Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 14, 2002 Page: 1 of 8
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Issue 11
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The Official Student Newspaper of Southwestern University
February 14, 2002
Bebruary films series challenges media portrayals
Tolly Moseley
Megaphone staff
The Black History Month Film
Series, a collaborative effort of
communication professor Dr. Julie
Thompson and SU senior Muya
Hayes-Ogiste, history professor
Dr. Thom McClendon and the
members of Ebony, is a four-part
series that examines representa-
tions of African-American identity
in the history of American visual,
print, and performative culture.
The series includes, two docu-
mentaries: Ethnic Notions, which
catalogues and scrutinizes depic-
tions of African-Americans in
films, cartoons, songs, advertising,
and household objects from the
1820’s to the Civil Rights Era; and
Color Adjustment, a documentary
that follows Ethnic Notions and
explores representations of black-
ness on television from 1948 to
1988.
The series also includes two
films: Hollywood Shuffle (Robert
Townsend, Damon Wayans), a
story about a young actor who
struggles with being offered ste-
reotyped “street hustler” roles
while trying to maintain his self-
respect and the approval of his
family; and Bamboozled (Damon
Wayans), director Spike Lee’s
satirical and political critique of
the history of African-Americans
on television. All films were
selected by Thompson, who had
incorporated each piece into past
course curriculum.
Ethnic Notions and Color
Adjustments were screened Thurs-
day, February 7 and Thursday^
February 14 (respectively); Holly-
9 wood Shuffle will be shown next
Thursday and Bamboozled, March
5, both at 7:00 in the Media Room
at The Cove.
All films are followed by a
group discussion co-facilitated by
Thompson and McClendon, allow-
ing exchange of viewers’ inter-
pretations and understandings of
each film. All films screened are
intended to call attention to cul-
tural anxieties about race, and thus
to expose oppressive and invisible
racial hierarchies that permeate
American pop culture: hierarchies
reinforced by limited and confin-
ing racial representation.
“I’m very interested in the prob-
lem of representation, and how
various groups get represented
through media,” said Thompson.
“All four films take up, as a
central problematic, the notion of
representation: representations of
what it means to be black, and [the
fact that] representations often per-
petuate racist stereotypes.”
Ethnic Nqfions (c. 1987), an
Emmy-winning documentary,
directed by Marlon Riggs, chroni-
cles the disturbing development of
harmful (and often seemingly inno-
cent) stereotypes that have fueled
anti-black prejudice in American
pop culture.
Through these images, along
with commentary by scholars of
media and race representation,
viewers begin to understand the
roots of racial consciousness in
America.
Conventional Antebellum South
stereotypes of blackness depicted
the “happy darkie:” fat, jolly Mam-
mies; elderly, docile uncles; and
carefree, dancing Sambos, among
others. Before Lincoln’s Emanci-
pation, these “positive” images of
blacks were circulated throughout
Anglo-controlled med'-1 venues to
prove that blacks were content and
happy in their 'positions of subservi-
ence.
“The old plantation was presented
as a kind of paradise [in visual
media],” the documentary notes.
“Americans were being bombarded
with images of the ‘happy slave,’ so
slavery must be a good institution. In
this way, widespread media ensured
slavery’s moral justification.”
After Emancipation, however,
white supremacists could no longer
rely on slavery to assert power over
blacks, so dehumanizing images of
the “black savage” and wild, bug-
eyed “pickaninnies” (black children)
began replacing images of cheerful,
civilized slaves.
“The implication [behind these
images] was that blacks needed white
people to civilize them. [Media]
told audiences that without the guid-
ance of white people, blacks reverted
back to their savage roots,” Ethnic
Notions explains. i(>
As the documentary shows, ste-
reotypes of “black savages” wouldn’t
have been effective during the period
of slavery: rebellious African-Amer-
ican would have implied that slaves
wanted freedom.
In addition, this portrayal of Afri-
can-Americans imbued them with
primal, animalistic qualities (particu-
larly “pickaninnies,” whose cartoon
depictions resembled small, furry
monkeys playing with other animals
- crocodiles, tigers, etc. — rather than
human toddlers interacting among
other humans).
Thus, white dominance could still
be maintained even if it no longer
functioned within the context of
slavery, using a media-constructed
parallel of white/black and civilized/
uncivilized.
Ethnic Notions also briefly exam-
ALLEN COTE/PHOTO EDITOR
Assistant professor of Communicatiohs and Rhetoric, Dr Julie Thompson and SU Senior Muya
Hayes-Ogiste, who was crucial in developing the February Film Series, hve great hopes for the series
and invite the entire campus to attend the sscreenings and discusison The film series was designed
in honor of Black History Month and is meant to inspire discussion and revelation among students
and faculty alike Thompson «pd Dr. McClendon will he on hand to facilitate discussion__
ines the manifestations of these
negative stereotypes in contempo-
rary culture (a topic studied more
in-depth in Color Adjustments).
One of the most common black
roles in film and television media
is the violent sidekick of a cunning
white, male “hero.”
“The ‘black rambo,’ a character
that frequently pops up in cop
shows or action movies, is a contin-
uation of the black savage,” Ethnic
Notions explains.
