patriarchal A social system of male supremacy
  could be family, church, government, etc.
• Masculine having qualities culturally/traditional
  ly ascribed to men, as strength, leadership and
  boldness.
• Phallocentric Centered on men or on a male
  viewpoint, especially one held to entail the
  domination of women by men. Also refers to being
  defined by the penis.
• Dictionary.com

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Internalizing Myths

• bell hooks argues that Black people have often
  been enraged by white, historical representations
  of them, but just as often have not challenged
  these representations.
• Rather, they have often internalized myths and
  stereotypes, passively absorbing narrow
  representations of black masculinity.
• According to hooks, contemporary black men have
  been shaped by these representations.
• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Eddie
  Murphy Raw

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Cultural not Natural

• In traditional black communities when one tells
  a grown male to be a man, one is urging him to
  aspire to a masculine identity rooted in the
  patriarchal ideal. Throughout black male history
  in the United States there have been black men
  who were not at all interested in the patriarchal
  ideal. In the black community of my childhood,
  there was no monolithic standard of black
  masculinity. Though the patriarchal ideal was the
  most esteemed version of manhood, it was not the
  only version.
• bell hooks, Reconstructing Black Masculinity

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Evolution of Black Gender Roles

• Images of black masculinity emerged from slave
  narratives in which black men were hard workers
  who longed for the freedom to take care of their
  family.
• Some 19th century black leaders advocated rights
  for black women but many black men continued to
  want women to subscribe to gender hierarchies set
  by white society.
• After slavery ended, black men and women had
  enormous conflict over gender roles.

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A Phallocentric Framework

• With the emergence of a fierce phallocentrism,
  a man was no longer a man because he provided
  care for his family, he was a man simply because
  he had a penis. Furthermore, his ability to use
  that penis in the arena of sexual conquest could
  bring him as much status as being a wage earner
  and provider. A sexually defined masculine ideal
  rooted in physical domination and sexual
  possession of women could be accessible to all
  men.
• bell hooks, Reconstructing Black Masculinity

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Examples
Wilt Chamberlin
Tupac Shakur
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White Fascination

• White men have often admired and envied notions
  of black masculinity and looked to the black
  culture for masculine identity.
• The white imagination often fantasizes that black
  masculinity is the embodiment of the outsider
  and rebel.
• Within white supremacist capitalist patriarchy,
  rebel black masculinity has been idolized and
  punished, romanticized, yet vilified.
• bell hooks, Reconstructing Black Masculinity

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Violence as part of the Equation

• Violence as a form of social control became an
  important part of (black) masculinity.
• This violence along with phallocentric and
  patriarchal ideas of masculinity has been
  perpetuated in many areas of black culture
  including Blaxploitation films, gangsta rap and
  the Hood films of the early 1990s.
• These representations are perpetuated by black
  men but also by dominant white society, which
  controls U.S. media production, distribution and
  exhibition.

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Nature of the Representation

• In popular culture, representations of black
  masculinity often equate it with
• Brute phallocentrism
• Woman-hating
• A Pugilistic rapist sexuality
• Disregard for individual rights

Whats Love Got to do With It? (1993) Directed by
Brian Gibson
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Slow to Change

• hooks argues that the thinking of most black men
  refuses to acknowledge the pain caused by sexist
  thinking and patriarchal, phallocentric violence
  expressed in dominance over women but also in
  internecine conflict among black men.
• She asks black people to question why white
  culture has responded to changing gender culture
  and feminism while black culture largely has not.

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Authors Final Point

• Changing representations of black men must be a
  collective task . . . Black people committed to
  renewed black liberation struggle, the
  de-colonization of black minds, are fully aware
  that we must oppose male domination and work to
  eradicate sexism. . . We can break the
  life-threatening choke-hold patriarchal
  masculinity imposes on black men and create life
  sustaining visions of a reconstructed black
  masculinity .
• bell hooks, Reconstructing Black Masculinity

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Eddie Murphy and Black Filmic Representation in
the 1980s
Coming to America (1988) Directed by John Landis

• Lecture 11 Part II

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Eddie Murphy

• Just as Sidney Poitier in the 1960s, and Richard
  Pryor in the 1970s, were the leading black male
  actors of their day and virtually the only ones
  Eddie Murphy dominated the 1980s as the
  decades only black superstar.

Harlem Nights 1989) Directed by Eddie Murphy
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Fish out of Water Comedies

• In the 1980s, Murphy appeared in a number of
  fish out of water comedies in which his
  character struggled to thrive/survive in a
  foreign and sometimes hostile world a common
  comedy narrative.
• These comedies, which were among his most popular
  and financially successful, included 48 Hours
  (1982), Trading Places (1983), Beverly Hills Cop
  I (1984) and II (1987) and The Golden Child
  (1985).

