User:Enterprise1987/Racism in horror films

Introduction

Films such as those in the horror genre are some of the avenues used to perpetuate the different social constructions of race and racial identity to align with the dominant ideologies in the American society. Through the symbolic use of cinematic images, assignment of roles and hierarchies in the horror films, the presentations connote deep racial undertones that often align with the dominant white supremacist ideals that are at the center of racial debates in America. Also, the presentation of characters in the horror films and their qualities aligns with clear racial meanings and identity that conform to the social and historical contexts in the society. As a result, most of the films in the horror genre can be said to promote racist attitudes based on the roles of the characters and the implicit and explicit enactments of such roles.

Discussion

Benshoff (2000) explains that the construction of identity is heavily influenced by the diverse forms of interactions that individuals have with the cultural artifacts such as artistic representations through horror films. It is evident that members of the Black population have continued being a substantial segment of the horror film genre and their overrepresentation can be associated with the various intrigues and unusual representations associated with the genre. Such trends can be interpreted to indicate that the horror films are hegemonic in nature and are constructed in such a way that the Blacks and other socially oppressed groups such as the racial minorities are actively involved in their own oppression (Benshoff, 2000).

Such involvement is through the use of the Blacks and other racial minorities to play character roles in horror films that depict and associate their identity as monstrous and different from others. Blaxploitation was also instrumental in the social construction of race during the periods of struggles for civil rights. The Blaxploitation films usually depicted images of African-Americans that were stronger and powerful and have been credited for their ability to popularize urban Black culture and also showcasing the diverse talents amongst the African-Americans (Benshoff, 2000).

Some of the films have scenes such as night clubs where the performers are of African-American descent. The films were also the epitome of African-American culture, especially in the 1960s and 70s. Further, the Blaxploitation films depict scenes of voodoo as an acceptable form of the supernatural expression under the African-American and have been showcased in such films such as the Blacula.

The acts of the use of African-American culture as a sign of explicit horror can be regarded as arcaist as most of the films were developed by whites. Nevertheless, the films should also be perceived as contributing positively to the empowerment of the African-American culture over the dominant and more rational white trends in filmmaking. In line with the Afrocentric culture that was predominant in the Blaxploitation films of the 1960s and 70s, there was the re-appropriation of the central monstrous characters in the films where they were aligned with the attainment of goals of the Blacks.

Such characters were portrayed as vampires and monsters were presented as the main agents and a source of Black pride and power. The depiction of racist undertones is evident in the films where the Black characters as monsters are shown as avengers that resent against the dominant authorities or order. Such presentations are coded as racist and are predominant in films of that era such as ‘Sugar Hill’ (Benshoff, 2000). The re-appropriation of the monster usually notable in such films is through presentation as an empowering figure of Black descent and then romanticizing and valorizing of the monster in ways that the monster acts as an allegory of the historical experiences of the African-Americans.

Allen (2023) demonstrates how structural racism as presented in the film ‘Get Out’ is enacted in institutions of higher learning. The author demonstrates how faculty members collude to inflict terror on students from minority backgrounds, which corresponds to the plot in the film ‘Get Out’ as it is centered on the commission of grievous acts of murder and the subsequent appropriation of the Black bodies for the benefit of the affluent whites in the society.

The atrocities perpetrated against the students from minority backgrounds resonate with the vices of racial dehumanization that are at the core of white liberalism even though they are choreographed and hidden under assertions of equity and fairness. In the film’ Get Out’ the inhumane and oppressive acts targeting individuals from minority backgrounds are presented in the ‘Sunken Place’ in the film. The atrocities those from the minority groups face in the ‘Sunken Place’ are synonymous with the experiences in real life where they face degradation and undignified treatment that are akin to a society where racism has become institutionalized.

