Monday 16 December 2013

Task 3: Historical Context - Dixon of Dock Green vs Luther

The second text I looked at was Dickson of Dock Green a British show which was broadcasted on the BBC from 1955 to 1976, it was a television series following activities of police officers in London, majorly in the East End of London. It usually focused on small crimes in the community and Dixon was portrayed as a great influence on his colleagues through his family like nature. He was also a protagonist who always solved the case therefore being portrayed very positively.

This show was similar in some ways to my text Luther, in both we see a determined police officer who did whatever they could to solve the case Dixon and Luther were both somewhat family men, who put work before family, both were also set in London. However Luther was different in the way that it showed more high profile cases whereas Dixon of Dock Green showed more shows that were community crimes, still high profile in a way but not as big as Luther, Dixon of Dock Green then became somewhat of a soap whereas we see Luther being shown in 3 episodes through one season which is usually shown once in the calendar year. Another thing that separated both was the colour of their skins.

Luther was a black character whereas Dixon was white, had you shown Luther back in the 50/60s, the BBC would have been ridiculed for having a black male as the main character, throughout the years in Dixon of Dock Green, never was there a black character playing a decent enough role, many of the shows featured all white characters, which stopped the BBC getting backlash, due to major racism towards ethnic minorities in England, many shows resulted in not showing black characters which worked in a good way for them, the show was completely white and no one complained, times back then, murders shown in Luther would have also shocked the audience and created moral panic throughout the public, many would view what happened in Luther as extreme but now days, even though it isn't often, we still see stuff like this happen whereas in the 50/60s this would have received major backlash. So you could say society has changed majorly, had someone said back then that in 60 years a black man would be the main character of a hit show on the BBC they would have been ridiculed whereas now, there is a hit show called Luther which features a black protagonist which isn't frowned upon, society has overcome racism in a way which has let this become possible and they've become more comfortable with fictional murders that allow the BBC to show such violence without receiving much backlash. 

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Monday 9 December 2013

Critical Investigation: Task 4

"To what extent is Luther a positive representation of black masculinity?"

Essay Plan 

1) Introduction to essay, brief description regarding TV shows Luther - stereotypes and ethnicity 

  • My critical investigation is going to show the positive and negative representations of black masculinity through the TV show Luther which is featured on BBC. It will show ethnic minority and how black males are represented throughout TV shows and movies, especially in the UK. Racism has decreased majorly throughout the country in the last 20 years and how does this show on TV shows and throughout the media, how shows are now developing to have a black character play a protagonist especially one that is shown on the BBC   (R)
  •  Stereotypes regarding black males and what masculinity is – how I am going to argue that Luther is either a  positive of negative representation of black males, moreover those who work for the police force.  (S) (R)
2)  Representations of black characters and ethnic minorities within TV shows that have been shown on channels such as BBC 1, ITV 1 and Channel 4 and how this has developed throughout the years ?

Representations have been exaggerated throughout the many different TV shows throughout the years; this has been seen in many shows even shows like reality shows such as ‘Big Brother’ but more importantly on TV soaps that are broadcasted on national TV. “Most white viewers said that broadcasters were doing a good job, but black and Asian ethnic groups did not”. ‘Eastenders’, ‘Coronation Street’ and ‘Big Brother’ those that have been targeted by many ethnic groups.  Many of these shows reinforce representations of ethnic minorities than play them down. “EastEnders has aired the first episode featuring an entirely black cast in its 23-year history.” “Usual in America, casts are usually multi-racial”. (R) (S) (A)

3) How have black characters been forced to fulfil a stereotype set for them which forces them to act as criminals therefore giving a negative representation of black masculinity 

Throughout the years we have become accustomed with the stereotype of black characters being seen as criminals and the antagonist’s, this forces the audience to see all black characters this way. This also puts of many institutions from having a black protagonist as a main character. Which forces many actors to say that young black males should go to countries like America such as Idris Elba did.  "Unfortunately there really aren't that many roles for authoritative, strong, black characters in this country. We just don't write those characters, that's a fact." – David Harewood. How have black peoples representations changed over the years and how a stereotype was set for them which forced them to act as criminals, this was an era they went through in America throughout the 1960s while there was the Black Power movement.  “The popular image of African-American males has gone through several transformations since the rise of the Black Power movement in the late 1960s.” And how the future is set for them from the early stages of school. School standards, along with the influence of the music/fashion culture outside of school, have led some boys to reappropriate sexist and racist perceptions of black masculinity. (S) (A)

4) The development of black masculinity after events such as the Stephen Lawrence murder, and how this changed the Medias landscape to black representations 

Since the murder of Stephen Lawrence a lot changed in the British Media, due to severe media attention, the Medias landscape changed towards black males. “Black and Asian victims of violent death did not get the same attention as White victims; however, the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence by White racists in 1993 received high-profile coverage both on television and in the press”. So for British media the change began in the 90’s, while this was going on, we saw the introduction of the all black TV show; ‘Desmond’s’ which was broadcasted on Channel 4.  The Prime Minister has said the racist killing of Stephen Lawrence "sparked monumental change". A lot of black characters began appearing on TV shows such as Eastenders. (S) (H) (P) 

5) How has Idris Elba shown positive or negative representations of black masculinity?

