Despite cringe-worthy depictions of obsequious slaves, a boisterous and protective mammy, and a “simple-minded darky,” Gone with the Wind (1939) is one of my favorite movies.
No matter how exaggerated and biased, the film is a masterpiece and the story is compelling.
Years ago I encouraged a friend of mine to watch the movie because she’d never seen it. The next day I asked her what she thought. As soon as she saw actress Hattie McDaniel with that rag on her head (which is perhaps the third or fourth scene in the movie), she switched the channel. My friend couldn’t take it.
As many of you know, Hattie McDaniel was the first black actress to win an Oscar. For her role as Scarlett O’Hara’s protector, she received the award as best supporting actress. McDaniel, who died in 1952, will be honored with a postal stamp. From the AP:
McDaniel is the 29th person honored in the Postal Service’s long-running Black Heritage stamp series…“She was a most special lady,” McDaniel’s “Gone with the Wind” co-star
Ann Rutherford told AP Television News.Rutherford recalled how McDaniel thought some of her friends looked down on her for playing a maid.
“But (McDaniel) said, ‘I’d rather play a maid than be a maid,’” Rutherford said.
McDaniel and many black actors and actresses were criticized for playing in what people consider demeaning roles. McDaniel reportedly said she’d rather be paid $700 a week to play a maid than be paid $7 a week to be a maid. Louise Beavers, who played a mammy-like character in the 1934 movie “Imitation of Life” with Claudette Colbert and Fredi Washington, reportedly said she had her own maid when someone asked about her well-manicured nails.
When I think of black actors in Stepin Fetchit-like roles back in the day, I feel the anger rising to the surface, but I have to remind myself that those people had choices, as limited as they may have been. Of course, $700 a week is a better option than $7 a week. I guess we all have a price. 
For instance, I consider some of today’s “black” movies and TV shows worse than the worst from the Stepin-Fetchit and “blaxplotation” eras. Highly bloggable and controversial stuff…
Resources:
- Blacks in Hollywood
- Top Ten Blaxploitation Films
- Hollywood Shuffle (very funny movie)
- WashPost review of “Hollywood Shuffle”
- NYT review of “Hollywood Shuffle”
{ 31 comments }
La Shawn:
White people also play “demeaning roles”.
Jackie Gleason’s “Ralph” was not exactly “respectful” – and “Norton”, played by Art Carney was not “respectful”.
Likewise for “I love Lucy”.
My favorite is Halle Barry – it’t really gone to her head that she doesn’t get “better roles”, and has claimed “racial bias”. Perhaps she is NOT the great actress the Acacemy said she was, and she is getting the roles she deserves – like Catwoman.
Hattie McDaniel worked hard for her stamp. She did not turn her nose up at a “demeaning role”.
La Shawn:
I took a Blacks in Cinema course at Temple during my final year. The text was Toms, Coons Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks. I recommend it for anyone interested in film history. Author Donald Bogle makes some intriguing points and even mentioned the comment about Louise Beavers’ manicured nails.
You’re right about “blaxploitation” in today’s films. Some of the black films today are no less caricature-based than those of nearly a century ago.
Great post.
Someone had to open the door for others to follow. I think of the episode of “A Different World” in which Colonel Taylor was invited to join a formerly restricted country club and would have been the first ever Black member. Later it is revealed that his invitation was approved by the board in order to get the PGA tour, which would not play through restricted clubs.
The other characters derided his wish to join because he would have been a token, and he bowed to their pressure. The end result is of course, leaving the club all White and actually helping to maintain that status.
While this was a television show, it accurately depicted the attitude facing people who dare to break the cultural norm. We all want to be in the door, but unless it comes in exactly the way we want it, we criticize the first one through.
Perhaps her choice was for a fat paycheck. In the real world of growling stomachs and rent, who can fault her? It’s a acting job, not selling cocaine. Whatever her reason, it helped open doors for other Blacks.
Now regarding today’s films… we should celebrate and seek the roles that reveal our capability to play any role. I relish movies in which a Black actor or actress can play a role in which he or she isn’t “being Black”. The upcoming Queen Latifah movie looks like this type of role and I hope to see it. A few weeks ago the movie “Bright Road” featuring Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge aired and showed a teacher, a principal, and some school kids. Except for certain supporting scenes, this was just a movie about people who happened to be Black.
When this becomes the norm, and it should, then movies in which the baser elements of humanity according to a particular stereotype are celebrated will stop being the standard by which that segment of humanity is judged. Even by themselves.
Well said, Mark.
I share your cringing whenever I hear rap performers perpetuating the stereotypical thug mentality. (especially posers like Kanye West who grew up in the Chicago suburbs.) How is that any different?
