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Masculinity In The Film The Birth Of A Nation

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The contemporary representations of male masculinity are usually formed in electronic visual media, in particular, television, which promotes a certain image of a typical male. The history of the United States has left traces on the racial and cultural stereotypes. That is why mass media promote different views of how white and black men look and behave. In 2007 I joined the United States Army, and attended basic training at Fort Jackson, SC. As a young private in basic training I met fellow soldiers from all over the world, many with very different backgrounds than that of my own. One particular incident that always stood out to me was a situation I had with another, named Brown. Brown was from a small rural country town in Alabama, the town …show more content…

Griffiths film The Birth of a Nation was released, this film gave birth to many of the negative themes and depictions surrounding black males, much of the impact surrounding this films idea of black males can still be seen today to some degree. Stereotypical roles depicting black men as thugs, criminals, fools, economically disadvantaged, or in-service roles are common themes in many facets of media. The popular Starz T.V. series power produced by rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson depicts the main character nicknamed Ghost, played by Omari Hardwick as a smooth, cunning, powerful, and dangerous drug boss in New York City. Ghost and his best friend Tommy together climb their way out of the ghetto starting off as low-level drug dollars and graduating to major wholesale level cocaine distributors. Ghost earned his nickname by silently committing murders and then disappearing. The series centers around Ghost desire to leave the drug world and go legit as a major upscale nightclub owner, despite his best efforts Ghost is continually pulled back into a life of crime. As entertaining as this series may be there are several negative depictions of black men, such as involvement in the drug trade, or the perceived innate violence of black men, as well as their involvement in various other forms of criminal activity. This show also suggest that one of the few ways for a black man to be successful is through the sale of illegal drugs, which is also a major theme in a lot of …show more content…

Although much change has been enacted, were still far behind where we should be considering the decades that have passed since the release of The Birth of a Nation. One recently introduced show is the T.V. series Black Lighting, which is a story of a black superhero originating from the D.C. comic book collection. This series portrays the main character Jefferson Pierce, as high school principal by day, and a vigilante crime fighter by night. The thing that’s so unique about this show is it depicts a black male, that’s not overly successful in a predominately black school and neighborhood working to fight crime both as a positive force in his school, and community as well as fighting crime as a superhero. Another notable reform is the recent social awareness surrounding black representation in the media, which spawned the #BlackMediaMatters movement. This movement has been instrumental in calling for increase in black owned media, as well as more positive depictions of minorities in

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In John Robert Adams novel, “Male Armor: The Soldier-Hero in Contemporary American Culture,” he writes about how American media (films, books, plays, etc.) reflect our societies changing ideas on what masculinity is. He describes a persisting gap between what the American culture perceives masculinity to be, and the individual experiences of men who’ve gone to war (pg.6). He writes, “These gaps appear largely responsible not only for soldiers’ treacherous reintegration into civilian society… but also, for continuing support of the war enterprise.” In this passage, Adams argues that this gap is what is responsible for the continuing support of war and he critiques the popular view in American culture that war ensures masculinity both in men

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