Idris Elba has been known to play many roles in the media from television shows such as ‘The Wire’ to movies such as ‘Thor’. He first came about the media scene in the 90’s and was on the famous Channel 5 show; ‘Family Affairs’ Idris Elba has been known to play many roles in the media from television shows such as ‘The Wire’ to movies such as ‘Thor’. He first came about the media scene in the 90’s and was on the famous Channel 5 show; ‘Family Affairs’. Since then he has travelled to America and become a regular on the Hollywood scene starring in hit movies such as 'Thor' and 'Takers'. We also saw Idris Elba feature vastly in the major hit show: 'The Wire' which portrayed him as a drug dealer. This was quickly juxtaposed when we saw him feature as a DCI in BBC's hit crime drama; Luther.  "Unfortunately there really aren't that many roles for authoritative, strong, black characters in this country. We just don't write those characters, that's a fact." – David Harewood We also know that Idris Elba is set to feature as Nelson Mandela in the new movie about Nelson Mandela which would portray Elba as a very positive representation of black masculinity, also being one of the few British actors that travel to America and make hit shows and feature as major stars in blockbusters would show Idris Elba himself shown as a positive representation for Black males.“Usual in America, casts are usually multi-racial” (R) (S) (H) 

6) Can Luther show a positive  representation of black males and how does the audience react to this ? 

"In their annual report for 2002/03, the BBC they were losing black viewers and listeners. Many are instead tuning into satellite channels with programming that includes Black sitcoms" Luther is featured on BBC. show's ethnic minority and how black males are represented throughout TV shows and movies, especially in the UK. Racism has decreased majorly throughout the country in the last 20 years and how does this show on TV shows and throughout the media, how shows are now developing to have a black character play a protagonist especially one that is shown on the BBC. The fact that Luther does whatever he can do to help people and get justice portrays him as a positive representation of black males, even though he is seen as an antagonist for many episodes. "Luther - "Luther is a DCI who leads a private and professional life of its 'maverick protagonist' or his willingness to tear up the rule book." A black character is not usually seen as a positive character, we usually see them as very negative. An alternative stereotype regarding black characters which we hardly see. Luther is a good character also is a DCI - something we would not expect due to the black community usually hating the police for various racial reasons (Stephen Lawrence case). Goes against stereotype of black people hating police officers and creates an alternative stereotype of a black detective chief inspector.  "if he wasn’t a policeman he’d be a criminal, no doubt, but he’s not criminally minded. He’s not mean or vindictive. He is tender and passionate but he has a lot of rage’ (Radio Times)" (H) (R) (S) 


7) How shows like Dixon of Dock Green and other crime dramas in the 20th century infiltrated black stereotypes ?

The second text I looked at was Dickson of Dock Green a British show which was broadcasted on the BBC from 1955 to 1976, it was a television series following activities of police officers in London, majorly in the East End of London. It usually focused on small crimes in the community and Dixon was portrayed as a great influence on his colleagues through his family like nature. He was also a protagonist who always solved the case therefore being portrayed very positively. This show was similar in some ways to my text Luther, in both we see a determined police officer who did whatever they could to solve the case Dixon and Luther were both somewhat family men, who put work before family, both were also set in London."Luther offers a more diverse array of female characters than many crime dramas, tend to prevaricate narrow cultural stereotypes representing women as victims or career wheeled professionals." However Luther was different in the way that it showed more high profile cases whereas Dixon of Dock Green showed more shows that were community crimes, still high profile in a way but not as big as Luther, Dixon of Dock Green then became somewhat of a soap whereas we see Luther being shown in 3 episodes through one season which is usually shown once in the calendar year. Another thing that separated both was the colour of their skins."The BBC’s new crime drama Luther is the first major drama series to have its eponymous hero played by a black actor. DCI John Luther, played by British actor Idris Elba, is familiar from his role as ‘Stringer’ Bell the drug lord with business acumen in The Wire. He was also in the US version of Extras. A dark psychological crime drama star." (H) (S) (E) (P)

 8) Conclusion 
In the conclusion I will sum up how Luther’s character can be seen as a positive representation towards black masculinity, on the way I will sum up how black stereotypes have changed over the years and how audiences have become more comfortable with having black males as the protagonist, something we would have not have seen during the time of the TV show ‘Dixon of Dock Green’, I will also conclude by saying how historical events in places such as the UK and America have helped change the landscape of British Media and how they view black characters, even though the hegemonic stereotype of black men still exists, we are moving away from that stereotype and due to social cases such as the 'Stephen Lawrence murder case', we are slowly changing stereotypes of black individuals and accepting ethnic minorities on TV as protagonists. 



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Critical Investigation: Task 2

Academic texts/books
  • Adewunmi. B. (2012). Why black British drama is going online, not on TV [Internet]. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/02/black-british-tv-drama-online
  • Alia, Valerie, and Simone Bull. Media and ethnic minorities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005. 
  • Fanon, Frantz. Black skin, white masks. New York: Grove Press, 1967. Print.
  • Malik, S. (1998). Representing black Britain: black images on British television from 1936 to the present day.. SAGE, 2002: : Open University Press.
  • Lacey, N. (1998) Image and representation, MacMillan press LTD: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, and London. 
  • Media Magazine - February 2011

    Pg 20,21 - Diversity & identity 
    Black people racial hybrid, Overly represented

    Representations of the ghetto culture "Young men from ethnic minorities are the main social group represented in both films (La Haine/ City of God)

    • Black representations - Negative
    • Violent
    • Psychotic
    • Drug dealers
    • Gang Leaders/members
    Media Magazine - December 2011 

    • Luther - "Luther is a DCI who leads a private and professional life of its 'maverick protagonist' or his willingness to tear up the rule book."
    • BBC spent $4 Million on the pilot episode - attracting 5.6 Million viewers 
    • Praised for its "long overdue casting of a black male"
    • Usual in America, casts are usually multi-racial
    • Luther offers a more diverse array of female characters than many crime dramas, tend to prevaricate narrow cultural stereotypes representing women as victims or career wheeled professionals.  
    • Media magazine - December 2003

      • In their annual report for 2002/03, the BBC they were losing black viewers and listeners. Many are instead tuning into satellite channels with programming that includes Black sitcoms.
      The following quotes are from different issues of the Media Magazine, these all talk about black characters where the December 2011 issue actually talks about Luther, they all talk about the certain representations to do with black characters, and how the BBC began to lose black viewers and listeners, which forced them to do something and change there shows and include black characters.

