Hollywood shuffle was a very enjoyable movie. The representation of the entertainment industry through the eyes of a minority was both believable and very funny. Although, this humor didn't come alone. It came with a carefully planned message that was just as much for white audiences as it was for blacks.
I think the problems that the main character faces are very real, not only in the 80s when this film was made, but even today. The theme of the movie, I thought, was that your morals trump your dreams. That sometimes your dreams do not seem so important in the grand scheme of things.
The reading focused on an authentic black experience and if the films we watch are portraying it. In my opinion, the answer is no. I think all races, excluding whites succumb to stereotypes that direct audience subconsciously to believe them.
The whole movie reminded me of something that actor Kumail Nanjiani said. In the popular podcast, Harmontow, he is regularly a guest. One episode he talks about his hardships when going to casting calls and being able to not fall into easy stereotypes that Pakistani actors fall into. He recalls stories of going into an audition that his agent wants him to do and getting there and realizing he is sitting with a bunch of minorities auditioning for a role of a wise cracking cab driver. He has no quams with that role per set but when the casting agents tell him to any more "Indian" he then walls out. He said that by perpetuating these stereotypes on TV and film or its not helping the major problem. Once he stands down, he says that there are a thousand other actors ready to take his place and act however they want them to. He admits that this had set him back in the industry And it made it very difficult to get a job but he says that it is very worth it because his morals were not hindered. It seems to work out for him though because he has a leading role in the hit TV show Silicon Valley.
I think that Hollywood Shuffle was trying to point this out to not only black actors, but the audience that would be watching them. By pointing it out in a major movie, it is making a statement while also poking fun at these ridiculous stereotypes that we have been force fed for years.
Like Kumail said, we can't get past these problems in the industry unless everyone is willing to tackle them head on... And that is a stretch. I think we are far from a point where current audiences, upcoming actors, and studio executives are willing to put away long standing traditions of profit to work together fire a common good. Until that, we will continue to get black thugs, Mexican drug lords, and Pakistani cab drivers.
Although the film was hilarious and entertaining, I also was able to look past the humor and understand the realistic message Townsend was trying to convey to the audience. The stereotypes demonstrated in the movie did indeed exist both in the eighties and today as well. In class, we discussed how engrained these stereotypes are into our society. It is difficult for people to look past them because they have existed for so long. The same thing goes for the film industry, just as you said. These stereotypical roles have been played out for years, so I do not see producers changing/doing away with them anytime in the near future.
ReplyDeleteReally good summary of the major issues here, and nice comparison with Kumail Nanjiani. The issue has been no means resolved. Just to be a bit more precise though, one of the larger issues Margolis discusses is the idea that there's such a thing as any singular "black experience," and that somehow movies featuring African-American directors or actors somehow feature that experience as if it's one thing--that's the larger setting, along with racial typecasting, that makes playing non-stereotypical roles so difficult--that and the ways in which black artists and performers are called upon to represent their communities.
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