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.