  • Male Order: Unwrapping Masculinity http://www.amazon.co.uk/Male-Order-Masculinity-Rowena-Chapman/dp/0853156905/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385046931&sr=1-6&keywords=black+male+representations 


    A new edition of our ground-breaking collection of articles exploring the meanings of masculinity, at work, at home, in politics and in love. Looking at fashion, images of black men, heterosexuality, feminism, the new man and families, it examines some of the growing uncertainties about what it means to be male today. A feature of all the contributors is that they refer as a constant touchstone to popular culture - in film, television, fiction and daily life. This book sets out to unwrap the myths that have surrounded masculinity and men's power, and argues that we need an understanding of masculinity if we are to make sense of politics and change in the 1990s. 'Here are insights which spring from the page, piercing the mists which surround the subject' Emmanuel Cooper 'This volume presents an agenda for the left which it neglects at its peril' Stuart Hall Contributors: Jim Brewsher, Rowena Chapman, Cynthia Cockburn, Jack Dromey, Isaac Julien, Inez McCormack, Kobena Mercer, Suzanne Moore, Frank Mort, Jeff Rodrigues, Jonathan Rutherford, Lynne Segal and Vic Seidler.

    Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary American Art

    The popular image of African-American men has gone through several transformations since the rise of the Black Power movement in the late 1960s. This book, which is the catalogue of an exhibition that opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in November 1994, chronicles these changing perceptions of African-American masculinity as interpreted in painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed-media work, as well as in film and video. More than 70 works have been selected, by 29 leading artists of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hammons, Robert Mapplethorpe, Adrian Piper, Andres Serrano, and Lorna Simpson, among others, explore such issues as personal identity, sexuality, and social history. The catalogue includes six essays by leading voices in African-American art criticism and cultural studies: Elizabeth Alexander bell hooks, Isaac Julien and Kobena Mercer, Tricia Rose, Andrew Ross, and Greg Tate. The film and video section is the work of five scholars in African-American studies. Herman Gray, Ed Guerrero, Philip Brian Harper, Valerie Smith, and Clyde Taylor each curated a film and video programme, and their essays examine critical and theoretical points of view concerning mainstream and independent film and video as well as commercial television. Essays by Thelma Golden and John G. Hanhardt present overviews of the problems and challenges confronted by representations of black masculinity in the various forms of artisitc expression.

    Black Masculinities and Schooling: How Black Boys Survive Modern Schooling


    The author's ethnographic study of an inner city boys' comprehensive school reveals the positioning of Afro-Caribbean students by their teachers, peers and white students. School standards, along with the influence of the music/fashion culture outside of school, have led some boys to reappropriate sexist and racist perceptions of black masculinity. The influence of these multiple pressures on a sample group of Afro-Caribbean boys is the focus of this book. This focus can provide an understanding of the complex, contextual and shifting sites that we call 'school' and argues for more sophisticated notions of pluralism.

    Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities http://www.amazon.co.uk/Looking-Leroy-Illegible-Masculinities-Postmillennial/dp/0814758363/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385047050&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=black+mascunlinity 


    Mark Anthony Neal's Looking for Leroy is an engaging and provocative analysis of the complex ways in which black masculinity has been read and misread through contemporary American popular culture. Neal argues that black men and boys are bound, in profound ways, to and by their legibility.The most "legible" black male bodies are often rendered as criminal, bodies in need of policing and containment. Ironically, Neal argues, this sort of legibility brings welcome relief to white America, providing easily identifiable images of black men in an era defined by shifts in racial, sexual, and gendered identities. Neal highlights the radical potential of rendering legible black male bodies - those bodies that are all too real for us - as illegible, while simultaneously rendering illegible black male bodies - those versions of black masculinity that we can't believe are real - as legible. In examining figures such as hip-hop entrepreneur and artist Jay-Z, R & B Svengali R. Kelly, the late vocalist Luther Vandross, and characters from the hit HBO series The Wire, among others, Neal demonstrates how distinct representations of black masculinity can break the links in the public imagination that create antagonism toward black men. Looking for Leroy features close readings of contemporary black masculinity and popular culture, highlighting both the complexity and accessibility of black men and boys through visual and sonic cues within American culture, media, and public policy. By rendering legible the illegible, Neal maps the range of identifications and anxieties that have marked the performance and reception of post-Civil Rights era African American masculinity. Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University. He is the author of several books including New Black Man and Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic and the host of the weekly webcast Left of Black.


    African American males occupy a historically unique social position, whether in school life, on the job, or within the context of dating, marriage and family. Often, their normal role expectations require that they perform feminized and hypermasculine roles simultaneously. This book focuses on how African American males experience masculinity politics, and how U.S. sexism and racial ranking influences relationships between black and white males, as well as relationships with black and white women. By considering the African American male experience as a form of sexism, Lemelle proposes that the only way for the social order to successfully accommodate African American males is to fundamentally eliminate all sexism, particularly as it relates to the organization of families.
Internet Links

Newspapers
Websites
"The big breakout successes with majority black casts have been in the genre of gritty "urban realism", usually focusing on inner-city London, crime and drug deals. The success of one such programme, Channel 4's Top Boy, has seen it recommissioned for a second series." - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/02/black-british-tv-drama-online 
Quote talking about how black characters have been in the genre of urban realism focusing on drugs and crime in London, something which Luther does. 

