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Course IntroductionCourse Introduction

Professor Michael Green

The Hangover (2009)

Directed by Todd Phillips

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Professor Michael GreenProfessor Michael Green• Lecturer, Film and Media

Studies, Arizona State University

• MFA, Creative Writing, Arizona State

• Teaches courses in Film Studies; Screenwriting

• Writes scholarly Film Studies articles, screenplays

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In This LessonIn This Lesson• Getting to know the

course• Why study Race

and Gender in American Film?

• Stereotypes: categorizing the “Other”

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Getting to Know the CourseGetting to Know the Course

Lesson 1: Part I

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Directed by D.W. Griffith

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What Kind of Course is This?What Kind of Course is This?

• This is not an automated course.• This is not a self-paced course.• This is not a Blackboard course.• This course emphasizes interactivity:

• Synchronous (real-time)• Asynchronous

• Participation is key to your success!• Threaded Discussions on the eBoard

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The DisadvantagesThe Disadvantages• Students that learn best through face-to-

face debate can struggle in this environment.

• Students that are not well organized tend to not do well in this environment.

• Meet all deadlines• Study in advance of assignments• Keep an organized calendar with reminder alerts• E-mail the professor with questions• Get help when you need it.

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How do We Define Success?How do We Define Success?• Getting a high grade:

A or B• Becoming more

knowledgeable in the subjects

• Becoming more skilled critical thinkers and writers

• Enjoying Ourselves!

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Course OrganizationCourse OrganizationEach lesson contains:Each lesson contains:•Screening•Reading

(You must buy the textbook!)•Lecture•Discussion Board•Film Clips•Website

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Considering Class ContentConsidering Class Content

• Race and Gender are controversial subjects in our society, fraught with tension and emotion.

• To discuss them, we must openly debate.• However this does not require being

disrespectful or insensitive. • I expect us to challenge each other’s

conceptions race and gender with rigor and respect.

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Absolutely No Flaming or Ad Absolutely No Flaming or Ad Hominem CommentsHominem Comments

• Flaming:– To send an angry, critical or disparaging

message.

• Ad Hominem:– An argument made personally against an

opponent instead of against their argument.

• Respect is key!

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Why Study Race and Gender in Why Study Race and Gender in American Film?American Film?

Lesson 1: Part II

Selena (1997)Directed by Gregory Nava

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What is Race?What is Race?• Race is Not Biology and it’s Not Fiction• Race is Social Identity• Race is Representation and Narration• Race is a Cultural Formation

– The racial formation is fraught with power imbalances (hence, racism).

– The racial formation is also informed by cultural and political traditions worthy of pride and respect (e.g. the Civil Rights Movement).

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How is Race Represented in How is Race Represented in American Film?American Film?

• African Americans• Latino/Latina• Asian Americans• Native Americans• Anglo Americans• Other “white” groups

– Italians, Irish, Jews, etc.

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ExamplesExamples

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Birth Birth of a Legacyof a Legacy“The release of D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation in 1915 defined for the first time the side that Hollywood was to take in the war to represent Black people in America. In The Birth of a Nation, D. W. Griffith, later

a founding member of United Artists, created and fixed an image of Blackness that was necessary for racist America's

fight against Black people.”– Manthia Diawara, Black American Cinema, The New Realism

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Birth Birth of a Legacy (Clips)of a Legacy (Clips)– http://www.asu.edu/courses/fms270mg/total-

clips/birthofanation01.mov– http://www.asu.edu/courses/fms270mg/total-

clips/birthofanation02.mov

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Birth Birth of a Legacy (Continued)of a Legacy (Continued)“The Birth of a Nation constitutes the

grammar book for Hollywood's representation of Black manhood and womanhood, its

obsession with miscegenation, and its fixing of Black people within certain spaces, such

as kitchens, and into certain supporting roles, such as criminals, on the screen. White

people must occupy the center, leaving Black people with only one choice--to exist in

relation to Whiteness.” – Diawara

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What is Gender?What is Gender?• Gender is Not Biology and it’s Not Fiction

– Gender is Different from Male and Female

• Gender is Social Identity• Gender is Representation and Narration• Gender is a Cultural Formation

– The gender formation is fraught with power imbalances (hence, racism).

– The gender formation is also informed by cultural and political traditions worthy of pride and respect (e.g. the Civil Rights Movement).

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How is Gender Represented in How is Gender Represented in American Film?American Film?

