The Token Black Guy In Teen Movies
“Throughout history, the powers of single black men flash here and there like falling stars, and die sometimes before the world has rightly gauged their brightness.”
- W.E.B. Du Bois (1903), The Souls Of Black Folk (p. 4)
The film industry is no stranger to racism; from the days of blackface to the exploitation and appropriation of Black culture, Hollywood executives, producers, writers, and actors have all sought to suppress and oppress Black culture for the mainstream viewing audience, as well as Black audiences themselves. These days, however, to reach a perpetually changing demographic of teenagers, film companies have had success stories with films like American Pie, Cruel Intentions, and Can't Hardly Wait - all movies geared towards teens armed with their parents' money. However, in an effort to appear diverse while making movies that appeal mainly to suburban, White teenagers, Hollywood has decided to place in the 'token black guy;' the one person of color in the entire movie, but stand in the back and doesn't really do anything.
Teen movies follow a formula for success: a love story, beautiful people, California high school - these are usual staples in the teen flick market. However, the race aspects of the token also follow the same aspects: the 'token black guy' never appears by himself, only when he is around his Caucasian friends; he never speaks unless spoken to by others; and he never stars in any scenes that feature him as the object of attention, making him forever stuck in the supporting actor role.
This tokenism featured in movies is not only damaging to the Black actors and actresses in the industry who accept those jobs because of lack of parts and ...
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... huge change in pace from achingly slow to a medium flow. When people can work together in the film industry and understand each other culturally, that is when the progress people speak so much of is in effect. When tokenism is done with – that is when the change has occurred.
References
Du Bois, W.E.B. (1903). The Souls of Black Folks. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co.
Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1926). The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. New York:
Dodd, Mead, & Company
Ringer, Benjamin B. (1983). “We the People” and Others: Duality and America’s Treatment of its Racial Minorities. New York: Tavistock Publications
Waxman, Sharon. (2003, March 23). For Black Actors, A New Story Line. The Washington
Post. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wpdyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A6169-2003Mar21¬Found=true
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Those who deny the existence of the racism rooted into modern day Hollywood are far from reality. They may think that in the United States we are getting closer to equality when it comes to casting but we in fact are not. While there is the belief that America has progressed when it comes to social issues, the percentage of roles held by black actors in film and TV has dropped from 15 to 13 percent from the early 2000’s to 2011 (McClintock and Apello 2).
James Baldwin, author of Sonny’s Blues, was born in Harlem, NY in 1924. During his career as an essayist, he published many novels and short stories. Growing up as an African American, and being “the grandson of a slave” (82) was difficult. On a day to day basis, it was a constant battle with racial discrimination, drugs, and family relationships. One of Baldwin’s literature pieces was Sonny’s Blues in which he describes a specific event that had a great impact on his relationship with his brother, Sonny. Having to deal with the life-style of poverty, his relationship with his brother becomes affected and rivalry develops. Conclusively, brotherly love is the theme of the story. Despite the narrator’s and his brother’s differences, this theme is revealed throughout the characters’ thoughts, feelings, actions, and dialogue. Therefore, the change in the narrator throughout the text is significant in understanding the theme of the story. It is prevalent to withhold the single most important aspect of the narrator’s life: protecting his brother.
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