The quote above talks about how majority of black casts have usually been to do with 'urban realism' so always to do with crime and drug deals - it also talks about specific programmes such as Top Boy & Luther. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9051992/Young-black-actors-should-go-to-America.html

"Unfortunately there really aren't that many roles for authoritative, strong, black characters in this country. We just don't write those characters, that's a fact."

Daily Mail article on the Olympics:
“This was supposed to be a representation of modern life in England but it is likely to be a challenge for the organisers to find an educated white middle-aged mother and black father living together with a happy family in such a set-up.”

The quote above is from the telegraph and the daily mail, where we see how there isn't many black characters with roles of main characters and the daily mail article is about a challenge to find a white and black mixed raced family live together happily.  

Metro Lifestyle/Gossip - 18/10/13 - Idris Elba "Idris Elba admits it wasn’t hard for him to get into character as a drug dealer in The Wire because he’s tried every drug going."

The 40-year-old, who portrayed drug lord Russell ‘Stringer’ Bell in the HBO show, admits he’s dabbled in more than just smoking marijuana, which he confessed he enjoyed between takes on the crime drama.
‘I’m not gonna lie — I’ve tried everything,’ he confessed.
‘I’ve tried it all. I played one of the biggest drug dealers in the world on TV, so you think I’d know what I was talking about.’

We see in an article from the metro how Idris Elba has lived up to the black stereotype and has done drugs in his past, this would live up to the previous stereotypes and proves that Idris Elba has taken drugs in his past and confessed in doing it very openly. 

"The writer revealed that he was working on a big screen prequel which will look into Luther’s life before the first series of the BBC show."
"He prowls and scowls and indulges in off-the-cuff banter for all he is worth but he’s forever hopping from foot to foot to avoid the plot holes that threaten to swallow him at every turn."
t's impossible to confine "blackness" to a handful of characteristics. Each experience is different. And that experience shouldn't be defined by one's choice of attire, music or religion. It's a fatal mistake made by those who view black culture from afar and even those who live within it.

We see here a quote about people feel about a protagonist being black and how he/she should be presented, it also shows that a black protagonist must have certain characteristics.  
Hall asserts that ideologies become ‘naturalised’ and ideology, politically constructed representations - such as representations of ‘race’ - are conveyed as being ‘given by nature’
‘The “white eye” is always outside the frame - but seeing and positioning everything within it”
"Media images of ‘race’ do not reflect an accurate portrayal of the spectrum of black culture."


Edward Said’s (1978) principle of Orientalism, functions to construct blacks as ‘Other’

This is from Said'ds theory of orientalism and how he believes that black people are just trying to be like white males and representations are mainly formed from race. 



  • The Luther actor says even though the boy looked nothing like him, it wasn’t immediately obvious that his girlfriend, who he met in Florida and dated for a few years, had cheated on him.
    ‘It wasn’t immediately obvious—well, it was, because he didn’t look like me,’ Elba says. ‘But it wasn’t immediately obvious what had gone down.’
    ‘The celebration of having a son—from a man’s perspective, it’s massive,’ he added.
    After the suggestion came that his son was not biologically his, he decided to take a paternity test which proved his suspicion correct.

    As we see in many movies, we usually see when there is a black character as a father he sometimes finds out that it is not his, this quote shows the personal life of Idris Elba and even his own personal life has lived up to the stereotype of black individuals.  

    As Idris Elba prepares for the release of Thor, in which he plays the all-seeing Heimdall, he’s also gearing up for battle with the film’s “purist” fans who feel that a Black man shouldn’t play the character rooted in Norse mythology.

    In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Elba said the reason behind such disapproval goes beyond fan appreciation. “Purist comic-book fans are one thing,” said the 38-year-old actor, “Out-and-out racism is another… Of course, the more I speak on this topic, the more I fuel it. But, look, if people have a problem with me playing the character, just don’t go see the movie, you know?”

    There’s even a website calling for fans to boycott the Marvel film for inserting “left-wing social engineering into European mythology” with the casting of Elba. The back-and-forth between The Wire actor and the Thor fans has been going on since last year, much of it covered in the British press.

    Many people were not happy with the appointing of Idris Elba as a character in 'Thor' as he is a black character but it shows how he feels about racism and doesn't show masculinity but shows a different calm side of Idris Elba.  
    "Idris Elba is a very grand, masculine presence, a larger than life presence," Cage said, according to Flicks and Bits. "There aren't that many actors who can embody that level of size on camera, I always find that exciting, it was definitely exciting working with Idris.
    Quote showing the masculinity of Idris Elba, and therefore linking with my critical investigation. 
    Thursday 31 October 2013
    The Labour politician Chuka Umunna has called on Britain's film and television industries to end the ethnic stereotyping which has forced Britain's leading black actors to quit the UK for Hollywood to pursue their careers.
    Delivering a speech on social mobility, the Shadow Business Secretary echoed complaints by David Harewood, the Birmingham-born actor who starred in the hit US series Homeland, who said there were no strong roles for black actors in Britain.

