Introduction

    We are often taught about racism in a traditional classroom setting. We read chapters in textbooks that reference main events in history that have been either driven with extreme racism and cause horrific happenings, such as the Ku Klux Klan, or are turning points in discrimination, such as Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat. As students we receive handouts on events like these, or study court trials that are linked to racism. In English classes we even learn about racism through literary works such as To Kill a Mockingbird. A student can read these textbooks and study these cases, but until they are able to see racism first hand, they will not truly have developed an understanding of it all.
    Cinema is a type of media that allows for this. By not only documenting the evolution of racism, film also makes it possible for us to essentially travel back in time and view what had been captured through the lens as through seeing it with our own eyes. So sit back and (try to) relax, as I point out the racism our country has created through out history as portrayed in film.

Birth of a Nation (1915)

Released in 1915 Birth of a Nation, produced and directed by D.W. Griffith, has been considered to be groundbreaking film. It introduced many new film techniques to cinema such as the “iris” effect, panning camera tracking shots, cross cutting between scenes to create excitement and suspense, as well as filming scenes from many different angles.  For this reason, the film critics were shocked at how realistic the quality was, it even appeared to have a “documentary quality” (Dirks). It was not however, just the new techniques that caused a buzz about the film. Birth of a Nation is explicitly racist.
    The film is told in two parts. The first part opens with the following words, “The bringing of the African to America planted the first seed of disunion.” These beginning words almost blatantly make the connection between the African slaves coming to America, and them being workers who slave over cotton fields by the use of the words “planted the first seed”. This very first title card  only foreshadows the horrible depictions to arise later in the film.
     We are then introduced to two families, the Northern Stonemans and the Southern Camerons. As the Civil War is declared, the two families become separated. We see what was supposed to be viewed as a typical Southern slave-owning household for 1860 (the year the first part was supposed to be from). We see the slaves as entertainers to their white masters as they dance and preform for the family.
    Battle scenes primarily dominate the first part of the film. Members from both sides of the family die, the North eventually reaches “victory”, and food and clothing become scarce in the South. The first part ends with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
    The second part of the film, “Reconstruction”. It is in this part that we really see the horrific racism spiral. The Ku Klux Klan is formed, “a veritable empire of the South, to protect the Southern country” (Dirks). By terrorizing the Blacks, the KKK believed they were “saving the South from powerlessness” (Dirks). The film follows the White leaders as the KKK begins to rise. In the ending scene, shots of dead bodies and people suffering stream. Then we see white-robed figures emerging as if representing the peaceful answer to the destruction the war left behind. Any person watching the film would know however that these white-robed angelic figures were no angels at all. They were the Ku Klux Klan, very very opposite of the peace the film had them representing.
    Although the film has been highly praised for its artistic style that was different than any film from its time, it is also disgustingly racist. The film caused many riots and protests, specifically organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People who pushed for the film to be condemned or at least censored (Sterritt). According to Griffith, his “sole intention was to tell the story of the Civil War and the postwar Reconstruction that really happened, from his own perspective as a Southerner who accepted the outcome of the war.” and that, “offending black Americans was the last thing he wanted to do” (Sterritt). This is highly hard to believe.
    Not only were all black characters played by white actors in blackface, but they were also blatantly depicted as, “slow-witted, servile, and sexually rapacious” (Sterritt). This film so degrading with its inaccurate portrayals marks the beginning of the racism within our country, translated into cinema.

The caption that starts off the film, foreshadowing the racism to come.

Another caption from the film, justifying the KKK

 

 The ending scene in which white-robed figures appear.

D.W. Griffiths opinion on censorship of his film.

