Gender Stereotypes In The Film 'Tiffany'

At another level, the Wayanses effectively spoof the history of white America 's myth regarding black men and their alleged obsession with white women. Given that Latrell becomes obsessed with "Tiffany" (whom we know to be Marcus), there is a sense in which the taboo against miscegenation is not threatened. After all, Tiffany is not a real white woman and is thereby not in danger of being sexually "sullied." Nevertheless, the Wayanses creatively exploit Latrell 's interactions with "Tiffany" in ways that effectively delineate various subtle and not-so-subtle racist motifs. There are other moments that Latrell 's relationship with "real" white women speaks to deep fantasies and fears around the bountiful "sexual virility" of the black male body, even to the point of playing on the theme of the black male body 's sexuality as a site of sadism - and the aggressive sexual appetites of white women who actually desire to play in the dark Within the context of the film, white women 's desire for the black male body invokes the theme of masochism and the white man 's greatest fear. So, while Latrell is depicted as a racially caricatured black male, the performance operates at the level of mimicry thus speaking to the lies of whiteness through black male body. Latrell as the very essence of athleticism and hence the reduction of Latrell to the body, to sensuality and aggressiveness. Because his athletic career marks him as the performing black body, he is also connected to American slave history where blacks are reduced to their bodies in the form of laborers and toilers . Not only he is physically large in stature but also black and sexually around for white

There is the instant recognition and appreciation on the part of "Brittany" and "Tiffany." Their immediate attraction to rap music as a musical genre does not raise suspicion in us because, after all, they are black. The rap song is coded as black, as if it is impossible for blacks to find rap aesthetically unappealing. However, there is another moment in the film where the Wayans brothers do challenging a form of raced stereotype when "Tiffany," in an attempt to make herself unappealing to Latrell, intentionally plays Vanessa Carlton 's "A Thousand Miles." Because he likes all things white, however, Latrell is impressed by Tiffany 's song selection and happily sings along. The scene 's interpersonal dynamics assume that Latrell, because he is black, will find the song unappealing and hence ditch Tiffany. In fact, the look that "Tiffany" gives Latrell is animated by a sense of disbelief that Latrell actually knows the lyrics and really likes the song. like "Tiffany," leaving spectators in