A cinema of Racism: Reel representation of African–American Women before and after the civil rights movement era
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Date
2021
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UNIVERSITY OF ABBES LAGHROUR-KHENCHELA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
How black women are depicted in pre and post-civil rights movement films? The
significance of this study is that it sheds new light on the ways in which black women are
depicted in Hollywood films, and exemplifies some means to deconstruct dehumanizing
representations of ourselves. This work advances the goal of exposing the inaccuracies of
the dominant gaze. It is, then, essentially a critique of black women's marginalization in
American cinema. It also contributes to the sociology of race and media studies by
critically analysing what messages are conveyed to the masses regarding the place of black
womanhood in American society. Moreover, it explores some specific ways that these
cinematic representations of Black womanhood are socially and politically damaging. This
study took a place during the academic year 2021-2022. Conceptual content analysis is
used in order to better understand the content and better explain the messages contained in
the two movies: Within Our Gates 1920, and The help 2011. In addition, data was
collected from online journals, books, e-books, websites and motion pictures for the sake
of supporting this study. Conclusively, the findings of this study showed that despite the
repercussions of the CRM, somehow African American actresses in particular are still
marginalized and struggling because of racism in cinema, and African American women in
general are still portrayed in a negative way in Hollywood.