I get what the film producers were trying to do but this type of movie was responsible for the long lasting negative stereotypes that persisted from the early 1950s to the late 1980s-early 1990s regarding the disobedient, Black male. Movies like this inspired many young Black males to model the negative behavior that they saw on screen, which contributed to the destruction of Black neighborhoods. Enter Superfly!
sharemr2cool,
There have been negative stereotypes of males of African ancestry going back to the 1800's (at least!). African males were supposedly "disobedient" during the times of slavery, reconstruction, The Industrial Age, etc., etc. Not just from the ‘50s.
And if you look at films made in the early part of the 20th century, ex. "Birth of a Nation" (1915), there were negative portrayals back then! Some of the Warner Bros. cartoons made in the ‘30s and ‘40s were blatantly racist against people of African ancestry.
This is waaay before movies like “Cooley High” came along in the ‘70s.
What caused the destruction of the black communities here in America is a deep, complicated subject. Drugs, no business class, breakdown of the family, white supremacy. Wow! I could go on. But I believe in part, its ignorance and fear from “white” society which caused the destruction of some the African American communities, not just the “black” males fault. Now I know there are ignorant, dangerous “black” males who engage in negative behavior. This is real and fact. But there are negative “whites”, Asians, Arabs, Latinos, etc., too.
I'm no expert on the subject, but strongly doubt that movies contributed to the destruction of the African American communities. Because that mindset against “black” males came about long before the motion picture came to be.
I am well familiar with American history and I'm not naive enough to believe that movies were the foundation "cause" of the destruction of the Black community. But they certainly enhanced those negative stereotypes that were already in the minds of non-Blacks. My point was movies like "Cooley High" did not favors to furthering the Black image in a positive light, wether that be in young maleable Black minds or in the minds of others that were looking for supporting evidence to continue in their ignorance.
share[deleted]
Movies and TV are not the sole source of mis-educating the American people about blacks... but they have played a HUGE role.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqpkvyYMEY&feature=related
Oh, be quiet. Filmmakers should not be expected to only make safe, anti-septic films because of your personal fears and worries. If you really think black kids are disobedient because they saw "Cooley High", you need to think again. This film wasn't made for kids too young to be able to distinguish fiction from reality, and if they happen to see the film, that is the fault of the parents, not the filmmakers. Every film doesn't need to be a kidsafe family picture.
Whre do you think the basis for the set pieces in the film came from? Real life; things people were already doing. People aren'y going t start acting any better if every black film made is about preachers and affluent doctors and lawyers who do no wrong. Not only would such films be boring and dishonest, they'd fall flat and then people would be complaining that _no_ black films are made.
The sort of hyper-violence in something like "Superfly" is incomparable to school kids playing hooky and getting involved in a joyride that takes a turn for the worse.
Seriously, fellow black folks who spout this sort of nonsense truly annoy me, especially when you're applying it to material as relatively inoffensive as this.
Good points. And every white film is not about "preachers and affluent doctors and lawyers who do no wrong" either. Holding black people to a higher standard, especially based on fictional entertainment media, is not the solution to the problems of the real society we live in.
shareB-Touch you are the man. If you want to see a negative stereotype of blacks, go watch the movie Monkey Hustle.
share[deleted]
Movies like this inspired many young Black males to model the negative behavior that they saw on screen, which contributed to the destruction of Black neighborhoods.
I agee. Look at the high rate of arrest among whit boys for child porn after the release of 'To Catch A Predator'.. Media images have certain effects on people.
shareInstead of positing that droves of black youth watched the movie and emulated it, isn't it much more likely that droves of black youth from the projects were already acting like this? Which is why a former black youth wrote this film, which was typical of his life experiences in the projects.
shareExactly.
shareYou’re telling us there are no black men with that personality? Anywhere? Never?
Also, the film didn’t infer that all black men are like that. Just the characters in that film. That’s how movies and stories work.