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Black Fish in White Water

• This comic staple functions differently,
  however, when a black comic is placed at the
  center of the insider/outsider paradigm. In such
  cases black stars are situated in cinematic
  milieus cut off from other representations of
  blackness, or even from other black characters,
  thereby placing them in the dubious position of
  representing the race.
• Bambi Haggins, Post-Soul Comedy Goes to the
  Movies
• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Beverly
  Hills Cop

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Serving the White Establishment

• In Murphys fish out of water comedies the goal
  of Murphys character is to help/serve the white
  establishment. As such, his blackness is
  ultimately non-threatening.
• In 48 Hours, he helps Nick Noltes detective
  solve a crime, even though he stands to gain
  nothing in return.
• In Trading Places, he helps Dan Aykroyds stock
  trader pull a revenge scheme.
• In the Beverly Hills Cop movies, he helps the
  white establishment solve crimes.

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Constrained by Genre

• These films re-packaged Murphys stand-up and SNL
  performances, his ability to slip in and out of
  multiple characters.
• Ultimately, he became a black comic action star,
  featured in genre films in which white audiences
  historically accepted blacks.
• However, as with Sidney Poitier before him,
  Murphy was not allowed to transgress other
  Hollywood boundaries and be featured as a
  romantic leading man.

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Challenging White Exclusion

• The source of energy and tension in all of
  Murphys movies is race, and to a lesser degree,
  class, deriving from Murphys blackness as a
  challenge to white exclusion (but not privilege
  or domination) . . . and while Murphy gets the
  upper-hand in almost all situations, the ultimate
  result of such a challenge is integration and
  acceptance on white terms in the films
  resolution..
• Ed Guerrero, Framing Blackness
• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from 48
  Hours

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Culture Comedies

• Using his industry status, Murphy made two movies
  at the end of the decade Coming to America
  (1988) and Harlem Nights (1989) that featured
  increased black representation and Murphy as a
  romantic lead.
• Coming to America, though successful, was still a
  fish-out-of-water fantasy that played on African
  stereotypes and Harlem Nights was widely decried
  as featuring the worst aspects of Murphys
  misogynistic tendencies.

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Murphys Phallocentrism

• Phallocentrism and misogyny were on display in
  most of Murphys pre-1990s family films, most
  graphically in the concert films Delirious (1983)
  and Raw (1998) and the romantic comedy Boomerang
  (1992).
• bell hooks calls Raw one of the most graphic
  spectacles of black male phallocentrism, in which
  women are represented as evil.
• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Eddie
  Murphy Raw

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Murphy in the 1990s

• Murphy had exhausted the fish out of water genre
  by the 1990s and moved into a series of kinder,
  gentler integrationist family comedies such as
  The Nutty Professor (1996) and Dr. Doolittle
  (1998).
• In these movies and others like them, Murphy
  abandoned the controversial aspects of his black
  comic persona for Cosby Show style family stories
  that all but erased racial representation and
  difference in favor of unproblematic
  integrationist fantasies.

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Gender Representation and The 1990s Black New
Wave
Boyz in the Hood (1991) Directed by John Singleton

• Lecture 11 Part III

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History

• Until the late 1980s and early 1990s, most of
  Hollywoods black-themed movies were directed by
  white men, such as John Landis.
• Although studios released a few films by black
  directors in the late 1960s and early 1970s,
  films by African Americans would not emerge in
  force until almost 100 years after cinemas
  birth.
• Even many of the producers and directors of
  Blaxploitation films were white.

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New Voices

• Black (and some white) directors would react to
  the racist stereotypes of a century of film by
  creating movies that represented black people
  more centrally and complexly than in previous
  decades.
• The turning point in the history of the new black
  cinema was Shes Gotta Have it, the first
  feature film by Spike Lee (1986).
• Other filmmakers that kicked off the black new
  wave included Keenan Ivory Wayans, Robert
  Townsend and John Singleton.

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Spike Lee

• Lee was a pioneer who had a lot of success early
  in his career. Because his early films made
  money including School Daze, Do the Right Thing
  and Mo Better Blues the studios gave other
  black directors a chance.
• Lee has now directed more then 20 films
  (including documentaries like Get on the Bus and
  When the Levees Break) and is considered the
  dean of black directors by virtue of his
  talent, productivity and attitude.

