Page 6
The Arts
Black movie images
depict stereotypes
Jayne Cortez, New York poetess, was one of the many talents here on campus
for the spring Black Arts Cultural Festival.
Joyce Terry
Staff Writer
Many people erroneously believe that
the era of black movie career began in the
1970's, film critic Donald Bogle said here
in early April.
Bogle, former assistant editor for
"Ebony" magazine and author of "Tom,
Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks",
gave an interpretative history of blacks in
American films before a Memorial
Auditorium audience as part of the Fifth
Annual Black Arts Cultural Festival.
There are two categories of films. Bogle
began; the independents, which are
made outside Hollywood, and the
Hollywood films. His focus, he explained,
was on Hollywood movies "because they
are seen worldwide and have given
misconceptions of blacks."
"Blacks always play the roles the times
demand," Bogle said, "and what the
black actor does with his character is the
most important thing — not the
character."
Album Review
Funkadelic: Stretchin' Out
I
Allen Johnson
Editor-Elect
Stretchin' Out In Bootsy's Rubber Band
(Warner Bros.).
Now let's get this straight.
Funkadelic is the same as Parliament
which is the same as Bootsy's Rubber
Band.
Well, essentially yes, folks, with a few
minor exceptions. One such exception is
Miss Leslyn Bailey, whose driving vocals
on the selections "Love Vibes" and
"Physical Love" add a refreshing new
femininity to the Parliamentaf unkadelical
sound. Two other exceptions are a couple
of fellas by the names of Macceo Parker
and Fred Wesley, whose horns have
already vaulted Parliament to belated
prominence ("Mothership Connection")
and now guarantee instant success for
Bootsy's band of minstrels.
Strong cuts include "I'd Rather Be With
You," a classic Parliament croon tune,
"Stretchin' Out (In a rubber Band),"
which features Bootsy's throbbing
"space bass" at its very funkiest, and
"Psychoticbumpshool," a character
istically unique Funkadelic approach to
disco music.
The only possible drawback this album
presents is that it may worry some fans
who wonder how long this same array of
talented musicians can compose three
different groups on three different labels
at the same time.
■ Second Resurrection (Dark House). In the
latter sixties, they were called the Five
Stairsteps, and after abruptly bursting on
the scene with the hit single, "Ooh
Child." they abruptly submerged into
obscurity with comparable haste. Since
that time, no one had seen neither hide
nor hair of the group until they recently
re-emerged as the Stairsteps, teamed
with Billy Preston, and produced a superb
album.
"Second Resurrection" is aptly named,
signaling the revival of one of the most
potentially creative groups since an
irreverent bunch of revolutionaries
decided to form Funkadelic.
Choice hits include "From Us To You,"
a velvety-smooth footstomper remini
scent of Sly Stone in his early days.
"Pasado," a tender intermingling of
acoustic guitar and vocals, "Lifting
(Second Resurrection),"" a tribute to the
group"s Islamic beliefs, and 'Time, " a
suspiciously Stevie Wonderish tune
which was, in fact, co-authored by
Wonder's ex-wife Syreeta Wright.
Lookin’ Out for No. 1 (A and M). If one
closely peruses the liner notes of Quincy
Jones' "Mellow Madness'" one soon
realizes that four of the album's ten
selections were written by George and.
Louis Johnson. One will further note that
the lead vocals on three of those songs
are f>erformed by George Johnson and
that on bass and electric guitar for EVERY
selection on the LP are Louis and George
Johnson, respectively.
Now the duo has released an album of
its own the inspiration evident in
"Mellow Madness" flows even more
freely.
From its turn-up-the-stereo-so-that-
the-rest-of-dorm-can-hear-this-bad-jam
cuts ("Get the Funk Out My Face,""
"Dancin' and Prancin","" and " Thunder
Thumbs and Lightnin" Licks" ) to its
resonantly mellow renditions (" I'll Be
Good to You,"' " Land of Ladies, " and
'Tomorrow ") this is the baddest LP to
date in 1 976.
Love and Understanding (De-Lite). Kool
and the Gang have steadily expanded
their musical perspectives, still
maintaining their status as the nation's
premiere boogie band (" Higher Plane, "
" Rhyme-Time People"" and " Spirit of the
Boogie") while simultaneously delving
into the sound of synthesized jazz
(""Summer Madness,"' "Winter
Sadness," "Whiting H and G").
Unfortunately, the band's current release
offers little of either. Although three of
the LP's selections are creditable live
performances at the Rainbow Theatre in
London, the new material, to term it
generously, is bland.
One good cut on an album garnished
with few is the live recording of "Summer
Madness," altered slightly by the addition
of female background vocals and a jazzy
saxophone conclusion.
Otherwise, there simply isn't very
much here to speak of
i
According to Bogle, blacks have played
five characters in Hollywood movies: the
Tom, coon, mulatto, mammy, and buck.
The Tom character marked the
beginning of blacks in motion-pictures
with the 12-minute movie, "Uncle Tom's
Cabin", in 1903; however, the first Uncle
Tom was played by a white actor made up
in blackface, said Bogle. The Tom
character was a clown, good Christian,
and loyal to his white friends. The first
black actor to play Tom was Sam Lucas in
1914. However, a contemporary Tom was
Sidney Poitier in the 1950's, contends
Bogle. 'Although Poitier was
sophisticated and mannerly, he was still a
Tom character," he said.
The second stereotype Bogle noted was
the coon, divided into children,
pickaninnies, and adult males. Coons
were clowns, watermelon eaters and lazy
good-for-nothings, and the most famous
of whom was "Stepin Fetchit". The coon
figure is still here. Bogle said; a
contemporary coon of the 1950"s and
60 s was Sammy Davis Jr.
"The mulattoes," Bogle said, "were
black women who had to be close to the
white image. They were supposed to be
white women cursed with black blood.'"
These women, he continued, were
always left unfulfilled and unhappy. He
called them tragic women because they
were in "tragic positions, lived tragic lives
and had tragic endings." Mulattoes were
also whore images, he said, but not really
whores. Because of the mulatto
stereotype many black women went to
Europe to continue their careers. ""They
were tired of being made white or
whores, " said Bogle.
"Mammy ", according to Bogle, was the
dark black woman usually big, fat, and
quarrelsome. The "mammy " role was
perfected by Hattie McDaniels, the first
black to win an Oscar. She Won it for best
supporting role in "'Imitation of Life".
the buck. Bogle said, was a rejection of
the middle class image. Bucks were
emotional, sexual men who had hard
times and went for white women. Bogle
cites Jim Brown as falling into the
category of the early bucks. However,
around the early 1970"s a new kind of
buck appeared. This buck was a radical
black, he degraded black women and
exploited the way of life in the ghetto in
movies such as ""Superfly" and " Sweet
Sweetback"".
The new buck, according to Bogle, was
liked by the black audience because he
came out on top. The new bucks were
usually pimps, pushers and tough guys.
Historically, buck films were good
because they answered a need for the
black man to come out on top. However,
Bogle said, the buck films failed to explain
the social reasons behind the corruption
of the buck.
"To change the buck image or to make
it more explanatory there should be more
black people behind the scenes as
directors and producers,'" he said.
Composition
by
Student Graphics
Carolina Union