So Few Positive Images Of African American Female In Disney Film

Why Are There So Few Positive Images Of African American Female In Disney Film? Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Why are there so few positive images of African American female in Disney film? Abstract The last few years have seen many black casts acquire nominations in their roles on the big screen. However, most of these black people are men and just a handful of women. Where are the women? African Americans come from a history of slavery which has subjected them to prejudice and limited resources compared to their Caucasian and other race counterparts. To date, African Americans still struggle to define who they are in the American culture. Women are most prejudiced, and in the film and TV industry, their roles are highly limited. They have been stereotyped to be violent and immoral. However, there are a few successful black actresses who have struggled to achieve their goals even in the face of extreme racism. Afro-futurism is a concept that encourages African Americans to bring their culture into their stories to tell the world. Afro-centricity, on the other hand, has been developed as theories which will help Africans see themselves through their own eyes and not the eyes of the Europeans so that they can achieve what they desire for themselves. Background Introduction Over the last many years, many African Americans including Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and Halle Berry have been able to secure prominent characters on the big. These actors and actresses are very popular and have made a lot of fame in both film and television and are regarded as the symbols of black emancipation and equality. Acquiring such positions, however, has not been easy due to prejudice these people have been exposed to ever since the ages of slavery. Slaves were brought from Africa to work on the southern plantations and even after their freedom, they still struggle to define who they are in the American culture. For a long time, the African Americans were subjected to ridicule and shame, especially in American popular media like theatre and film. However, the current years have seen the role of African Americans improve in cinema and theatre. It is unfortunate that many actors with skill and talent cannot access individual characters because of their dark color. For example, according to Maree Delofski (director of The trouble with Merle,) mentioned in his interview: Merle Oberon was either born in India of Anglo-Indian ancestry or that she was Tasmanian-born of Chinese ancestry. She claimed to be Australian and used make up to ‘redecorate’ the dark skin tone she had. She was deeply influenced by the hidden race identity of her, her mother was living with her as her maid. The most affected are the black female actresses who are severely underrepresented in the US film and television. Male African American actors like Denzel and Will Smith have always been assigned leading roles in many film genres including science fiction, action, and romance, but female actresses are barely given leading roles. Most of these women are offered positions associated with slavery, welfare queen or just a pretty little immoral woman. These women always have to fight and wrestle with critical assumptions about their character and how they want to be id...