    We saw how Idris Elba quit British film for Hollywood which links in quite well with his personal life and himself as a character. 

    http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4151328
    Many studies have focused on young African-American boys and their experience in school. Fromgender biases in teacher grading that start as early as elementary school to blaring disparities in disciplinary practices, black male youth seem to be at a perpetual disadvantage in academic environments.
    However, two studies that examined programs aiming to increase diversity by bussing minority students to primarily white schools revealed an area where black boys reportedly engaged with relative ease. According to an article published last year by Megan H. Holland, a professor at the University of Buffalo, minority boys reportedly have an easier time fitting in with their white peers at suburban schools because of stereotypes about their athleticism or "coolness" that give them greater access to activities that increase positive interactions with white students, like sports and social clubs.

    Talking about black students in school and how the black youth are at a disadvantage to other pupils in the school. 
    (ThyBlackMan.com) To all the naysayers and nonbelievers, yes- believe it or not, There ARE Black Men Making a Positive Difference Every Day. When turning on any television, radio, or any form of mass media outlet in the past— forever, the narrative of Black Men has been one of hopelessness, recklessness, and us, put simply, being a menace to society. As Huey P. Newton said “I do not expect the white media to create positive black male images.” He felt that sentiment during the early days of the Black Panther Political Party and I feel the same sentiment during the days of “Post Racism” and a guy named Barack Obama being the President of the (somewhat) Free World .
    Looking at this topic from a somewhat positive stereotype point of view, not all of us can or will be Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Will Smith or Lebron James. For the most part, they are anomalies. People like them are a rarity; hence the reason one can name them without having to do too much intricate research.  Although these men are very powerful, influential, and doing as much good as they can to help their families and communities for the most part, they are not the standard. They are the exception when it comes to black male success in America. On the other hand and from a more negative stereotype point of view, not all of us should or will be dead beat dads, criminals, rappers or athletes (no diss to the Lebron’s and Sean Carter’s of the world). Although these stereotypes are some of the most pervasive and intrusive when it comes to the perception of black males in America; they too are not the standard. They are the exception. No matter how negative of an exception, they are still an exception of what black males can sometimes succumb to being.

    How black people from different societies must be different because not everyone is a 'Lebron James' and black people have a disadvantage due to the negative stereotype already surrounding them.
    "Representations of Black masculinity in popular culture remain a focal point of social science and cultural studies research. Yet, research shows that Black men are negatively portrayed in news stories. Therefore, when a series on Black men, conceived and carried out primarily by a Black journalistic team, was published in a national agenda-setting newspaper, The Washington Post, it was important to question if Black masculinity was represented in this same light or represented in other, more positive ways. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether the series succeeded in reshaping the image of Black men and to what extent it exhibited Jackson and Dangerfield’s five factors of Black masculine positionality. The study found that slightly more than 50 percent of the stories presented a counter-stereotype, showing complexity in Black men’s lives. However, some stories left Black men ‘voiceless on the sidelines’. The study illustrates the difficulties even a well-planned series can face when trying to break out of conventional reporting tendencies."
    Studies talking about black masculinity in popular culture and how black men are potrayed negatively in news stories.  
    A look back at representations of black and white masculinity during and directly after the antebellum era clearly illustrates the importance of incorporating intersectionality into the study of hegemonic masculinity. Prior to the end of enslavement, the Sambo figure represented the dominant discourse relating to black masculinity. This archetype was perceived as dim-witted, lazy, and happy-go-lucky. These are all traits that were clearly not associated with the dominant discourse of white masculinity. White manhood was configured around enterprising thought, strong work ethic, and judiciousness.

    Difference between representations of black and white masculinity. 
    Stereotypical representations
    Akinti (2003) argues that television coverage of ethnic minorities over focuses on
    crime, AIDS in Africa and Black children’s under-achievement in schools, whilst
    ignoring the culture and interests of a huge Black audience and their rich
    contribution to British society. Akinti claims that news about Black communities
    always seems to be ‘bad news’. Van Dijk’s (1991) content analysis of tens of
    thousands of news items across the world over several decades confirms that
    news representations of Black people can be categorised into several types of
    stereotypically negative news.
    • Ethnic minorities as criminals – Black crime is the most frequent issue found in media news coverage of ethnic minorities. Van Dijk found that Black people, particularly African-Caribbeans, tend to be portrayed as criminals, especially in the tabloid press and more recently as members of organised gangs that push drugs and violently defend urban territories.
    • Ethnic minorities and moral panics – Watson (2008) notes that moral panics often result from media stereotyping of Black people as potentially criminal. This effect was first brought to sociological attention by Hall’s classic study of a 1970s moral panic that was constructed around the folk devil of the ‘Black mugger’. Further moral panics have developed around rap music, e.g. in 2003, ‘gangsta rap’ lyrics came under attack for contributing to an increase in gun crime.
    • Ethnic minorities as unimportant – Van Dijk notes that some sections of the media imply that the lives of White people are somehow more important than the lives of non-White people. News items about disasters in developing countries are often restricted to a few lines or words unless there are also White or British victims. Moreover, Sir Ian Blair, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, claimed that institutionalised racism was present in the British media in the way they reported death from violent crime. He noted that Black and Asian victims of violent death did not get the same attention as White victims. However, the murder of the Black teenager Stephen Lawrence by White racists in 1993 received high-profile coverage, both on television and in the press.
    • Ethnic minorities as invisible – in 2005, a BBC News Online survey noted that Black and Asian people were represented as newscasters and television journalists, but the range of roles that ethnic minority actors play in television drama is very limited and often reflects low status, e.g. Africans may play cleaners or Asians may play shopkeepers. Ethnic minority audiences were also very hostile towards tokenism – the idea that programmes contain characters from ethnic minority groups purely because they ‘should’. Ethnic minority audiences complain that Black and Asian people are rarely shown as ordinary citizens who just happen to be Black or Asian.
    The decline of black males being shown on TV, how black and asian people are have certain representations that is accounted with for all males. 