A personal favorite black actor from the “old days” is Dooley Wilson – the man who played Sam in Casablanca.
While he hardly had a central role, his character was fairly well-respected by the other characters in the movie, having an odd friend/co-worker/employee relationship with Bogart, who was obviously concerned with his welfare by arging with Ugarte about his pay before he left. Their friendship is seen as they are drinking before the Nazis enter Paris and better seen as Bogart’s character spends the evening at the bar and Wilson tries to cheer him up and make him forget about his lost – and refound – love.
As I stated, the role was hardly central to the plot, but I believe it was handled in a very respectful way given the time.
(I also rather like the scene when Ilsa asks him to play “as time goes by”, only to have Rick interrupt him and encounter Ilsa as he does so. Sam’s hasty retreat from the awkward scene and the “uh oh” look on his face is one of the more classic moments of that film, in my opinion, and Wilson does it perfectly.)
This is a difficult one to call. The role itself– dialog, characterization, etc. — was not “demeaning,” but like your friend so aptly put it, “the rag on her head” was very hard to take.
Sadly, though, it goes deeper than this. At the time groups such as the NAACP were upset not so much about the rag on McDaniel’s head, as they were with the McDaniels’ African features. This is what they had a problem with. Simply put, they thought she was too black.
Years later the NAACP continued its misguided ways when it boycotted Amos ‘n’ Andy, a show that actually was as wholesome and non-demeaning as say, The Cosby Show.
Eventually it came out that the NAACP’s real problem with the show was the character who played the lawyer. This guy would appear in court to represent Andy and Kingfish and say things like,”Your Honor, both of these crooks are innocent!”
NAACP lawyers didn’t like that and so successfully got the show off the air after its second season.
More recently, Kwesi Mfume got one of the networks to cancel a sit-com about the Lincoln White House. He’s quoted as saying, “It trivializes the history of black Americans.”
The show was pulled and its actors haven’t been heard of since, a tragedy since anyone of them could have become a major star or the show itself could have had any number of spin-offs.
How do you put a group of people out of work based on your perception of what’s inappropriate, particularly if you have no training or education in the art form?
The people behind this show were all black — black folks who had been in the industry for years, yet here comes Mfume telling them in so many words he knows what demeaning is, and they don’t.
Moreover, how do you single out a show produced by blacks (as the Lincoln sitcom was) and done in good taste (as the Lincoln sitcom was) while ignoring the utter minstrelsy we’re assaulted with 24-7 from BET, our own black network?
ricland
“Moreover, how do you single out a show produced by blacks (as the Lincoln sitcom was) and done in good taste (as the Lincoln sitcom was) while ignoring the utter minstrelsy we’re assaulted with 24-7 from BET, our own black network?”
~You can say that again. Another nice touch of the older shows was when Blacks commonly were portrayed using perfect english with perfect diction. There are many intelligent, skilled people out in the community that could turn entertainment on its head if given half a chance, but they face the s’poseda roadblock.
S’poseda look like this…
S’poseda sound like this…
S’poseda act like this…
Birth of a Nation, Belle Starr and Showboat show the changing attitude of whites. And I agree – Almost every depiction of a white male is a parody – except for John Wayne, who is so like me as to be remarkable.
I was extremely impressed when I saw Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field. At that time it was still unusual to see an assertive black leading man. Poitier pulled it off so well and seemingly so effortlessly that I found myself wondering, in my high school era naivete, why I hadn’t seen such performances prior to that.
Eventually I came to understand the unfair limitations put on black actors, and how such barriers came down in an evolutionary manner over the course of decades.
Hattie McDaniel is to be commended for her abilities and performances, done under the very trying circumstances of her day.
I agree, black actors of that era were pioneers. Their roles were few and far between therefore refusal to accept a job could have spelled doom for their careers. Today I believe there are choices. Buffoonery is not the only game in town but you wouldn’t know it by looking at Hollywood. Can anyone say Soul Plane?
I’ve been deeply concerned about some of the recent offerings in black entertainment (Mr. West, in particular, after giving his music a fair hearing apart from his commmentary). It almost seemed conspiratorial – and supernatural, in that it seems as though there should be much more alarm about the quality of what is being promoted than there is.
Nevertheless, I also consider Denzel Washington’s performances in Crimson Tide, the otherwise noisy Bruckheimer fest, and the more recent Man On Fire, as examples of good entertainment wherein the lead could have been of any persuasion. I think that Terrence Howard did some great work in Crash, in perhaps the best ensemble work of last year.
