April 27, 1999

Announcements:  There will be two review sessions:  Thursday, April 29 from 7 - 8:30 and Friday, april 30 from 1- 2:30.     They are both held in 113 Carnegie.  The final is Friday, May 7 from 4:40 - 6:30.

Lecture Notes:

Continuation from Thursday's notes:

Special Effects:  Close Encounters of the Third Kind

• One of the screenwriters from E. T., John Sales, left that movie to direct Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• It is about a black "alien" man that comes down to Earth on Ellis Island, which happens to be the point of entry for all U. S. immigrants
• He has to adapt to the norms of life

NEW NOTES

I.  Reagan as President

• Ronald Reagan attempted to reintroduce the culture of innocence
• In the '50s he was a pop culture hero and he used this to sell his policy
• He brought an affluent persona to the White House
• The '80s was a period of conservatism in Hollywood, as movie making costs were on the rise

II.  Reagan Era Cinema:  Black Stereotypes

• Comedy enables us to address race relations and laugh at them
• It also allows us to dispel the cultural significance of race related issues
• Most black actors were comedians at the time  i.e..  Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy
• There was a positive representation of the black identity

III.  The Black Movie Boom

• This boom arose from some of the same conditions that blaxploitation arose from, such as black nationalism
• It emerged out of conditions of frustration:  urban black neglect, black violence
• When the typical blockbusters were failing, Hollywood needed something that would sell
• They turned to black movies, targeted primarily at black, male audiences
• Most of these movies were made by white directors
• Spike Lee movies premiered in small, focused areas
• He had a creative way of distribution and marketing

IV.  Boyz N The Hood:  Black Male Identity

• Director John Singleton targeted a black audience through the use of a restricted budget
• The movie inverted the theme of '50s style small-town America
• Boyz N the Hood is set in a small-town, suburban enclave, but it suffered neglect
• There was a positive portrayal of black masculinity evident through Furious and Tre's (father and son) relationship
• Singleton relied on a large black ensemble cast to show diversity within the black race

V.  She's Gotta Have It:  Black Female Identity

• The female character is dating many different guys at once, but she finally realizes that she has to choose one
• Her black suitors come from a broad range of class experiences
• By the way the movie is filmed, the men seem to be isolated from each other which shows how they are competing

VI.  Do the Right Thing

• Sal and Mookie, the primary characters drive the narrative forward, but the audience is unaware of the group goals
• The movie is set in a single day on a single block in Brooklyn
• The older characters represent the civil rights philosophy of non-violence
• The younger characters represent violent black nationalism beliefs
• The film denies any need for narrative closure, which forces the audience to think about the issues after they leave the theater
• The film is a conscious construct of someone's point of view