Works cited:
Frank Wu. Yellow
Ethnic Notions Dir. Marlon Riggs
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/blackandwhim/blackandwhimIMAGE/black&whim.jpg
I am doing my media item on a picture taken of a white man, I found on the internet. The only thing that is wrong with this picture, and it is a big problem, the white man is painted as an African American. It is a black and white photo and the man is wearing white gloves, white sports coat with stripes, and a straw knitted hat. His whole face is painted darker but his eyes and mouth have an outline of white around them. He is looking at the camera very jolly with a big smile and his arms high in the air.
This picture and relate to two pieces of work that we’ve talked about in class. The first is the informational video Ethnic Notions directed by Marlon Riggs. During this film, they go into detail about how white men dressed up and played the roles of African Americans early in the film industry. This man in the picture obviously had to be playing a black person in an early movie or theatre production. Ethnic Notions goes on to tell its viewers that the few black people in the film industry had to paint their faces too, just like a white person did. They had to do this because the stereotypical black person on stage or on the screen didn’t look very much like an actual African American.
The other piece of work that this picture relates to is Frank Wu’s article name Yellow. Frank Wu tells his readers about stereotypes and how people can fall into them and it is hard to fight not to be judged stereotypically. He tells his readers that “one cannot overcome the stereotype of group identity” (Wu 415). That is exactly what African American actors had to go through in the early film business. They had to put on make-up just to play the role of the race they already were. For that reason, Frank Wu tells us that “the inability to define one’s self is the greatest loss of liberty possible” (451). This picture just resembles the lost freedom of personal expression African Americans had.
I couldn’t believe the fact that people used to dress up like that years ago. It was of great shock to me when I saw an old movie with white people portraying black people. I was confused and never knew that it ever happened; then I read Frank Wu and saw Ethnic Notions and it opened my eyes to some very surprising information. I still can’t get over that black people had to put on make-up just like white people. The picture itself is very awkward to me because I know the man is trying to act like something he isn’t and that bothers me. I personally don’t like the picture and still can’t get over the fact that people did this.
This picture and relate to two pieces of work that we’ve talked about in class. The first is the informational video Ethnic Notions directed by Marlon Riggs. During this film, they go into detail about how white men dressed up and played the roles of African Americans early in the film industry. This man in the picture obviously had to be playing a black person in an early movie or theatre production. Ethnic Notions goes on to tell its viewers that the few black people in the film industry had to paint their faces too, just like a white person did. They had to do this because the stereotypical black person on stage or on the screen didn’t look very much like an actual African American.
The other piece of work that this picture relates to is Frank Wu’s article name Yellow. Frank Wu tells his readers about stereotypes and how people can fall into them and it is hard to fight not to be judged stereotypically. He tells his readers that “one cannot overcome the stereotype of group identity” (Wu 415). That is exactly what African American actors had to go through in the early film business. They had to put on make-up just to play the role of the race they already were. For that reason, Frank Wu tells us that “the inability to define one’s self is the greatest loss of liberty possible” (451). This picture just resembles the lost freedom of personal expression African Americans had.
I couldn’t believe the fact that people used to dress up like that years ago. It was of great shock to me when I saw an old movie with white people portraying black people. I was confused and never knew that it ever happened; then I read Frank Wu and saw Ethnic Notions and it opened my eyes to some very surprising information. I still can’t get over that black people had to put on make-up just like white people. The picture itself is very awkward to me because I know the man is trying to act like something he isn’t and that bothers me. I personally don’t like the picture and still can’t get over the fact that people did this.
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