    

the Jazz Singer (1927)

    Much like Birth of a Nation, the 1927 film The Jazz Singer is a film that is very important to cinema history. Although sound in movies had been around for nearly a year before The Jazz Singer had opened in a theater on Broadway, The Jazz Singer is known for its revolutionary use of synchronous sound (Kehr). People loved the film and it was considered to be a box office hit (Kehr). The film is upbeat, funny, and easy to follow. Any movie goer from that time would indefinitely have been satisfied with the film.
    Looking at the film today however, one immediately notices the use of blackface that is now considered shocking. The difference between reactions to this film compared to Birth of a Nation have more to do with the content and messages being displayed in both films. In Birth of a Nation people, especially African Americans, were horrified with the degrading portrayals of the Blacks, along with the brutality they received from the “heroic” figures. So then, why were people not as upset with The Jazz Singer?
    This film in compared to Birth of a Nation, is much more relaxed and entertaining. The main character Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson) is striving to be an entertainer himself! He is able to make the audience laugh without directly degrading Blacks, while also having us sympathize with him.
    In the film, the main character who is born into a Jewish family whose father is a Cantor who highly does not accept performance of these new to the era jazz tunes and considers them to be a disgrace to God. But, Jackie is talented. He reaches the audiences he preforms in front of and they love the crackle in his voice, and the tones he creates. Its new, fresh, and becomes funny when he poses as a Black man, the type of person who is known for such music.
    The film concludes with a satisfying ending. As Jackie preforms (in blackface) in front of a packed theater a song dedicated to his mother, who is watching in the front row. Jackie has won the heart of his family and we as an audience were there with him along for the ride.
    The film was released during a time period when racial discrimination was reaching its boiling point. At this point the Ku Klux Klan was increasing with followers, and “white supremacy” was a message that rang throughout the country. Between 1920-1927 an estimated 416 Blacks were lynched in Southern States by members of the KKK (Racial Discrimination in America During the 1920’s). Blacks fell to the bottom of the minimum wage scale and were the last to get hired and the first to get fired (Racial Discrimination in America During the 1920’s). Also during the 1920’s Blacks were facing discrimination through the act of segregation. In most public areas such as trains, parks, and even cemeteries, Blacks were segregated from Whites (Racial Discrimination in America During the 1920’s).
    Although it was not seen as that controversial (in comparison to Birth of a Nation) due to the way that society had failed to accept African Americans in the 1920’s, The Jazz Singer today is viewed as very racist. Having a white man play a white character who preforms and entertains as a Black man would be very unacceptable today. His alter character, the Black jazz singer, is not a person but a figure in entertainment. And by preforming as such a man, The Jazz Singer offends the entire Back community of yesterday and today.

Jackie confronting his sick father.

Jackie singing to his mother in his usual white self. His father walks in and becomes very angry.

Jackie in character about to preform, upset that his family doesn't accept him.

Jackie preforms to an audience, his mother is in the front row.

Massive crowds in front of a theater showing The Jazz Singer.

The Fighting Seabees (1944)

    17 years after the opening of The Jazz Singer, the world was in a very different place. In 1939 when German troops invaded Poland, World War II in Europe had begun. In December of 1941 the United States entered the war, fighting Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) in North Africa, Europe, and the Pacific. This war changed the way Americans contributed at home. Many men and women worked to make weapons of warplanes, battleships, and guns in order to outproduce the Axis powers (World War II: An Overview).
    The Fighting Seabees was a popular World War II propaganda movie released in 1944. It tells a story that follows the formation of the U.S. Navy’s Construction Battalion (Arnold). The film stars action heroes John Wayne and Dennis O’Keefe. Wayne plays a character who is head of the construction company building airstrips in the Pacific for the U.S. Navy. Fighting for the Navy to allow his men to be armed, he agrees for his men to endure the necessary military training for this to happen.
     The majority of the plot takes place on an Island in the Pacific. Wayne and his team are fearful for there lives when they have no protection, afraid of the Japanese forces. Historically they were right in being afraid. Japan was part of the opposing Axis powers, and their mission was to beat us. However, what the film inaccurately portrays is the way in which they depicted the Japanese fighters.
    In fighting scenes throughout the film the Japanese are seen as ruthless killers. In junction with the visuals of the Japanese with overly dramatic facial expressions, and senseless killing, the audio also contributes to the way the Japanese were perceived. In one particular scene where the Japanese are intruding on the American construction base in army tanks, we not only see them smiling as they are shooting Americans down,  but we can also hear them laughing in a high pitch giggle. This depiction of the Japanese is very dramatic, exaggerated, and highly racist.
    On the opposite side of the spectrum is the Americans. Because this was an American war propaganda film, it only makes sense for the U.S. fighters to be the heroic “good guys”. We fall for the characters, and become involved in their lives when romantic relationships form.
    In the scene described above with the evil, smiling and laughing Japanese trudging toward the American site in a tank of some sort, an American worker appears out of nowhere in a crane-like machine. He approached the tank at an angle and manages to push it off a cliff. The following shot we see him in his crane, atop the cliff. The hero above.
    Because Americans were pro-U.S. Army during the release of the film, it never appeared to be racist to the audience. The audience was on the U.S. side and they not only believed that the opposing forces were bad people, but the film further documented this.

