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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
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
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
“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
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