african American characters that pushed back
Jan 22, 2021 15:28:33 GMT
mattgarth and spiderwort like this
Post by marshamae on Jan 22, 2021 15:28:33 GMT
Perfect example! I really am not going for films where the Black character is destroyed for standing up. Nor an I especially interested in the sassy nanny type characters so often played by Louise Beavers and Hattie McDaniel. Wonderful as they are, it is another stereotype, even though these characters took some risks to speak their mind.
One I am wondering about is the character of Perry in In This Our Life. He spoke standard English, he hoped to become a lawyer at a time when you read law and clerked until you were ready to take the bar exam. He spoke white English ( not happy with the term standard English) at a time when to do so in the South could be construed as uppity and might get you lynched. He is never treated as an equal and even after the real killer’s confession, it seems unlikely that he will go free. Perry seems like the classic Black victim, whose story arc can only go down , no matter how promising it is at tge start. But he is still a brave , hopeful figure, a rarity for black men in film, not just there to throw a few jokes.
One I am wondering about is the character of Perry in In This Our Life. He spoke standard English, he hoped to become a lawyer at a time when you read law and clerked until you were ready to take the bar exam. He spoke white English ( not happy with the term standard English) at a time when to do so in the South could be construed as uppity and might get you lynched. He is never treated as an equal and even after the real killer’s confession, it seems unlikely that he will go free. Perry seems like the classic Black victim, whose story arc can only go down , no matter how promising it is at tge start. But he is still a brave , hopeful figure, a rarity for black men in film, not just there to throw a few jokes.