Further, the ‘Sunken Place’ demonstrates how the white majority exploit their influence over institutions to inflict oppression in cultural, economic and psychological forms targeting individuals from the minority groups (Henry, 2017). Consequently, films such as ‘Get Out’ demonstrate that the minority groups in the American society are marginalized and any attempts to assert their presence or reclaim their rights makes them get silenced due to the domination of their lives by the whites.

Allen (2023) further demonstrates how law schools are synonymous with the ‘Sunken Place’ due to the entrenchment of structural racism with the authorities appearing disinterested in addressing the anomalies. Despite claims in the law schools of being committed towards addressing the injustices associated with lack of equity and diversity, the policies, structures and traditions sympathetic to racism have remained in place. In these law schools, Allen (2023) reveals how academic professors find it usual to use degrading terms and references to Black people in the guise of finding pedagogical value in the use of such terms.

Most of the acts of academic terror are not addressed as the perpetrators hide in the guise of academic freedom to perpetuate their acts of racial bigotry that discriminate against the students of color (Henry, 2017). It becomes evident that the portrayals of Black people in the film ‘Get Out’ is the traumatic experiences that individuals from minority backgrounds have to undergo in order to benefit from enlightenment from the whites (Allen, 2023). Despite the apparent claims of progress by the authorities, the horrific scenes portrayed by the films in the horror genre are a reflection of the unwillingness by the society to implement structural reforms to address racial injustices against the minorities.

As a result, the depictions in the films of the horror genre should be understood as reflecting an ecosystem of structural racism where institutions are interconnected through policies, practices and traditions both explicit and implicit that promote the mistreatment and subjugation of people of color and others from the minority groups in society (Allen, 2023). To understand structural racism, it is crucial to recognize causation of the actions of the players across and within the established domains. Such focus ensures there a shift from an individual actor or institution as such focus fails to appreciate and recognize the cumulative damages and disadvantages emanating from structural racism.

Roche Cárcel (2023) demonstrates how the codification of the threat posed by the economic crisis in the film ‘King Kong’ evokes racial undertones and spreads fear and anxiety amongst the whites in cities such as New York. The depictions of King Kong as a violent monster aligns with the fear and vulnerability that the members of the white race felt due to fears of loss of jobs from the people of color during the Great Depression. There are also instances in the film depicts King Kong as chained and this can be interpreted as reflective of the memories of slavery where the whites exploited the people of color by failing to pay or underpaying them for their labor.

Also, the portrayals of King Kong as Black can be understood as the use of racial imagery and racist images. In some instances, King Kong violates the privacy of a white woman who is asleep highlighting the portrayals of Blacks and the wider African-American culture as uncouth and uncivilized people that are a threat to the peace and tranquility promoted by the whites (Roche Cárcel, 2023). These racist portrayals aim at affirming the acts of racial injustices and violations of rights of the Blacks by the whites due to the racist attitudes and connotations of Blacks as inept and incompetent.

The films in the horror genre and the way the Black characters are depicted make it explicitly clear that most of the racist acts and attitudes that continue being a threat to peaceful coexistence in America are homegrown, normalized and are enacted through white dominance and perpetuation of white supremacist ideals (Waterman, 2021). The highlights in films such as ‘Get Out’ reinforce the belief that for black people to live and prosper in America, then whiteness must die. Consequently, whiteness is associated with the obsession with blackness and acts of white terror targeting people of color and other minorities. The racist undertones inform the understanding amongst the whites that black lives are fungible and should be understood as properties for white exploitation and possession (Landsberg, 2018).

As a result, the racist connotations perpetuated by films in the horror genre echo the implicitly held beliefs that whiteness is akin to sadistic pleasure where the black body is understood and treated as a fetish object that is available to promote white accumulation (Henry, 2017). For instance, in the film ‘Get Out’, it is hard to indicate the difference between the slavery and post-slavery periods based on the atrocities that people of color face in the film. The acts of people of color being abducted, sold, alongside the use of black bodies as objects shows that what was believed to be the past and forgotten is present and alive.