    Black Men & Masculinity: Love, Anger, Hate, Joy and Passion. Feelings.

    Black men and masculinity. A topic of discussion that does not receive as much attention as it should, nonetheless, it needs to be discussed more frequently if we, as black people, and humanity in general, are to form progressive, balanced relationships with one another.
    We live in a predominantly patriarchal world, and in contemporary western society, black men in the diaspora, have had a particular image projected about them. Black men, through literature, the arts, music, media etc, have continuously been shown as brutes, thugs, violent, vandals, etc. However, in cases, where the imagery is a positive representation, as professional, they are still shown as emotionless men, who are ruthless in thought. We have been bombarded with this image, of black men, and guns and gangs, interestingly, to the point where, just google the word "thug" and look at the images you get.


    Idris Elba is 37 and has a tattoo on his forearm His father Winston was originally from Sierra Leone and he came to England where he had one son Idris who grew up in the West Ham area of London.
    Like his father Idris worked on the assembly line of Ford at Dagenham.
    He started professional acting with bit parts in Absolutely Fabulous, Bramwell and Dangerfield.
    In 2002 he got the part of Stringer Bell the drug lord with a head for business in The Wire. He is an anti-knife crime ambassador for The Prince’s Trust. When he was younger Idris had a £1500 trust grant to get himself in to the National Youth Music Theatre which was a life changing experience for him.
    Elba on Luther:
    ‘… if he wasn’t a policeman he’d be a criminal, no doubt, but he’s not criminally minded. He’s not mean or vindictive. He is tender and passionate but he has a lot of rage’ (Radio Times).
    Luther is from the same mould as the Swedish detective Wallander. Both are totally committed to the job of bringing evil to justice but Luther is more edgy, more a maverick relishing the murky areas of challenging moral responsibilities.
    His next job after Luther is a Hollywood film of the Marvel comic character THOR directed by Kenneth Branagh who plays Wallander in the English version of the Henning Mankellbooks.
    Other film successes include the leading man in Obsessed alongside Beyoncé, and inThe Losers about a CIA black operations unit (2010). In 2008 Elba starred in the horror filmProm Night and Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla, and In 2009, he starred in the horror film The Unborn.
    Idris Elba is divorced from his wife with whom he has an 8 year old daughter. Now he lives in Miami with his girlfriend and they have a baby son. He is passionate about music and has a recording studio at his home recording soul, hip-hop and R&B. Elba is also the DJ Big Driis the Londoner.

    He was featured as one of the “Ten Hottest Men on the Planet” in the April 2004 issue ofEssence magazine and again in the November 2005 issue, and was chosen as one ofPeople Magazine’s annual 100 Most Beautiful People in the World, in May 2007.

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/callaloo/v018/18.2gray.html

 I want to inquire into the social circumstances and cultural conditions in which contemporary representations of black masculinity are produced and circulate. Recognizing the dense intertextual nature of electronic visual media, my aim is to unsettle as much as possible the formal and largely constructed ways in which we see and understand visual representations of black masculinity. Much as one might experience them daily through ads, music television, television situation comedy, and sports, my desire is for this text, in effect if not in structure, to approximate the dense and relentless but always rich and increasingly inseparable experience of visual representations of black masculinity.

Self representations of black masculinity in the United States are historically structured by and against dominant (and dominating) discourses of masculinity and race, specifically (whiteness). For example, the black jazz men of the 1950s and 1960s, notably Miles Davis and John Coltrane, are particularly emblematic of the complex social relations (race, class, sexual) and cultural politics surrounding the self-construction and representation of the black masculine in the public sphere. As modern innovators in musical aesthetics, cultural vision, and personal style, these men challenged dominant cultural assumptions about masculinity and whiteness.
And it was through their music and style that these (largely heterosexual black men) defined themselves in a racist social order. For many of us, jazz men articulated a different way of knowing ourselves and seeing the world through the very "structures of feeling" they assumed, articulated, and enacted -- from the defiantly cool pose and fine vines of Miles to the black and third world internationalism that framed the ceaseless spiritual and musical quest of Coltrane. Davis and Coltrane, like their contemporaries, enacted a black masculine that not only challenged whiteness but exiled it to the (cultural) margins of blackness -- i.e., in their hands blackness was a powerful symbol of the masculine.

The political disturbances and cultural rearticulations of the black masculine these images produce require new contextualizations and different reading strategies. Black heterosexual masculinity is figured in the popular imagination as the basis of masculine hero worship in the case of rappers; as naturalized and commodified bodies in the case of athletes; as symbols of menace and threat in the case of black gang members; and as noble warriors in the case of Afrocentric nationalists and Fruit of Islam. While these varied images travel across different fields of electronic representation and social discourse, it is nevertheless the same black body -- super star athlete...

Different representations of black mates, how black masculinity produces images that require contextualizations and self representations of black masculinity started in the United States.


This article gives critical consciousness, via a semiotic analytical lens, to the representations of Black masculinity on MTV's THE REAL WORLD. My primary objective is to reveal the problematic nature of how African American male cast members are signified on the show, and how these images work to maintain the “typification “ of Black men as inherently angry, potentially violent, and sexually aggressive. Attention is also given to the uniqueness of the show and the ways that this programming format contributes to the hegemonic power of mediated images in reinforcing a general societal fear of Black men.

