American Studies 2500/ Media Studies 3559

Racial Boundaries and American Cinema

From its earliest beginnings, the history of American cinema has been inextricably—and controversially—tied to the racial politics of the United States.  This course will explore how images of racial and ethnic minorities such as African Americans, Jews, Asians, Native Americans and Latino/as are reflected on the screen, as well as the ways that minorities in the entertainment industry have responded to often limiting representations. In this course, we will trace a the history of cinematic traditions including blackface and racial passing; study how Hollywood has dealt with taboo topics such as miscegenation; and explore how ideologies of gender and sexuality have impacted representations of minority figures in popular culture. We'll be watching a number of films will include The Birth of a Nation, Do the Right Thing, The Joy Luck Club, The Wedding Banquet, A Gentleman's Agreement, My Family/Mi Familia, The Searchers, Smoke Signals, Crash, the Fast and Furious films and the Harold and Kumar films. 

Readings:

Required:         Timothy Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing About Film (7^th Edition)

                        Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin, America On Film:  Representing Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality at the Movies (Second Edition)

       Ed Guerrero, Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film

Weekly readings will be available online.