Further, institutions such as schools are presented as avenues for enclosure where students of color face the unfairness of being subjected to irrelevant curriculums and racialized pedagogies (Henry, 2017). Such biased and racist environments undermine the levels of attainment of youths from minority backgrounds thereby presenting them as resources for white dominance and exploitation for profits, pleasure and survival. As a result, the films in the horror genre have contributed to the visibility of the racial and social injustices faced by people of color.

Conclusion

The racist portrayals and enactments in the films in the horror genre demonstrates that racism is still alive based on the way Black characters are shown in their roles. Even though these films contributed to the popularization of the African-American culture, the depiction of Blacks in negative roles and white domination over people of color shows that structural racism is prevalent in films, especially during the early decades of the 20th century. Consequently, there is need for films to play their actual roles of promoting racial tolerance and promoting equity and social justice through proportionate portrayals of characters without the use of race as a benchmark for the roles that a character is assigned.

Annotated Bibliography

'''Allen, R. (2023). Get out: Structural racism and academic terror. William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice, 29(3), 599-652.'''

The author highlights the racial terror perpetrated towards the Blacks by the white majority through an analysis of the film ‘Get Out.’ On the surface, the author depicts the typical features of the film but later delves into how the horrors of racism in the film are reflected and enacted through the experiences of students of color in American institutions of academic learning. Through a reflection on the daily micro-aggressions and devaluing of human dignity experienced by these learners from minority backgrounds, the author demonstrates how structural racism is enacted by faculty members in the guise of academic freedom.

An evaluation of this source reveals the ‘sunken place’ which can also be depicted as a form of social death where Black identity is curtailed and restricted, and left at the mercy of manipulation and construction by the whites. Also, the source demonstrates how white liberalism promotes the subordination of minority races despite hiding such atrocities behind the veil of pronouncements affirming commitment towards equity and fairness.

The source is crucial as it reveals the acts of abuse and how horrific atrocities suffered by people of color in films are institutionalized in settings such higher learning. The source also reveals how the people of color are demeaned and portrayed as lesser human based on the diverse forms of social, cultural and psychological oppression experienced in the hands of the white majority.

'''Benshoff, H. (2000). Blaxploitation horror films: Generic reappropriation or reinscription. Cinema Journal, 39(2), 31-50.'''

The author reiterates on the Blaxploitation films genre and the vital role it plays in exploring race and the aspects of race consciousness and how they are used in the structuring of films. Nevertheless, the author explains that despite the progress that is demonstrated in the Blaxploitation genre, it is superficial and only on the surface. He criticizes the minimal input of African-Americans in the development of films in this genre and the domination of the whites.

On evaluation, the source offers critical insights on how the racial imbalances are detrimental to the interests of minority races such as Blacks. The imbalances undermine the attainment of the political goals of advancing the interests of the minority groups such as African-Americans as the central roles played by whites in the creation of these films makes them an avenue of furthering white hegemonic control.

The source will be pivotal in demonstrating the negative outcomes emanating from the imbalances in the domination of film making by whites in the Blaxploitation genre. The source will elucidate how race is used as an indicator of inclination towards monstrosity and how the assigning of roles to characters is consistent with the white supremacist ideals. Consequently, the source will offer vital insights of how the Blaxploitation genre contributes towards the construction of racial meaning and constructs of racial identity and how this reinforces the existing historical and social contexts surrounding race.

'''Henry, K. (2017). A review of Get Out: On white terror and the black body. Equity & Excellence in Education, 50(3), 333-335.'''

The author demonstrates how whiteness aligns with terrorism and barbaric acts towards minority groups such as the blacks. Such terrorist acts are perpetrated through the concomitant objectification of the blacks. The author demonstrates that most of the objectification of the people of color is practiced through usage of black bodies for white survival.

The source is informative as it reveals how racism is shaped in society through the portrayal of the black bodies as instruments and objects to promote white accumulation and pleasure. Such unfairness and prejudicial behaviors are then manifested through education and school policy that reinforces acts of racial degradation and abuse of the human dignity of the people of color.

