8o's and Beyond

Once the 1980's approach, roles played by women of color on film begin to diminish, and television begin to feature well-known actresses such as Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, and Denise Nicholas. During this time of film-making, many black women coming from backgrounds other than acting begin to venture into film. Whoopi Goldberg originated in comedy but later starred in the featured film “The Color Purple”, along side Oprah Winfrey, who started as a news anchor. Vanessa Williams was the first black Miss America, who later became dethroned, begin starring in films during the eighties. The roles for black women during this decade, were very small in number but the quality was much more profound then the preceding decades.

Black women weren't given a voice until the seventies but even then their voice was muffled by sex and entertainment. Black woman in film has slowly progressed throughout the decades but there's always an occurrence of a demeaning role played by a black woman that back tracks the hard work of other women. Cicely Tyson  is one of the women throughout the sixties, seventies, eighties, and up till now that has not compromised her talent for fame or acceptance. So therefore I thought I'd leave you guys with a quote from Roland S,Jefferson, 

“The demeaning roles, the humiliating stereotypes, the offensive gestures and sexless, powerless images of black men and women that paraded before movie audiences for more than half a century were the creations of white society and in particular white-controlled Hollywood. The actors and actresses themselves were nothing more than puppets on a string at a time, in a country  when there were and still are, few options available to the black community. While I do not condone the actions of these actors and actresses, the pain and discomfort they experienced at the hands of an industry that offered them crumbs, transcends any criticism.” 

Blaxploitation & Misrepresentation

During the 1960's, 1970's, and the 1980's, Black women were more prevalent in mainstream movies the n they once were previous to this era. Black woman were often cast in supporting roles or even just as the stand-in's. White filmmakers only saw women of color as either the dark skin live-in housemaid or light skin sexualized characters. But once political change begin to occur during the 1960's the mammy  roles begin to dwindle and Black actresses were given a wider array of portrayal but this did not come without a price. Author of the article “The Black Experience and the Film Industry”, Roland S. Jefferson,

 “As the 60's approached, the black presence in films would take yet another turn towards distortion that would finally culminate in the reverse stereotyping of the 70's. The transition was subtle but received a great deal of assistance from the changing social conscious and attitudes the country was undergoing.” 

This was a slow moving transition for women of color, in general, to be represented in more ways than in servitude or as an exoticized female character. This progression was invoked by the fight for liberation and equal rights during the late 1960's, females played an important role in both the black power and civil rights movements. Women such as political activist like Assata Shakur, Angela Davis, Coretta Scott King, etc, played starring/supportive roles in real life to invoke political change in America. So it was only natural that these women would inspire new filmmakers but this inspiration was more like exploitation of the women and the movements. Author  of the article titled “Blaxploitation and the Misrepresentation of Liberation”, Cedric J. Robinson states, 

“The first Blaxploitation era, 1969-1975, appears precisely at that moment when Hollywood's 'liberal conscience' is at its apogee. In the years immediately preceding the emergence of the Black ghetto melodrama, intergrationism had become the reigning ideological drama...” 

Easing into the Blaxploitation era, black actresses such as Pam Grier, Tamara Dobson, Vonette McGee; these ladies are the most notably known for their roles in movies such as  "Coffy", "Foxy Brown", "Blacula", "Shaft In Africa", and "Cleopatra Jones". Women of color were becoming more sexually enticing to filmmakers and thus creating the notion that black women were not sexless and unappealing. This could be seen as a positive, in a sense, but instead of being seen for the talent and variety that black women are capable of, black women were being exploited. Black men played pimps and black women played the prostitutes, or they played the militant woman after revenge. Black women were representation for their bodies and still not their abilities, talent, and intellect.