Do these balance out the West’s and their ilk? I’m not sure that I have the answer.
Didn’t Richard Townsend do a movie about black roles in modern movies? I remember they were making a black guy act all ghetto, and his younger brother was watching, disappointed.
Of course, the mami role isn’t great, but I agree that today’s popular entertainment that features black people in music, especially, is disgusting, it’s no wonder people all over the world (where that junk is exported) are afraid and are disdainful of black Americans (ask immigrants what they think).
His name is Robert Townsend
, and I linked to his movie “Hollywood Shuffle” in the post.
You mean crap like Big Momma’s House 2? I agree. By the way, got a new blog.
Big Momma’s House was hilarious, yes it was a bit trashy, unsophisticated, not at all thought-provoking (except for the question: “what would it be like to live life as an overweight old black woman undercover”), I admit.
Still, BET is an embarrassment not because of how other people in other countries might see us, but more because of it’s title – “Black Entertainment Television.”
If we want to be righteously indignant, lets be indignant about the fact that so many black – and non-black – people consider BET fare preferrable programming.
106 and Park, the request show that regulary out-performs the MTV counterpart TRL, is trash – total trash. One of the videos on the countdown was for a song called “Im in Love With a Stripper.” Yes, for real.
I damn near choked on my food watching this crap flash across my television screen.
It’s the culture we should be pissed-off about, that there are so many young people that consider this acceptable entertainment. Absurd, it really is, and I am no prude, trust me…just very discrete.
One of the finest delineations of black on black racism was shown on “Frank’s Place” when Tim Reid, new to New Orleans, was asked to join a black restricted club-no Creole. They showed a paper bag test-you had to be darker than a brown paper bag to get in. An excellent show.
Robert Townsend’s “Hollywood Shuffle” was very good; look up “The Mighty Quinn” with Robert in a dramatic role that could have been caricature and offensive if portrayed by a lesser talent.
And there are plenty of lesser talents around, all across the color palette.
Okay, I’ll ask the obvious un-PC question.
Was the role written to be historically correct?
Is the cloth on the head unpalatable because it has a basis in truth? Or did Hollywood make it up? Same thing with how she spoke in the movie. Historically correct or Hollywood mix up? Seriously, I’d like to know.
Hate it or love it, you can’t change history and just because most can’t stand it doesn’t mean that none should mention it.
To RepJ
To answer your question, it was historically accurate. I’ve seen pictures of many black people wearing scarves and “rags” on their head. It was to keep the hair free of lint and dirt while cleaning. I wear one while doing heavy cleaning myself. ESPECIALLY, if I’ve just gotten my hair done! What is the big deal. Most black women were cleaning women back then. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. My mother cleaned homes part-time to make extra money to put my brother through college and I’m very proud and grateful for her sacrifice. Anyway, whether they admit it or not, some Black people get all up in arms over stuff like the mammy character because they really do care what white people think of them. But I’ve learned that even if someone changes their opinion or view of me, that view in most cases won’t be transferred to the “rest of them” so therefore it is meaningless to me. MJ says now even immigrants disdain us because of the images they see of us in entertainment. So what. Ignorance is it’s own excuse.
RepJ is right.
An accurate portrayal of history is not demeaning. The position of blacks at that time in history (the time portrayed in GWTW) was demeaning, but hiding that fact by refusing to present it does not increase black dignity, it allows us to forget the sins of the past. We must never allow that.
That’s just one white, er, excuse me, Scandinavian-American guy’s opinion.
I can’t tell you how many times I cringe during the “good black man must die scene,” as in the new version of King Kong. (Black man taking care of white boy, he dies first). Or in the movie, “Cider house Rules.” There the black man dies, of a gunshot I think, asking the white guy, “I did good didn’t I?”
I want to puke. Just show black folks as people, with all their foibles and pathos, please.
And by the way, Hattie McDanields was great, a great actress and groundbreaking, too.
She deserves the stamp and I will happily purchase it in her honor!
I have no problem with Hattie McDaniel. She did what she needed to do at the time. I think GWTW is highly over rated though. Too soap opera-ish for me.
Frank Z: There could be something to what Halle claims. Some of the actresses in the 10-20 million dollar club (Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, for example)are not exactly from the Meryl Streep school of acting either. It’s not all about acting ability.
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You know, I always wondered how much those actors got paid. That put her in the well to do/rich category back in the day. I wonder if she invested the money…And thinking of choice, the Spook that Sat by the Door comes to mind.
La Shawn et. al.
