blog 5

The first example that stuck out to me in the Half Past Autumn documentary was the story of Parks first trip to washington DC. He thought DC would be the heaven of democracy but he soon found out, on advice from his white supervisor, Striker, that DC was the same as the rest of the south. It sort of unmotivated him for awhile until his supervisor gave him an assignment to capture that feeling, not the white bigot but capture the people it effects and how it effects them in daily life, same way you felt today. His first photograph was leaving the building when he saw a janitor lady cleaning. He asked her to hold a broom and a mop in front of the american flag and bingo, symbolism is blacks in america are janitors yet we are the backbone of america even though they treat us like this.
The next example was parks photographs of red and his gang. He captured, without words because you don't need them at all if you follow the photos, inner city black life at the time. Kill or be killed is the motto. He explains that red would kill over something remedial, such as an accidental bump or even a game of stick ball. This false machoness of black males is still apparent today, that physically disturbing somebody makes you a man and making blood oaths is with your best friend is ok, because death is real and right around the corner.
The last example of my blog will be his trip to paris. even though he had been on staff only a year, he was sent to a choice job in paris and his family relocated as well. I think LIFE magazine did this to keep his troublesome photos away for awhile because they were so good. He felt that in paris, the energy was better because the energy in america had been hampered by racism. his photos reflected happiness and more colors as compared to those he took in america.
Apparently, Parks was the friendliest of fellows because he made friendships with a wide range of people. He was very observant of his surroundings and his photos seemed to capture that perfect moment, everytime, in his real life photographs of blacks. He is probably the only photographer to openly follow around a gang leader and be cool with it, and then report back to work at an all white organization. I think Gordon Parks most meaningful message to me would be to simply follow your dreams, be nice but firm with people trying to get in your way.

Blog 4

Between the three stars, Dandridge, Belafonte and Poitier, two of them displayed negative images while one was the shining light in film. Poitier was the model integrationist hero in america in film. In all his films he was educated and spoke proper english. He also reminded america of the old black star, still a tad bit uncle tommish in approach, resembling the civil rights movement at the time that if the black man is patient, his rights will come to him. But what really made him a star was his talent, the dignity he brought to his roles. In contrast to him, Belafonte played negative roles. He was a man who lost his wife to a mistress in Carmen Jones, had another affair in the film 'Island in the Sun' and then a bank robber with a racist partner in 'Odds against Tomorrow'. It surprised me that Poitier and Belafonte had the roles they did because usually light skin is associated with good roles that Sidney had while Belafonte was in roles that were usually picked for more darker toned blacks. Harry eventually stopped making films because of the roles offered to him. He was a civil rights activist so he turned to his music in the 60s and popularized caribbean music. Dandridge played the same type of roles as Harry. She was constantly a negative image of black women, sexy yet sneaky. In Carmen Jones she basically destroyed a mans life by taking him away from his lovely fiance and then playing him in Chicago. It was a precursor for what happens to successful black men today, they get caught up with the beauty and get taken for a joy ride into bad times. Her tragic mulatto roles played over into her real life as well, something one can not help to wonder why most black stars fall off in the pressure of white hollywood.

Blog 3

The entertainers of the 1940s offered something relatively hard to forget, entertainment, to the screen compared to the new negroes and problem people. They still upheld a certain dignity and class that black audiences could respect and they managed to put on a great show. The film Stormy Weather was an all black cast, entertaining, sexy and it didn't portray blacks as coons. Lena Horne was the starlet of the film and she sort of became the first african american (she was mixed) hollywood star. She was definitely Redd Foxx's favorite gal. The New Negroes were a product of the white mans repeated cycle of feed the negro the crumb every now and then. More black characters were casts in films however the leads were sympathetic ones often aiding the white man. Then the problem people were the next product. They were in more serious films that really delved into the race issue and mostly had a happy ending. However, even those these blacks were dignified, they still weren't entertaining or provoke emotion into the character other than sympathy.
The problem people did not deal with the race problem adequately as blacks would have it. It was told from the white mans perspective. How if the negro remains patient, his pie in the sky will come. The most surprising thing of history is the fact that blacks did not rise up, fight and become violent with whites after so many years of hatred. These films were fairy tale peaceful dreams that would never come true because even though the whites in the audiences wanted to believe in it, it was the whites outside the theatre laughing and knowing it would never happen but let these fools be fooled into thinking it.