The source is vital as it will be used to portray how the film industry associated horrific acts with people of color in order to dehumanize their identity. The source will then be used to demonstrate how such dehumanizing acts are practiced and reinforced in contemporary social settings.

'''Landsberg, A. (2018). Horror vérité: Politics and history in Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017). Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 32(5), 629-642.'''

The author reiterates how horror films are used to offer insights into the actual acts of endemic horror prevalent in the American society that the majority has refused to recognize. Through an analysis of the film ‘Get Out’ the author demonstrates how symbolism as used in the film highlights the pervasive acts of racial terror that is perpetuated against people of color and other minority groups in the American society and how it is considered the norm.

The source offers an in-depth insight into how the horror films act as avenues for the entrenchment of biased and prejudicial racial attitudes towards the people of color. Such insights will be pivotal in demonstrating the role of horror films to construct racial identities in American society and reinforce such identities.

'''Roche Cárcel, J. (2023). King Kong, the black gorilla. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 39(5), 1113-1157.'''

The author analyzes the film ‘King Kong’ and demonstrates how the cinematic images in the film are prejudicial and discriminatory towards the minority group such as the people of color. The analysis reveals the inherent fear amongst the white workers during the Great Depression that the blacks were a threat to their jobs. Through the presentation of the people of color as primitive and savage beasts, the author demonstrates how racism is practiced in films through the assigning of character roles and actions that portray people of color in derogatory and demeaning acts to ensure they are understood as inhumane.

On evaluation, the source reveals how films were used as avenues for perpetuating the hegemonic beliefs of white superiority and how the minority races such as the people of color were socially constructed to be racially inferior to the whites. Through the use of scenes of fear and violence, the source demonstrates how the whites assigned superhuman characteristics to people of color to promote their dehumanization and subsequent protection of white purity.

The source will be useful in demonstrating how racial undertones have been depicted through films to assign humaneness to specific characters based on their racial backgrounds.

'''Waterman, R. (2021). The dark side of the farce: racism in early cinema, 1894–1915. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 9(4), 784-806. '''

The author demonstrates how films in the early years of the 20th century captured whites that were fearful of the people of color. In most of the films such as the comedy films, the people of color were presented in derogatory terms as their non-affiliation with the white culture made them be marked as different and unfitting in the society. Also, the people of color were also scorned and in line with the white supremacist ideals that were heightened at the time, they were depicted as less human.

The source reflects on the virulent racism that persisted in the American society and how it was reflected in films. The source demonstrates that due to high viewership of mainstream films, the constructions of race as presented in these films heightened the racial biases and prejudices in the American society.

The source is vital as it portrays how racism has persisted in the film industry and how people of color are portrayed as unsuited and alien to the American culture that is depicted as governed through white ideals.

References

Allen, R. (2023). Get out: Structural racism and academic terror. William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice, 29(3), 599-652.

Benshoff, H. (2000). Blaxploitation horror films: Generic reappropriation or reinscription? Cinema Journal, 39(2), 31-50.

Henry, K. (2017). A review of get out: On white terror and the black body. Equity & Excellence in Education, 50(3), 333-335.

Landsberg, A. (2018). Horror vérité: Politics and history in Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017). Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 32(5), 629-642.

Roche Cárcel, J. (2023). King Kong, the black gorilla. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 39(5), 1113-1157.

Waterman, R. (2021). The dark side of the farce: racism in early cinema, 1894–1915. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 9(4), 784-806.

Lead
Films such as those in the horror genre are some of the avenues used to perpetuate the different social constructions of race and racial identity to align with the dominant ideologies in the American society. Through the symbolic use of cinematic images, assignment of roles and hierarchies in the horror films, the presentations connote deep racial undertones that often align with the dominant white supremacist ideals that are at the center of racial debates in America. Also, the presentation of characters in the horror films and their qualities aligns with clear racial meanings and identity that conform to the social and historical contexts in the society. As a result, most of the films in the horror genre can be said to promote racist attitudes based on the roles of the characters and the implicit and explicit enactments of such roles.