Black representations are mainly shown on shows such as MTV where we also see a lot of black masculinity. 


 Black and white characters were also found equivalent in many respects, but program segregation still appears problematic. Blacks were more verbally aggressive, particularly in comedies, but less physically aggressive than warranted by their overall representation.


This essay examines three reality TV shows: MTV's The Real World: Denver, CBS's Survivor: Cook Islands, and the FX network's miniseries Black.White. The essay uses Grindstaff's conceptual framework of news media and television talk shows as a mechanism to examine the way race is constructed on reality TV. It argues that the shows promote a politics of difference,emphasize conflict and division by positioning race as a point of contention among the cast members and dramatize scenarios that reinforce cultural codes and stereotypes. Three points of reference will guide this analysis: First, Jhally and Lewis write that we should more closely examine the ways that media texts purposely, critically and unapologetically confront race in the US. Second, Brummett proposes that media texts are sites of struggle over meaning and that we engage in an unconscious yet powerful struggle over how to interpret them. Third, recent theoretical discourses on race and representation in media call for continued critique of how media marginalize the lived experiences of African Americans, perpetuate crippling representations of marginalized groups, and often render them invisible.

Grindstaff's essay is used to talk about black stereotypes.


The relationship between Black youth and hip-hop culture is the focus of this article. The author considers how African American youth use hip-hop as a form of cultural capital in everyday settings. By focusing on how Black youth interact with one another at the City Youth Center, the article examines how this particular form of cultural capital may be used to authenticate a Black identity. Finally, how the articulation of this identity is based on traditional gender roles is explored. Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital is heavily relied on to investigate how Black youth construct legitimate racial boundaries in predominately Black settings. The intention is to provide an extension of Bourdieu's theory by examining how Black youth identity is formed and renegotiated in everyday interactions with other Black youth and how this negotiation is mediated through hip-hop culture.

Relationship between Black youths and hip-hop culture and Bourdieu's theory of culture capital and its used to investigate black youths and how they construct legitimate racial boundaries in black settings. 


Representations of Black masculinity in popular culture remain a focal point of social science and cultural studies research. Yet, research shows that Black men are negatively portrayed in news stories. Therefore, when a series on Black men, conceived and carried out primarily by a Black journalistic team, was published in a national agenda-setting newspaper, The Washington Post, it was important to question if Black masculinity was represented in this same light or represented in other, more positive ways. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether the series succeeded in reshaping the image of Black men and to what extent it exhibited Jackson and Dangerfield’s five factors of Black masculine positionality. The study found that slightly more than 50 percent of the stories presented a counter-stereotype, showing complexity in Black men’s lives. However, some stories left Black men ‘voiceless on the sidelines’. The study illustrates the difficulties even a well-planned series can face when trying to break out of conventional reporting tendencies

Different representations of black mates, how black masculinity produces images that require contextualizations and self representations of black masculinity started in the United States, and the study that is used to show how black men are portrayed negatively in news stories.  


A majority of recent studies finds that black members of Congress are more supportive of blacks' interests than are white members of Congress, even white Democrats. These results are limited, however, exclusively to the contemporary period as scholars have not studied how black members of Congress behaved during Reconstruction, the first era of blacks' descriptive representation. Although black representatives from this era are typically portrayed as having been responsive to blacks' interests, some recent studies suggest that they often supported whites' interests on issues important to their black constituents. Employing a measure of racial ideology as well as a measure of general ideology developed by Poole and Rosenthal (1997), we investigate the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation in the U.S. House immediately after the Civil War, through the use of descriptive statistics, OLS regression, and forecasting techniques. We find that black Republicans during Reconstruction were more ideologically liberal on both general and racial issues than their white Republican colleagues in the South. These results suggest that the linkage between descriptive and substantive representation for blacks is not merely a recent phenomenon, but rather has more general applicability across time.

How America helped create the stereotypes for Black males, and how black members of the congress behavioured and using politics we see how Black characters are seen in Politics. 


How can a White supremacist nation, which subjects Black men to ongoing racism and demonization, at the same time admire and worship Black men as athletes? The author argues that key elements of White supremacy and the new racism are reinforced by popular representations of Black male athletes. In viewing far-Right White supremacist and sports cultures, two sites representing seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum of contemporary racism, the author examines the continuing significance of the historical image of the buck and the obsession with controlling and “taming” Black male bodies. The author examines four common themes that permeate the contemporary construction of Black masculinity and work to justify color-blind racism and inequality: a continued emphasis on Black bodies as inherently aggressive, hypersexual, and violent; concern with taming and controlling Black males; inequality depicted as a product of a deficient Black culture; and the naturalization of White supremacy and White male superiority.

New racism and how it is reinforced by popular representations of black male athletes, Black males inequality depicted as a product of black culture and the difference between white supremacy and black male supremacy.

This study updates information on the representation, roles, and occupational portrayal of African-Americans in television advertisements. A content analysis often prime time television shows revealed that black representation in television ads exceeded the percentage distribution of blacks in the population in 1991. The percentage of ads showing blacks in major roles has remained relatively stable over time. However, a black model's level of product interaction was found to be a function of the value of the product, with lower valued products having higher black model-product interaction than higher valued products. This study also compared black portrayal and representation on “typical” versus “black-oriented” television shows. The results indicate that “black-oriented” shows had a greater percentage of all black ads, ads with blacks in major roles, and ads depicting blacks in skilled occupational categories compared to “typical” shows.