Japanese depicted as ruthless killers.

In this fight scene the Japanese brutally kill the Americans. They stab them with bayonets and bludgeon the faces of Americans with the ends of their guns.  

Here, we see the Japanese approaching the U.S. construction site. They smile as they shot.

The next shot after the one above, we can hear them laughing.

American hero pushing the Japanese off a cliff to their death.

The final shot in the film. Depicting American pride.

Dragon Seed (1944)

In the same year that The Fighting Seabees was released, so was Dragon Seed. This film is interesting because we are not following or rooting for American troops. Instead, the war drama film takes place in a village in China that has become invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war. Many people in the village conform to the Japanese conquerors, but the main character Jade (Katherine Hepburn) chooses to stand up against them throughout the film.
    Although not American, we as an audience root for Jane and her village. As seen in The Fighting Seabees, at this point in history we have strong feelings against the Japanese. They are teamed with the opposing forces, and we classify them as “bad people”. Even though the characters in the film are supposed to be Asian, hardly a single actor actually has Asian heritage. Main star Katherine Hepburn is most certainly not Asian, and this is not hard to tell even with all the make-up that makes the bone structure in her face angled, and her eyes slant-y and drawn out. Her hair is colored dark and worn up. And she dons traditional Chinese clothing.    
    Hepburn is not the only non-Asian actor to play a character with such an ethnicity. Only the children extras were played by actual Asians (Miller). In scenes where Hepburn is surrounded by extras, she clearly does not fit in.
    Much like The Fighting Seabees, reactions to the films racial context was not very present. Audiences were more concerned with the fact that Hepburn was playing a headstrong woman defining a feminist role.
    Although the last film I will be analyzing in this blog, Dragon Seed is certainly not the last of racism in film. Racism that appears in our culture as we look back in history, and forward to the future will always be reflected be cinema in that era. Film allows us to travel back to these times and see the way our society felt and depicted other races, and groups of people.

Hepburn dons make-up to appear Asian.

Japanese troop of non-Asain actors.

Also not Asian.

Hepburn stands out in a crowd of Asians.

Works Cited

Arnold, Jeremy. "The Fighting Seabees." Turner Classic Movies. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. <http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=158612|133201&name=The-Fighting-Seabees>.

Dirks, Tim. "The Birth of a Nation (1915)." Filmsite. AMC, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013. <http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html>.

Kehr, Dave. "New DVD's." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Oct. 2007. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/movies/homevideo/16dvd.html?_r=0>.

Miller, Frank. "Dragon Seed." Turner Classic Movies. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. <http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/87858|0/Dragon-Seed.html>.

"Racial Discrimination in America During the 1920's." 123HelpMe.com. 19 Dec 2013
    <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=23257>.

Sterritt, David. "Birth of a Nation." Turner Classic Movies. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013. <www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=373965|355211&name=The-Birth-of-a-Nation>.

"World War II: An Overview." Scholastic Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/world-war-ii-overview>.