I remember growing up in the 70’s and would be watching a show like Good Times and my Father would say (in mild amusement), “And they took Amos & Andy off the air because it was racist!” Although Dad enjoyed the Jeffersons as well as All in the Family, because it proved that Blacks could be just as narrow minded as whites. (George really was the Black Archie Bunker)
And as far as Amos & Andy goes, there has been some reanalysis of the show (by Black and White scholars) and it can be argued that A&A had a definite “middle class America” senisibility to it, and it displayed that post war America where Black neighborhood did not automatically mean “ghetto” and the thriving Black middle class that Amos and Andy, and their wives, despite the boys’ schemes really did aspire to be part of. Check out an analysis of a charming Christmas episode that aired on that show, and you will see what I mean.
As someone pointed out above, they are irked by hip hop artists glorifying the thug life, even posers like West. Well, I have always had the (slightly) tongue in cheek belief that shows like Def Comedy Jam were actually produced secretly by the Klan or the Aryan Brotherhood! In the few times I have watched them (I make it a point to turn any show off after I hear any variation of the F-Word fifty times, which usually means that I got through about 8 minutes of DCJ)I watched young Black males basically pander to every White sterotype of young Black males. Celebrating laziness, disrespect, scoring with lots of girls, the gangsta life etc. etc. I actually heard the following on one of those shows: “Hey, you ever go out to dinner with a white couple, and they actually TIP the waitress? WTF’s up with ‘Dat! I cringed and, of course, changed the channel!
Off topic slightly, but I’ve never quite understood the insult posed by the headscarf. Lucille Ball wore one just like it when she cleaned house as Lucy Ricardo. Commercials and ads in the ’40s and ’50s showed women wearing them. Rosie the Riveter wore one in the famous WWII poster, and most of the women doing war work were photographed with similar headgear. In and of itself, there was nothing demeaning about tying up hair in a scarf; it was just accepted as being practical.
I am not being critical of Denzel Washington’s role in GLORY, but I felt that there were other actors in it who were equally deserving of recognition. For example, the actor who played Jupiter Sharts was to me about the most believable of all the soldiers in the 54th Mass. He is the one who said “Tommorrow we goes into battle, so Lordy, let me fight with the rifle in one hand, and the Good Book in the other. So that if I may die at the muzzle of the rifle… die on water, or on land, I may know that you blessed Jesus almighty are with me… and I have no fear.” Some would say his role was demeaning but I appreciated it mostly from a historical perspective – he was a simple, humble, and religious man. I don’t believe that actor was ever in another movie and that is unfortunate. Denzel’s role as the sarcastic, angry, Pvt. Trip, although believable, was more appealing from a dramatic standpoint. Historical accuracy doesn’t seem to count in Hollywood – otherwise Matthew Broderick should have won an Academy Award for his role as Col. Shaw.
Another good historical movie that apparently bombed as the box office and is black-listed among the politically correct is RIDE WITH THE DEVIL (1999). One of it’s main characters is a black man who rode with Quantrill’s Raiders (Confederate) during the Civil War. He was played by Jeffrey Wright who was recently appeared in the movie, SYRIANA. James Caviezel (THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST) also played in RIDE WITH THE DEVIL.
To RedBeard,
I think the scarf is just one of those black stereotypical things. However, I see a lot of young kids today wearing the red scarf on their heads and I always want to ask them why they want to look like Aunt Jemima! (But I guess they wouldn’t know that since she got her extreme makeover a few years back!)
As many have pointed out, Hattie McDaniel, as well as other black performers, accepted those roles because it provided them an opportunity to work in the field of their choice. While it is uncomfortable at times to see those images, we cannot rewrite or undo history. I believe blacks should have be proud that Ms. McDaniel’s performance transcended the racial reality of the day and earned her an Oscar. Blacks should also be proud of the many positive images portrayed by blacks performers in those times. My favorite actor is Sidney Poitier, who has presented positive images since the 1950’s.
Many have opined that black entertainment today is embarrassing, especially the content of BET. We must remember BET is a money making venture, now owned by Viacom, and its programming is reflective of its need to sell advertising bolseter the bottom line. This is true of every other station. Are we holding BET to higher standard? Unless or until it becomes unprofitable for BET to continue its programming, nothing will change. So if BET’s programming is offensive, there are only a few options we have: (1) personally boycott BET (2) continue complaining, (3) attempt to pressure BET to change its programming (not likely), or (4) find or create an alternative.
Because money is the engine for most change in the business world, it will take us supporting quality black television, movies, and music before a profound change occurs the entertainment we receive.
Hattie McDaniel put all the haters in their place when she told them, “I rather play a maid than be one.”
Miss Scarlet Miss Scarlet i dont know nothing about birthen babies
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