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Hip Hop Movie Analysis

Advancement in technology during the 20th century has made a significant impact on the

way in which various cultures are depicted especially the African-American culture. The ability

to combine music with visuals has enabled film directors to make films that communicate with

the audience through visual and musical gestures. For instance, the African-American

experiences during the late 1980s are accurately depicted in the movie “Do the Right Thing” and

the article “Musing New Hood.” The film and the book both describe the hip hop culture that is

predominant amongst the African Americans. They clearly outline the adversities that the

African-Americans face. Both “Do the Right Thing” and “Musing New Hoods” stress on the

horrible reality of African-American stereotypes. They reveal the effects of black discrimination

and racial disputation.

It is widely viewed that the Blacks are inferior compared to any other race. According to

Sanchez, “This phenomenon is rooted in a colonial need to justify slavery by portraying Black

people as intellectually inferior and as humanly flawed” (Sanchez, p. 17). In the movie “Do the

Right thing,” for instance, after Raheem visits Sal’s place for a pizza, he and Sal get into a fight.

This is after Raheem gives a rather improvised speech. Sal triggers the fight between the two as
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he gets Raheem to turn off his music. Sal tries to show some respect to Raheem at first by calling

him “Mr. Radio Raheem.” However, Raheem does not take it lightly, and he instead considers it

an insult which he believes it tries to push him into rejecting his culture and give in to the wishes

of a Whiteman. Sal further makes a disrespectful attitude towards rap music by stating that, “You

come into Sal’s, there’s no music. No rap, no music, no music, no music.” Raheem considers this

to be a disrespectful dismissal of rap music which is his culture.

Some critics consider African America films to be hostile to black women. This

stereotype is brought up in the write-up “Muse New Hoods” by Ramsey in which he states that

“Feminist such as Valerie Smith, Michele Wallace, Bell Hooks, Wahneema Lubiana, and Jacquie

Jones have noted that the perceived realness of the rapsploitation film genre is also real hostile to

black women.” (p. 311). Looking at the movie “Do the Right Thing,” only three main characters

are of African American background which somewhat proves the stereotype to be true.

There exist various stereotypes depicted by African American films despite the attempt

by filmmakers to portray the reality of an African-American living in America. In her book

“Understanding Black American Aspects in Hip-Hop Cinema,” Sanchez says that “according to

Donald Bogle, the most common and oldest American Black stereotypes include the toms and

Aunt Jemimas who are blacks slavishly devoted to white people who dehumanize them, the coon

who is a black with limited intellectual understanding and the buck who is a savage.” (p. 18).

Thugs are one of the most widespread stereotypes portrayed by the African Americans films

today. In “Do the Right Thing,” some characters are portrayed as goons. For example, Raheem

and Mookie are depicted as goons after they demolish Sal’s restaurant. According to Nittle,

“there is no shortage of black male actors playing drug dealers, pimps, con-artists and other

forms of criminals in television shows and films.” (Common Black Stereotypes in TV and Film).
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African American films and television series play a significant role in educating and

portraying the lives of the Black people in America to the rest of the world. The ability of

filmmakers to use different music scores has enabled them to produce accurate representations of

their lives. Through reading and watching other films such as “Blindspotting,” a certain level of

“realness” that people can relate to emerges.


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Work Cited

https://africaunlimited.com/spike-lees-do-the-right-thing-revisited-2/

https://www.thoughtco.com/common-black-stereotypes-in-tv-film-2834653

Ramsey, Guthrie P. "Muzing new hoods, making new identities: Film, hip-hop culture, and jazz

music." Callaloo 25.1 (2002): 309-320.

Sanchez, Tani. Understanding Black American Aspects to Hip Hop Cinema.

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