As I stated in class on Tuesday, my paradigm shift idea came to me on a whim. My original idea was to explore how society viewed African American and their role in society from post civil war until the present. The two problems that I found with this idea was one.) I felt that this would be too big and broad of a topic and 2.) it would be hard to enjoy this topic given the dark content matter. After listening to a good hand full of others proposed ideas, I decided to switch my idea to the way that the portrayal of African Americans in film and television has shifted and evolved over the years from the 1920’s to the present.

I think it’s fundamental to understand how black portrayal shifted with the advancement of the race. I believe that understanding the way that African Americans are portrayed in media will reveal the way that nonblack people view African Americans. Given that most heavy hitters in Hollywood are white it’s interesting to see how they believe America views blacks.

I want to begin my story with the film The Birth of a Nation. Although there are no black actors in the film, blacks are still portrayed but by white actors in blackface, giving homage the minstrel shows of the early 19th century. I plan to end with Black Panther which was revolutionary because it features an almost entirely black cast and they weren’t participating in stereotypical black activities.

I feel the need to tell this story because there are a plethora of stereotypes surrounding African Americans that Hollywood exploits. The angry black woman, the drug dealer, and the welfare queen to name a few. In most films seen with black characters, they are always either gang bangers, crackheads, prostitutes or some kind of combination of the sorts. I thought it would be interesting to explore how black people went from being portrayed as less than human, animalistic creatures to criminals to hard-working individuals.

I also felt the need to address this because blacks are very rarely portrayed as “normal” in film and television. With the except of black-ish, there is little none representation of a happy black family, with a mom and dad making an honest living and going through family things the way that white families are portrayed on TV.

While I’m on this topic, I would like to express my frustration that there are no teen movies with a black lead. I absolutely love cheesy coming of age movies and romance movies, but it’s so annoying to either not see someone that looks like me or see someone that looks like me, but their sole purpose is to be the comedic relief. I’m still waiting for my coming of age movie.

My primary research question would be

In what ways has the portrayal of African Americans shifted from “The Birth of a Nation” to now?

And some sub-questions that I would explore would include

How have advancements in the African American community contributed to the way that African Americans are portrayed in film and television?

How has the portrayal of African Americans in film and television affected the way that nonblack people view them?

What is effect does representation in film and television have on black people and their image of themselves?

How are these stereotypes surrounding blacks still perpetuated in modern films and television?