Shaping the Future of African American Film: Color-Coded Economics and the Story Behind the Numbers

Monica White Ndounou

Published by Rutgers University Press 2014

Shaping the Future of African American Film

Color-Coded Economics and the Story Behind the Numbers

Monica White Ndounou

https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813562575

Overview
Contents

About this book

Received the Distinction Honor for the 2016 C. Calvin Smith Book Award from the Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

In Hollywood, we hear, it’s all about the money. It’s a ready explanation for why so few black films get made—no crossover appeal, no promise of a big payoff. But what if the money itself is color-coded? What if the economics that governs film production is so skewed that no film by, about, or for people of color will ever look like a worthy investment unless it follows specific racial or gender patterns? This, Monica Ndounou shows us, is precisely the case. In a work as revealing about the culture of filmmaking as it is about the distorted economics of African American film, Ndounou clearly traces the insidious connections between history, content, and cash in black films.

How does history come into it? Hollywood’s reliance on past performance as a measure of potential success virtually guarantees that historically underrepresented, underfunded, and undersold African American films devalue the future prospects of black films. So the cycle continues as it has for nearly a century. Behind the scenes, the numbers are far from neutral. Analyzing the onscreen narratives and off-screen circumstances behind nearly two thousand films featuring African Americans in leading and supporting roles, including such recent productions as Bamboozled, Beloved, and Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Ndounou exposes the cultural and racial constraints that limit not just the production but also the expression and creative freedom of black films. Her wide-ranging analysis reaches into questions of literature, language, speech and dialect, film images and narrative, acting, theater and film business practices, production history and financing, and organizational history.

By uncovering the ideology behind profit-driven industry practices that reshape narratives by, about, and for people of color, this provocative work brings to light existing limitations—and possibilities for reworking stories and business practices in theater, literature, and film.

Author / Editor information

MONICA WHITE NDOUNOU is an associate professor of drama, and affiliate faculty in American Studies and International Literary and Visual Studies at Tufts University.

Reviews

"Ndounou compiles a phenomenal archive to diagnose and guide possibilities for the development of un-segregated, internationally viable Black film liberated from structural restraints that endorse racism and curtail creative freedom."

— Stephanie Batiste, author of Darkening Mirrors: Imperial Representations in Depression Era African American Performance

"Ndounou provides a comprehensive examination of African American filmmakers' experience in producing, distributing, and marketing economically profitable films in the Hollywood cinema industry. Most compelling is her demonstration of how industry standards make it difficult for black films to generate profits. This thorough, well-researched book is a must read. Highly recommended."

— Choice

"Anyone hoping to accelerate the current momentum in black cinema, develop new models of production and distribution, or simply gain a better understanding of how race impacts business decisions in Hollywood, should consult Ndounou’s well-researched book."

— Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: The Color of Hollywood—Black, White, or Green? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part One: Finding Freedom on Stage and Screen
1. The Plantation Lives! Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
2. Insurrection! African American Film’s Revolutionary Potential through Black Theater Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
Part Two: Black Pathology Sells [Books and Films]?
3. Playing with Fire: Black Women’s Literature/White Box Office Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
4. Breaking the Chains of History and Genre Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	131
Part Three: It’s Not Just Business: Color-Coded Economics and Original Films
5. The Paradox of Branding, Black Star Power, and Box Office Politics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
6. Big Business: Hip-H op Gangsta Films and Black Comedies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
Conclusion: The Story Behind the Numbers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Appendix: Ulmer Ratings of Selected Actors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255
Selected Filmography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305

Language: English
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 296
Illustrations
- Other: 10 photos, 5 figures, 6 tables

eBook

Published: April 29, 2014
ISBN: 9780813562575