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Spike Lee and Gender Representation

• Possibly, because Lee was such a pioneer in
  racial representation, gender representation in
  his movies has often gone overlooked.
• However, according to bell hooks and other
  scholars, Lee perpetuate the same phallocentric
  and patriarchal ideas of masculinity as many
  other black male artists.
• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from Do the
  Right Thing

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Other New Wave Directors

• Other male directors from the Black New Wave
  1986 1996 included
• John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice)
• Bill Duke (A Rage in Harlem, Deep Cover)
• Reginald Hudlin (House Party, Boomerang)
• Mario Van Peebles (Posse, New Jack City)
• Carl Franklin (One False Move, Devil in a Blue
  Dress)
• Charles Burnett (To Sleep with Anger, The Glass
  Shield)
• The Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society, Dead
  Presidents)

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Style and Content

• These movies tended to be more formally
  sophisticated then their 1970s counterparts.
• They were more complex in characterization,
  emotion and theme most importantly, there was a
  wide range of stories.
• However, they were almost all directed by men and
  marginalize black women.
• The Hood films, especially, for their honest
  depiction of race and class, perpetuate many
  stereotypes of black masculinity.

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Hood Movies

• Hood films detail the difficult coming of age of
  a young black male protagonist in an economically
  depressed, socially contained, often violent
  inner city setting, or Hood.
• They were born, as their seventies urban-themed
  counterparts had been, of a Hollywood economic
  depression and studio decisions to produce
  inexpensive films targeted at niche audiences in
  the hopes of making quick profits.

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Hood Films (Continued)

• These new black-themed urban films emerged also
  out of specific economic and social conditions
  that African Americans were enduring in the
  nations decaying urban centers, such as Los
  Angeles.
• They depicted what their (mostly) young, black
  male filmmakers felt were the difficult realties
  in black America. They showed a hierarchy in
  which black women were on the bottom.

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Hood Films Tropes and Themes

• Display of the black male body
• Guns and violence
• Drug use
• The marginalization of black women
• The use of gangsta rap and its attendant
  misogyny on the soundtrack and rap stars in the
  cast
• The male coming of age narrative
• Absent black fathers

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Summary of Points

• The representation of black men has improved and
  evolved over time as black men have expanded
  their roles in Hollywood films.
• However, such films have often perpetuated
  stereotypes of black masculinity while
  marginalizing black women.

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Writing About Film Using Sources II
Trading Places (1982) Directed by John Landis.
Lecture 11 Part III
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Summary Using Sources I

• Sources should only support your argument always
  proceed with your own voice and thesis.
• Use sources judiciously.
• Integrate sources into your paper and explain how
  you are using them.
• Be true to the original source material.
• Get help when you need it.

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What are Scholarly Sources?

• Scholarly sources are scholarly journals and
  books published by university presses.
• Scholarly journals are journals that are
  peer-reviewed by experts in an academic field.
  These experts make up an editorial board for each
  journal that reviews all articles before they are
  accepted for publication.
• Examples of preeminent university presses include
  Harvard University Press and the University of
  California Press.

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What is in a Scholarly Journal?

• Scholarly journals contain articles written by
  researchers doing original work in a subject
  field. These articles contain bibliographic
  references to other articles and sources.
• Most scholarly journals are devoted to a
  particular topic. Several important journals in
  Film Studies are The Journal of Film and Video,
  Film Quarterly, and Film Comment.

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Examples
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Primary and Secondary Sources

• Primary resources such as books and
  peer-reviewed journal articles contain original
  research. They might also be literary works,
  autobiographies or original theories.
• Secondary Sources Compile or critique original
  works. Examples include literary criticism,
  biographies, encyclopedia articles, and journal
  articles critiquing others work.
• Both are acceptable support for a critical paper,
  though primary sources are best.

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Popular Sources

• Popular sources are books, magazine and newspaper
  articles whether in print or online written
  for the general public.
• Examples of popular sources include The New York
  Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine and
  Newsweek.
• Though these sources are scrutinized by editors,
  they are not vetted by experts.

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Popular Sources (Continued)

• The also tend to be written for profit, where
  scholarly work is typically written to contribute
  arguments, research and knowledge to a given
  field.
• Though you can cite popular sources in your
  critical writing, you do not typically want to
  use them to support your critical argument.
• They are not scholarly and should only be used in
  a supplemental way or perhaps as the subject of
  analysis.

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Finding Sources

• Scholarly books and journal articles can be found
  in university libraries.
• Scholarly articles can be found by searching
  computer databases such as JSTOR, Academic Search
  Premiere and LexisNexis, all of which can be
  accessed through university libraries such as the
  ASU library.
• Searching is time-consuming and a good search
  requires patience and effort!
• You can ask your librarian for search tips!

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Importance of Scholarly Sources

• Scholarly sources are important because they are
  not simple opinion.
• They are the result of a checks and balances
  system, in which experts critically examine and
  scrutinize each others work, asking crucial
  questions and examining the quality of the
  arguments.
• They are also built on the existing research in a
  field, which has already been vetted by the
  experts in that field.

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End of Lecture 11

• Next Lecture Gender Crisis in the 1990s