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Gone With the Wind Gone With the Wind (1939)(1939)

http://www.asu.edu/courses/fms270mg/total-clips/gonewithwind01.mov

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The Help The Help (2011)(2011)

http://movieclips.com/6YmBg-the-help-movie-aibileen-and-mae-mobley/

http://movieclips.com/MudCQ-the-help-movie-i-really-need-a-maid/

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What is Representation?What is Representation?• Representation is the ability of texts –

such as movies, books, paintings, etc. – to draw upon features of the world and present them to the viewer, not simply as reflections, but more so as constructions.

• Hence, the images do not portray reality in an unbiased way with 100% accuracy, but rather present ‘versions of reality’ influenced by culture and peoples habitual thoughts and actions.

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ItIt’’s Not s Not ““Just EntertainmentJust Entertainment””• The representation and narration of race and

gender in Hollywood informs how we see ourselves, how we see others and how we act in the world.

• Because of this, we must study it as not just entertainment, but as a powerful medium with real consequences.

• Race and gender in Hollywood cinema is real because it affects real peoples real lives.

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History and IdeologyHistory and Ideology

• All movies are ideological and historical. They reflect social and cultural bias, consciously or otherwise, and they are products of the time in which they are made.

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The Hangover: The Hangover: Continuing the Legacy of Continuing the Legacy of Birth.Birth.

• The story of four white men who leave the white suburbs for the “dangers” of Vegas.

• The dangers are represented as threatening non-white men, embodied as gross stereotypes.

• Women are contained to traditional roles as castrating shrews, prostitutes or young, attractive wives.

• Watch the clips.

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The Hangover The Hangover (Clips)(Clips)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESFwuoofR_4

• http://movieclips.com/KZb7-the-hangover-movie-paging-the-doctor/

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The Big PointThe Big Point• Movies are made by people, who are

products of their society, culture and historical time. Their specific perspective invariably informs the movies they make.

• The Birth of a Nation was made by a white supremacist whose views on race were powerfully disseminated by a newly evolving media technology.

• Entertainment media still largely propagates a racial and gender power imbalance.

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Categorizing the OtherCategorizing the Other

Lesson 1: Part III

Clear and Present Danger (1994)Directed by Phillip Noyce

Everybody StereotypesEverybody Stereotypes• In the sense that stereotyping means simply

the creation of categories based on the recognition of gross differences, we all do it.

• This sort of stereotyping is not “wrong”, bad, or racist, but a necessary cognitive process for perceiving, processing, storing and recalling categorize information.

• In its neutral mode, stereotyping is useful, necessary, and efficient.

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Negative StereotypesNegative Stereotypes• For most of us, stereotyping is the act of

making judgments and assigning negative qualities to other individuals or groups.

• “If we all create categories, then we are all, potentially at least, in a position to take the next step and imbue those categories with value-laden – that is positive or negative – connotations.”– Ramírez Berg, “Categorizing the Other:

Stereotypes and Stereotyping”

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EthnocentrismEthnocentrism• Ethnocentrism is defined as a view of things

in which one’s own group is at the center of everything.

• It is a bias in which other societies are evaluated or judged by standards or morals derived from the observer's culture and often found to be lacking or inferior.

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The Stereotyping FormulaThe Stereotyping Formula• Category making + ethnocentrism +

prejudice = stereotyping.• “A stereotype is the result of this process

and can be defined as a negative generalization used by an in-group (US) about an out-group (Them)”– Ramírez Berg

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11 Theses About Stereotypes11 Theses About Stereotypes1. Stereotypes are applied with rigid logic.

2. Stereotypes may have a basis in fact.

3. Stereotypes are simplified generalizations that assume out-group homogeneity.

4. Stereotypes work at far too general a level to be worthwhile predictors.

5. Stereotypes are uncontextualized and ahistorical.

6. Repetition tends to normalize stereotypes.

7. Stereotypes are believed.

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11 Theses (Continued)11 Theses (Continued)8. Stereotyping goes

both ways.

9. Stereotypes are ideological.

10.The in-group stereotypes itself.

11. The antidote to stereotyping is knowledge!

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Stereotypes and PowerStereotypes and Power• Stereotypes fluctuate based on the social

and power relationship between the in-group and the out-group.

• Depending on the power relationship between these groups, one of three stereotyping scenarios can arise, cooperative, stratified or oppositional.

• In its extreme form in science fiction and horror films, stereotyping transforms the Other into an actual monster.

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Things to Remember Things to Remember

• Go through the website, or virtual classroom, with care; know it well.

• Keep up with all Lesson Tasks.

• Turn assignments in on time, written at a college level.

• Discuss with rigor & respect.

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End IntroductionEnd Introduction

Next Lecture:

Identity and the Birth of the Cinema