Final Paper’s Topic - Journal Entry 33 Xiongyue Yu

Topic

Characteristics and Social Significance of Black Female Characters in Films Directed by African American Directors from the 1960s to the Mid-1980s

 

Intro

After a semester of studying in classes and materials, I am pleased to have gained a broader and deeper understanding of black art as a cultural field. One of the things that I am most impressed with and interested in continuing to study and research is the experiences and contributions of Black women in this history and culture. In my midterm assignment, I have already conducted a brief analysis of the achievements and contributions of black women artists in this period of history, and in this presentation, I hope to further explore the topic in the context of the representation of black women characters in film and television in the same period of history.

 

Arguments

1. Differences between black female characters in film and television and in reality

As people often say, art comes from life but is higher than life, and the characters that appear on the screen, as part of the artistic product, are naturally related to the real prototypes, but are more typical and dramatic, existing as representatives of a universal phenomenon or a combination of multiple identities. Therefore, a comparison of the differences and commonalities between similar characters can help to provide a more precise direction for the study of people in a certain period. Although there may be artistic exaggerations in film and television productions, both in terms of interpretation and editing. However, a comparison from the perspective of history and culture can still serve as an important and perspective historical reference material.

 

2. The unique expressive power and focus of female characters

Women think and feel very differently from men, regardless of race and age, because of both biological and social influences. Therefore, even when faced with the same social problems, women and men may get completely different thinking from different events around them. For example, under the influence of patriarchal society's division of gender needs, men tend to focus more on social status, employment environment, and self-fulfillment, while women are more sensitive to family atmosphere, neighborhood relations, and marriage emotions. Because of this, female characters are often used in artworks to express themes such as reunited families, delicate emotions and female independence, which are different from the larger social topics that men usually show, but are different levels and ways of understanding culture and history. But under this style and tendency, the female characters and their expressions do not lose their passionate indictment of reality and their strong will to pursue the ideal of freedom, and they are the same existence that shows the unyielding and resistance of human nature.

 

3. Racial issues coexist with gender issues

As we have documented in various texts, images or films, the injustices suffered by the victims of severe racial discrimination and related intolerance during those dark times are well known and have become part of the American national tradition. In such a racial environment, coupled with a patriarchal structure that has continued for thousands of years, the disadvantages faced by women in societies around the world are also well known. While race is one cause of inequality and gender is another, they are not mutually exclusive forms of discrimination. In fact, they often intersect, leading to compound or double discrimination. This leaves women with racial issues in the mix who often suffer more harm and injustice. For many women, factors related to their social identity, such as race, color, ethnicity and national origin, become "disparities that make a difference. These factors may create problems that are specific to particular groups of women or may affect some women disproportionately compared to others.

 

4. The power of women in reality is reflected in film

As I mentioned in my previous discussion, even during a particularly difficult time and in the face of multiple intersecting dilemmas, there was still a large number of outstanding black women artists who stood out, looking at humanity, politics and art from an inclusive and unique perspective that distinguished and surpassed that of male artists. The resulting artworks also provide a new perspective and viewpoint for historical records. In this way, they have made aesthetic, sociological and anthropological contributions to society, both then and now. The black female characters in film and television are partly created by these black female artists, directors and scriptwriters, who become the outlet for their personal views, and partly exist as a work of art in their own image design, moving and reflecting on everyone who sees them.