Article body
Benshoff (2000) explains that the construction of identity is heavily influenced by the diverse forms of interactions that individuals have with the cultural artifacts such as artistic representations through horror films. It is evident that members of the Black population have continued being a substantial segment of the horror film genre and their overrepresentation can be associated with the various intrigues and unusual representations associated with the genre. Such trends can be interpreted to indicate that the horror films are hegemonic in nature and are constructed in such a way that the Blacks and other socially oppressed groups such as the racial minorities are actively involved in their own oppression (Benshoff, 2000).

Such involvement is through the use of the Blacks and other racial minorities to play character roles in horror films that depict and associate their identity as monstrous and different from others. Blaxploitation was also instrumental in the social construction of race during the periods of struggles for civil rights. The Blaxploitation films usually depicted images of African-Americans that were stronger and powerful and have been credited for their ability to popularize urban Black culture and also showcasing the diverse talents amongst the African-Americans (Benshoff, 2000).

Some of the films have scenes such as night clubs where the performers are of African-American descent. The films were also the epitome of African-American culture, especially in the 1960s and 70s. Further, the Blaxploitation films depict scenes of voodoo as an acceptable form of the supernatural expression under the African-American and have been showcased in such films such as the Blacula.

The acts of the use of African-American culture as a sign of explicit horror can be regarded as arcaist as most of the films were developed by whites. Nevertheless, the films should also be perceived as contributing positively to the empowerment of the African-American culture over the dominant and more rational white trends in filmmaking. In line with the Afrocentric culture that was predominant in the Blaxploitation films of the 1960s and 70s, there was the re-appropriation of the central monstrous characters in the films where they were aligned with the attainment of goals of the Blacks.

Such characters were portrayed as vampires and monsters were presented as the main agents and a source of Black pride and power. The depiction of racist undertones is evident in the films where the Black characters as monsters are shown as avengers that resent against the dominant authorities or order. Such presentations are coded as racist and are predominant in films of that era such as ‘Sugar Hill’ (Benshoff, 2000). The re-appropriation of the monster usually notable in such films is through presentation as an empowering figure of Black descent and then romanticizing and valorizing of the monster in ways that the monster acts as an allegory of the historical experiences of the African-Americans.

Allen (2023) demonstrates how structural racism as presented in the film ‘Get Out’ is enacted in institutions of higher learning. The author demonstrates how faculty members collude to inflict terror on students from minority backgrounds, which corresponds to the plot in the film ‘Get Out’ as it is centered on the commission of grievous acts of murder and the subsequent appropriation of the Black bodies for the benefit of the affluent whites in the society.

The atrocities perpetrated against the students from minority backgrounds resonate with the vices of racial dehumanization that are at the core of white liberalism even though they are choreographed and hidden under assertions of equity and fairness. In the film’ Get Out’ the inhumane and oppressive acts targeting individuals from minority backgrounds are presented in the ‘Sunken Place’ in the film. The atrocities those from the minority groups face in the ‘Sunken Place’ are synonymous with the experiences in real life where they face degradation and undignified treatment that are akin to a society where racism has become institutionalized.

Further, the ‘Sunken Place’ demonstrates how the white majority exploit their influence over institutions to inflict oppression in cultural, economic and psychological forms targeting individuals from the minority groups (Henry, 2017). Consequently, films such as ‘Get Out’ demonstrate that the minority groups in the American society are marginalized and any attempts to assert their presence or reclaim their rights makes them get silenced due to the domination of their lives by the whites.

