Black Manhood on the Silent Screen (Culture America) [Hardcover]

Gerald R. Butters Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002 | Series: Culture America

In early-twentieth-century motion picture houses, offensive stereotypes of African Americans were as predictable as they were prevalent. Watermelon eating, chicken thievery, savages with uncontrollable appetites, Sambo and Zip Coon were all representations associated with African American people. Most of these caricatures were rendered by whites in blackface. Few people realize that from 1915 through 1929 a number of African American film directors worked diligently to counter such racist definitions of black manhood found in films like D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, the 1915 epic that glorified the Ku Klux Klan. In the wake of the film's phenomenal success, African American filmmakers sought to defend and redefine black manhood through motion pictures. Gerald Butters's comprehensive study of the African American cinematic vision in silent film concentrates on works largely ignored by most contemporary film scholars: African American-produced and -directed films and white independent productions of all-black features. Using these "race movies" to explore the construction of masculine identity and the use of race in popular culture, he separates cinematic myth from historical reality: the myth of the Euro American-controlled cinematic portrayal of black men versus the actual black male experience. Through intense archival research, Butters reconstructs many lost films, expanding the discussion of race and representation beyond the debate about "good" and "bad" imagery to explore the construction of masculine identity and the use of race as device in the context of Western popular culture. He particularly examines the filmmaking of Oscar Micheaux, the most prolific and controversial of all African American silent film directors and creator of the recently rediscovered Within Our Gates-the legendary film that exposed a virtual litany of white abuses toward blacks. Black Manhood on the Silent Screen is unique in that it takes contemporary and original film theory, applies it to the distinctive body of African American independent films in the silent era, and relates the meaning of these films to larger political, social, and intellectual events in American society. By showing how both white and black men have defined their own sense of manhood through cinema, it examines the intersection of race and gender in the movies and offers a deft interweaving of film theory, American history, and film history.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Butters (history, Aurora Univ.) argues that from its inception motion pictures reflected and reinforced the hostility of the white majority toward African Americans. Early comedies negatively stereotyped them as thieving and lazy, while more serious films often portrayed black males as a physical danger to their "betters." In most cases, white actors in blackface demeaningly played such characters. Within the framework of contemporary film theory, Butters examines films from the 1890s to the dawn of sound. He argues that D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation led to the establishment of several, usually short-lived, film companies devoted to black audiences. Of these pioneering companies, Oscar Micheaux's is the best remembered. The author's research is impressive, but while he has managed to discover some very obscure movies, it is not always clear whether he has actually viewed them. Although it could use some judicious editing (certain points are made over and over), this book is well recommended for academic libraries.
Roy Liebman, California State Univ. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

"A defining work that fills in significant gaps in our knowledge of early African American cinema and its critical discourse."-—Ed Guerrero, author of Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film

"Butters’s analysis of a large body of important films that are rarely discussed is a significant contribution to the field of film studies."—-J. Ronald Green, author of Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux

"A meticulously researched work that contributes to our understanding of a vastly underrepresented area in film studies."-—Paula J. Massood, author of Black City Cinema: African American Urban Experiences in Film

"Performs an invaluable service to early American film studies and the overall study of gender and race in popular entertainment."—-Mark A. Reid, author of Redefining Black Film

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of Kansas (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0700611975
• ISBN-13: 978-0700611973
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,508,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Fade in from Black, December 17, 2010

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This review is from: Black Manhood on the Silent Screen (Culture America) (Hardcover)

Gerald Butters has written a very informative and even handed book. By this I mean that by the time you finish reading this book, you know the story but can't tell what the author thinks personally. This is so refreshing. Too many authors use their books as a platform for their own agendas or causes. There are villians and heroes in this historic account. Butters places a pure spotlight on the times and the people. Butters does an excellent job in making history readable and honest.