The black sidekick is subordi-
nate to his white partner - even
if very subtly - and poses more
of a physical threat to their oppo-
nents than his smart white partner,
as Ethnic Notions shows viewers.
Group discussion following
Ethnic Notions allowed students to
voice their reception of the film.
“I remember seeing some of the
cartoons [studied in Ethnic Notions]
in my lifetime, like Tar Baby, and as
a child, had no idearabout the impli-
cations,” said sophomore Marwa
Abdalla.
“This is shocking.”
The group also discussed intent
versus affect of harmful images,
noting that although many media
producers of stereotypicallv “black”
images are not intentionally promot-
ing racist messages, the powerful
affect on audiences could result in
further ingrained racism.
Continued on Page 2
ALLIES speaker gives other side of globalization
Joy Myers
Megaphone staff
The United States—land of the
free, or so we like to imagine.
Many people assume that glo-
balization means an “American-
izalion” of the world, and thus
assume the spread of freedom.
-at—
issue? How does the US’s policy
towards same-sex relationships
compare to that of other Western
nations and how do such ideas
affect our immigration policy?
How does globality effect broad-
ening awareness of GBLT rights?
These are examples of some
of the issues that guest speaker
John Nechman will be discussing
during his presentation, “LOVE
KNOWS NO BORDERS! The
Effects of Globalization on GBLT
Immigration.”
Sponsored by ALLIES, the
Gender Awareness Center, SOAL,
the Women’s Studies Program, the
International Club, and Pi Sigma
Alpha, the event will take place
this Thursday at 4pm in anticipa-
tion of the Brown Symposium.
This is the second year that
ALLIES has sponsored an event
leading up to the Brown Sym-
posium. An organization unfamil-
iar to many SU students, ALLIES
strives to promote diversity, create
awareness, and educate the campus
community on issues facing gay,
| lesbian, bisexual, and transgCn-
dered people (GLBT) and to pro-
j vide a support base for the GLBT
community.
ALLIES was originally known
| as the “Safe Place” program, and
at'
PHOTO COURTESY OF DIVERSITY EDUCATION
was formed in 1995. ALLIES is
comprised of students, faculty, and
staff. Staff participation & larger
than most organizations.
In addition to sponsoring past
events leading up to the Brown
students who have questions about
the Advance, are interested in par-
ticipating, or have any ideas for the
theme of the Advance itself can con-
tact Alex Anderson, or any member
of ALLIES.
Symposium, a trend which The process of selecting and invit-
ALLIES would like to continue, ing a speaker to coincide with the
ALLIES sponsors “Advances” Brown Symposium theme of global-
every semester. Advances are open ization was a long one. “It’s nice to
to all students, faculty, and staff. see this finally happening, it's a cul-
Advances usually last about two mination of a lot of people’s work,
hours and are usually, in the form said organizer Erin Levefenz.
of a workshop with education and The search for next year’s sym-
awareness of GLBT issues as the
central focus.
An ALLIES Advance is still in
Mil
the works for
this semester.
<Ja mix* esNmm
posium “may be a little challenging,
when the topic is ecology,” said fac-
ulty ALLIES member Joan Strandt-
man. The search for a speaker
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began in early September, when
Leverenz began e-mailing several
human rights organizations. Nech-
man's name was mentioned repeat-
edly, and so she contacted him in
October.
From October until now,
Leverenz, with the help of several
faculty members, has been trying to
sary to get Nechman to spe’ak here.
“It was interesting,” said
Leverenz, “I saw a side of SU
[administratively] that I hadn’t
before.”
The issues Nechman discusses
are not ones that most people would
connect to globalization. “I am
fascinated by the information that
Dr. Nechman presents about other
countries; we have a chance ot learn
what things are like in some of the
rest of the world,” said Strandt-
man.
Born in South Korea, but a resi-
dent of Houston since 1971, Nech-
man received his BA from the
University of Texas in Austin. He
went on to earn a Doctorate in
Jurisprudence from South Texas
College of Law, where he was a
founding member of the school’s
first GBLT student organization. In
1996, Nechman began working as
an English Writing instructor in
two area colleges.
Nectanan is active in many
social-aoRgi organizations. He
is serving as current president of
the Stonewall Lhwyers Association >
of Greater Hous^N; an original
member of tljc: Lesbian and Gay
immigration Rights Thsk Force; a
member of the Houston chapter of
Parents and Friends of Lesbians
and Gays (PFLAG).
Nechman is also an active
member of the Houston Bar Asso-
ciation, the American Bar Associ-
ation, the American Immigration .
Lawyers Association, the State Bar
of Texas Sexual Orientation and
Gender Issues Section, and the plan-
ning committee for Love Knows
No Borders 2-002.-
“A national 3-day event that
celebrates GLBT cultural diversity
and pushes for passage of laws that
recognize same sex marriages and
the Permanent Partners Immigration
Act".
Me is an active participant in
many area volunteer organizations
and a frequent speaker to commu-
nity, legal, and college groups as
well as in the press and on television
and radio.
The presentation will start at 4
fvm. this Thursday. February 14, and
will be held in the Caldwell-Garvey
Foyer. Following Mr. Nechman’s
presentation, there will be a brief
question and answer session.
Weekend Forecast
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Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 14, 2002, newspaper, February 14, 2002; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth634137/m1/1/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Southwestern University.