Allen (2023) further demonstrates how law schools are synonymous with the ‘Sunken Place’ due to the entrenchment of structural racism with the authorities appearing disinterested in addressing the anomalies. Despite claims in the law schools of being committed towards addressing the injustices associated with lack of equity and diversity, the policies, structures and traditions sympathetic to racism have remained in place. In these law schools, Allen (2023) reveals how academic professors find it usual to use degrading terms and references to Black people in the guise of finding pedagogical value in the use of such terms.

Most of the acts of academic terror are not addressed as the perpetrators hide in the guise of academic freedom to perpetuate their acts of racial bigotry that discriminate against the students of color (Henry, 2017). It becomes evident that the portrayals of Black people in the film ‘Get Out’ is the traumatic experiences that individuals from minority backgrounds have to undergo in order to benefit from enlightenment from the whites (Allen, 2023). Despite the apparent claims of progress by the authorities, the horrific scenes portrayed by the films in the horror genre are a reflection of the unwillingness by the society to implement structural reforms to address racial injustices against the minorities.

As a result, the depictions in the films of the horror genre should be understood as reflecting an ecosystem of structural racism where institutions are interconnected through policies, practices and traditions both explicit and implicit that promote the mistreatment and subjugation of people of color and others from the minority groups in society (Allen, 2023). To understand structural racism, it is crucial to recognize causation of the actions of the players across and within the established domains. Such focus ensures there a shift from an individual actor or institution as such focus fails to appreciate and recognize the cumulative damages and disadvantages emanating from structural racism.

Roche Cárcel (2023) demonstrates how the codification of the threat posed by the economic crisis in the film ‘King Kong’ evokes racial undertones and spreads fear and anxiety amongst the whites in cities such as New York. The depictions of King Kong as a violent monster aligns with the fear and vulnerability that the members of the white race felt due to fears of loss of jobs from the people of color during the Great Depression. There are also instances in the film depicts King Kong as chained and this can be interpreted as reflective of the memories of slavery where the whites exploited the people of color by failing to pay or underpaying them for their labor.

Also, the portrayals of King Kong as Black can be understood as the use of racial imagery and racist images. In some instances, King Kong violates the privacy of a white woman who is asleep highlighting the portrayals of Blacks and the wider African-American culture as uncouth and uncivilized people that are a threat to the peace and tranquility promoted by the whites (Roche Cárcel, 2023). These racist portrayals aim at affirming the acts of racial injustices and violations of rights of the Blacks by the whites due to the racist attitudes and connotations of Blacks as inept and incompetent.

The films in the horror genre and the way the Black characters are depicted make it explicitly clear that most of the racist acts and attitudes that continue being a threat to peaceful coexistence in America are homegrown, normalized and are enacted through white dominance and perpetuation of white supremacist ideals (Waterman, 2021). The highlights in films such as ‘Get Out’ reinforce the belief that for black people to live and prosper in America, then whiteness must die. Consequently, whiteness is associated with the obsession with blackness and acts of white terror targeting people of color and other minorities. The racist undertones inform the understanding amongst the whites that black lives are fungible and should be understood as properties for white exploitation and possession (Landsberg, 2018).

As a result, the racist connotations perpetuated by films in the horror genre echo the implicitly held beliefs that whiteness is akin to sadistic pleasure where the black body is understood and treated as a fetish object that is available to promote white accumulation (Henry, 2017). For instance, in the film ‘Get Out’, it is hard to indicate the difference between the slavery and post-slavery periods based on the atrocities that people of color face in the film. The acts of people of color being abducted, sold, alongside the use of black bodies as objects shows that what was believed to be the past and forgotten is present and alive.

Further, institutions such as schools are presented as avenues for enclosure where students of color face the unfairness of being subjected to irrelevant curriculums and racialized pedagogies (Henry, 2017). Such biased and racist environments undermine the levels of attainment of youths from minority backgrounds thereby presenting them as resources for white dominance and exploitation for profits, pleasure and survival. As a result, the films in the horror genre have contributed to the visibility of the racial and social injustices faced by people of color.