Frausto 1 Marisela Frausto Matt Whittaker Film 1070.

March 2, 2013 Beverly Hills Cop

In the movie, Beverly Hills Cop, the producer incorporated a black protagonist as a way to reinforce and romanticize views of stereotypical images of African-Americans, particularly African-American men, and touched upon white hegemony inherent by Blockbuster Hollywood cinema. Stereotyping and Romanticizing Stereotyping has been demonstrated in American films for generations and been done so in such a way that allows for viewers to perceive stereotypical connotations as comicala form of entertainment at the expense of a societal out-group. In Beverly Hills Cop, for example, the producers used geographic associations such as the slums of Detroit to suggest the living conditions of the poor, and the people to which this lifestyle belonged to. This tactic was wittingly done as a way to commence the idea of how deprived the community was compared to the community that was later portrayed in the city of Beverly Hills, California. The protagonist, Axel Foley, was initially shown to be working undercover, and therefore the viewer did not see much into the fact that he was dressed up as what people would consider

Frausto 2 to be typical of a black man in Detroit. As the film progresses, the viewers are shown more

connotations of the African-American micro-culture when Axel Foley transitions into the classier Beverly Hills setting. The character, Axel, is shown driving in an old beat up car along the infamous Rodeo Drive, and is soon alongside a classy sports car; the character then flirts with a white woman whose Caucasian male companion quickly gets an inclination of where the flirting is going and speeds up to get away from the black man. This situation, although brief, is demonstrative of the perception of black men wanting white women, and who are all too forward in their pursuit of them. Another stereotype was seen when an African-American detective is seen creating a scene in public and becoming boisterous in an expensive hotel. The use of the race-card in order to get into a fine hotel coupled with the troubling behavior was also indicative of the Hollywood (as well as the public) perceptions involving the Black culture. The character is portrayed as the typical low class person that speaks and acts like African-Americans are expected to behave. His attitude does not meet the Romanticized

expectations of most viewers of a film. Those who expect a black man that has the rough voice and body that screams out mean and strong. This detective shows off as being almost feminine in his speech and body language-his voice is not the thunder-like voice that a person would say is expected of a black man. The viewers also hope for some type of romantic involvement between the star of the film and the co-star. In this case the co-star was a Caucasian female therefore the idea of a romance between the two was not even presented. Some reviews on this movie came close to insinuating that Axel Foley could have been involved in a gay relationship with his murdered friend.

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Hegemony Beverly Hills Cop had a variety of situations in which the black protagonist, in a subtle way, was defeated in character by the All American men that tend to attempt to control his moves. Although this film had all the attention grabbers of a Hollywood Blockbuster movie, white hegemony is constantly dictating how the black detective expresses and carries himself throughout the film. Mr. Foley was portrayed as low class and not very manly, therefore as to not destroy the appeal of the movie they added the feisty and clever antics that would make him an attraction to movie viewers. The white cops were made to look clean cut and professionally dressed while the main character never really showed any upper class attitude. Hegemony also has the upper class white males looking down at their own race. For example, we have the police officers believing blindly that the white collar business men were incapable of lying. At times the two white officers were portrayed as being idiotic in their actions and decisions. It seems as if the producer was trying to tell us that there is hierarchy

within the white men as well. I was the type of viewer that would go to the movie theatre and simply enjoy the film. After reading several chapters and discussing them in class, I realize that as a person of Latin descent, growing up I personally experienced the imperialist culture. Trying to fit in was a way of life for anybody that is not white. There is always someone out there waiting for the moment to remind you that you must assimilate and conform to the white mans world. I have been taught from a young age that film and culture create certain expectations from society if expressed or presented just right. I will no longer watch films without attempting to dissect it

Frausto 4 and find out what the meaning behind it was. Was the producer attempting to stereotype a certain group? Are we the audience romanticizing on the outcome of the story? Or could it be that the film was produced for my own viewing pleasure without any second intent? Or is it always the possibility of hegemony been thrown over the heads of all other races in the attempt to keep the white mens culture and sense of hierarchy or superiority?

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Works Cited Beverly Hills Cop Netflix Martin Brest 1984

Benshoff, Harry M and Sean Griffin. America on Film Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, c2009