FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1977
THE BENNETT BANNER
Page Three
ROBYN'S NEST
Is Media a Poor Image Producer?
by Robyn-Denise Berryhill
Note: This column begins part one
of a three-part series entitled
“Where Was I on Saturday
Afternoon: Stereotyped Images
of Blacks on the Screen from
Past to Present.”
Part I: Identifying the Images
During my childhood, Saturday
afternoon at the movies became
enshrined as an all-American tra
dition along with baseball, apple
pie and hot-dogs. Today however,
though Saturday afternoons still
come and go, movies aren't the
same pastime they once were.
During the time when they were
the one weekend event I could
count on, I was provided with a
lot of enjoyment and also a lot of
puzzlement. I would sometimes
sit through the same movie over
and over again and imagine my
self in the part of the heroine.
Still I wondered why the leading
lady was never black and why
blacks couldn’t play the same
roles as whites did. It ocoured
to me that whenever blacks were
given a role in a movie they were
given the same type of part over
and over again. No one seemed to
recognize any diversity in the
black lifestyle and the same
themes always seemed to pop up.
Recently CBS aired a drama
entitled “Minstrel Man.” It dealt
with the hardships and prejudices
blacks had to contend with in or
der to be entertainers. Although
it told the story of only a few,
what was said was painfully true.
During slavery, blacks were
forced to sing and dance for the
enjoyment of their masters. No
doubt, there were some who prob
ably longed to make it in show
business, but they were given al
most no opportunity to display
their talents. With the end of
slavery and — for the South —
the beginning of poverty, many
blacks indeed were forced to
“sing for their supper.” They
would travel from town to town
with this street-corner type of en
tertainment, and people passing
by would throw money at them.
Whites took notice of this and be
gan to belittle and mock blacks
by doing an imitation of them.
They would smear black make-up
on their faces and enlarge their
lips with white paint. These were
the beginnings of what came to be
known as minstrel shows. When
blacks started to get into the act,
they were not welcome unless
they darkened their skins even
more with the same coal-type
make-up. Wliether or not they
consented to this, they still had
to pattern themselves in a man
ner that belittled them. Unfor
tunately, this set the precedent for
some stereotyped images of blacks
that still continue somewhat to
day.
The art of making movies be
gan early in this century. It was
soon to outdistance minstrel
shows and, later on, vaudeville
because of the mass of people
that could be reached and because
the entertainment could be re
played instantly on the spot.
Movies too were guilty of sub
jecting blacks to ridicule. Another
vehicle had been found for amuse
ment, and blacks became one of
the favorite playthings. The roles
designed for them in movies
came in the form of five types of
characters. Donald Bogle refers to
them in his book of the same
name as “Toms, Coons, Mulat-
toes, Mammies and Bucks.”
“Tom” first appeared in a
twelve-minute version of “Uncle
Tom’s Cabin” in 1903.
The picture was made by a
mechanic turned movie director
named Edwin S. Porter. This was
the first black character to be
viewed in movies although in ac
tuality it was a chubby white
actor in blackface. This “Tom”
was only the first in a long line
of acceptable Negro characters.
Toms are always chased, insulted,
harrassed and even whipped, but
throughout it all they remain
docile, passive and fearlessly loyal
to their masters. They are directly
geared to white audiences and in
the end emerge as heroes of sorts.
Two other versions of Toms ap
peared in the pictures “Confed
erate Spy” (1910) and “For
Massa’s Sake” (1911). In “Con
federate Spy,” a character known
as Uncle Daniel dies before a fir
ing squad happy because he “did
it for little massa and big massa.”
In “For Massa’s Sake,” a former
slave is so distraught over his
master’s financial woes that he
sells himself back into slavery.
In 1927, Universal Studios re
leased still another version of
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and became
the first producers to use a real
black in the role. It starred the
leading black actor of the time,
James B. Lowe. The director of
Some of the
smartest
black executives
work for us.
The Navy, though few black
college men realize it, can be
one of the fastest places for a
smart young man to get ahead.
Responsibility comes quickly at
sea, and it’s real responsibility.
An officer less than a year out
of college may be in charge of
thirty men; after just two years
he may run a division of fifty or
more. In four years, a Navy officer
can have more managerial expe
rience than most civilians have
midway through their careers.
The Navy has officer programs
in Aviation and Nuclear
Propulsion, in Supply, Law,
Medicine, and many others. Talk
it over with your Navy recruiter
or call 800-841-8000 toll free.
Early responsibility. Black or
white, it’s what being a Navy
officer is all about.
NAVY OFFKER.
IT'S NOT JUST A JOB, IT'S AN ADVENTURE.
the film Harry Pollard had himself
played Tom in blackface in a
version done twelve years earlier.
Congratulating itself on liberal
ism for hiring Lowe to “fill the
realistic demands of the times,”
Universal issued the following
press release on its new colored
star:
“James B. Lowe has made his
tory, a history that reflects credit
only to the Negro race, not only
because he has given the “Uncle
Tom” character a new slant but
because of his exemplary conduct
with the Universal company. They
look upon Lowe at the Universal
studio as a living black god ....
Of the directors who have seen
James Lowe work at the studio
there are none who would not say
that he is the most suited of all
men for the part of Tom. Those
who are religious say that a heav
enly power brought him to Uni
versal and all predict a most
marvelous future and worldwide
reputation for Janies B. Lowe.”
Although a “heavenly power”
may have brought Lowe to Uni
versal it did little to alter his in
terpretation of the Tom char
acter. I?ut so pleased were audi
ences and Universal with Lowe’s
work that they sent him on a
European promotional tour for the
picture. He became the first black
actor ever to accomplish this, and
the film contained a massive bap
tism scene which later became a
Hollywood favorite, proof that all
blacks had wicked souls and noth
ing short of baptism would save
them. In 1958 this version of
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was reissued.
Because it had originally been
made as a silent film, a voice
track featuring Raymond Massey
was dubbed in. Because it arrived
just when sit-ins were erupting in
the South, many wondered if by
reissuing this film Universal
sought to remind blacks of the
period when obeying masters
every wish was a solution to black
problems. But for whatever rea
son, the re-issuance was with
drawn.
The only other character type
that was to give “Tom” any kind
of serious competition was the
coon. Coons are generally viewed
as senseless, amusing, happy-go-
lucky creations. They lack Tom’s
down-home wit and single-mind-
ness. Generally there was the pure
coon and two variations of his
type: the pickaninny and the
Uncle Remus.
The pickaninny was the first
type to make its debut on the
screen. It gave the black child
actor his place in films. Generally
this type of coon was harmless.
His eyes popped and his hair
stood on end when he was fright
ened and his antics were always
laughed at. Thomas A. Edison was
the pioneer of pickaninny films
when he produced “Ten Pickan-
nies” in 1904. This pilot proved to
be a forerunner of the “Our Gang”
television series minus the white
children. In this movie, the chil
dren are referred to as snowballs,
inky kids, chubby ebonies and
bad ‘chillun.’ In later times they
would be replaced with names
like Stymie, Farina and Buck
wheat.
Another type of coon was fea
tured in a series of movies re
volved around a character named
Rastus. The first of this series was
a flick entitled “How Rastus Got
His Turkey.” Here Rastus tries to
steal a turkey for his Thanksgiv
ing dinner. After this came “Ras
tus in Zululand” about a darky
who dreams of going to Zululand
in Africa. Once he gets there he
wins the affection of the chief’s
daughter. He is willing to flirt
with and seduce the girl but when
a marriage commitment is asked
of him he refuses in “typical no
account nigger fashion” expressing
a desire for death rather than
matrimony. The savage African
(Continued on Page 6)