The percentage of adverts shown in america showing black major roles has been very low, and the study shows black portrayal and representation on black - oriented television shows. 

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/mm23_black_press.html
Since the last large migration of people from the Caribbean and Africa, there have been various attempts to provide a voice for and by these groups of people via print media. Some of these publications were born in response to direct racism and the need for wider society to take notice and make steps to implement justice.
Black is a loaded word. It may work on some level politically, but less so culturally; what exactly is Black and more insidiously ‘Black culture’? Using this terminology to define people with a little colour plays into the idea that they are from one homogenous jelly-mould with no variation in language, customs and traditions. Then there are Asian communities who have their own vibrant publications: should they be included here?
This is certainly a large area to cover and one which can only be touched on here. It is important to investigate the contextual issues that this complex subject area presents. This article will primarily focus on the discussion of people of African/Caribbean, British-born descent. In this overview of the titles which dominate what is a niche market, we’ll try to examine some of the history of Black publications. We’ll investigate how new media has injected life into the sector, and try to answer some ideological questions.

from MediaMagazine 22, December 2008.



http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/crime-drama-case-history-luther/

The BBC’s new crime drama Luther is the first major drama series to have its eponymous hero played by a black actor. DCI John Luther, played by British actor Idris Elba, is familiar from his role as ‘Stringer’ Bell the drug lord with business acumen in The Wire. He was also in the US version of Extras. A dark psychological crime drama star.
In this psychological crime drama the strong man maverick detective John Luther is brought back into the serious crime unit because he is intuitively capable of solving difficult crimes, and his female boss (Saskia Reeves with a terrible London accent) believes in him although he is known as a loose canon. Luther has paid a heavy price for his dedication and has recently suffered a mental breakdown.
On his return to duty, Luther struggles to balance the psychological demands of his work at the same time as trying to save his marriage to his wife, Zoe. Luther is not able to stop himself from being consumed by the darkness of the crimes he deals with and this has pushed his wife away. He wants to get back with his wife, but she is having and on/ off relationship with Mark (Paul McGann).  With Luther, the job always comes first and his...

CODES AND CONVENTIONS of Crime Dramas

  • These dramas are constructed realities that depict constructed versions of reality that appeal to audiences.
  • They encode hegemonic values and ideologies.
  • They represent current societal responses to crime.
  • They use formulas.
  • They employ stereotypical representations.
  • They make iconic use of hand guns, cars, banks, police and explosions.
  • The reconstruction of realism is at the forefront of their appeal to audiences, particularly in their use of media language.
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/BBC%20Diversity.html

Recruiting diversity
Through extensive research we now know that many people from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds would not consider a career at the BBC, largely because of the perception that the organisation is not for them. We are working hard to try and change that. Greg Dyke has set targets for the employment of Black and Asian people within the BBC that have to be met by the end of 2003. Overall, 10% of our total workforce should be from Black, Asian or other ethnic minority backgrounds. This does not include cleaners, security or catering staff; as all these services are contracted out, staff working in these areas are not BBC employees and therefore cannot be included in the 10% total. In Senior Management (i.e. the top jobs) the target to be reached is 4%. Our current figures are 9.1% and 3.3% respectively.

 In order to spread the word that you don’t have to be white, male, middle-class and Oxbridge educated to work at the BBC, we have been targeting schools, colleges and universities with a diverse, multi-ethnic student body. This is nationwide, not confined to London alone. Among other things, it involves attending careers fairs, more specific outreach work, and the centralisation and broadening of our work experience scheme, making it fairer and more accessible.

 We have put a number of schemes into action, several in partnership with another BBC department, SkillXchange. For instance, we have run a project with the From Boyhood to Manhood Foundation in Camberwell, working with Black teenage boys who are excluded from school, or who are at risk of being excluded. The boys made a short film, Moving Forward, about people’s attitudes towards them as young Black men and the effect this has had on their lives.

The ethnicity of the ensemble cast and the representation of black youths is a point of note. There is the argument that the race of (most of) the cast give it an air of realism and there is cultural stereotyping for the purpose of entertainment (for example, use of slang, reference to the ‘black’ ‘monsters’ – see below). On the positive side, John Boyega (Moses) was nominated asOutstanding Actor and Outstanding Breakthrough Actor for the Black Reel Awards. These comprise of 50+ voters (based in Washington DC, USA) who select performances featuring African-American as well as people ‘of colour throughout the African Diaspora’.Attack The Block was also given a special mention at the 2011 Black Film Critics Awardsas it had a primarily black cast “portraying each character each character with a dignity seldom seen on screen and even more rarely in a science fiction film”


Representations are subject to change, both historically, politically and socially – this analysis focuses on the changing representations of masculinity in film and how these representations are mediated, selected, constructed and encoded with preferred meanings for audiences. For the purposes of G325 Section B: Collective Media Identity, students will study two media.
Representation defines the way a social group, e.g. masculinity is constructed for audiences while a collective media identity implies that homogenous groups all behave the same way and have common representations that are recognised and identified by audiences. To explore this notion of masculinity in film theoretical frameworks are of assistance e.g. Baudrillard and hyper realism as are ideas of hegemonic and more pluralistic representations. Key theory and the work of key theorists such as David Gauntlett and David Buckingham will allow for a more balanced analysis.
Historical representations are subject to more hegemonic cultural stereotypes reflecting changes in society – Adorno suggests in this regard audiences are more subject to, or are more likely to be subject to passive consumption in terms of the act of recognition. Film has the habit of leaving strong mental images on the memory and as a result, neuronal connections are strengthened.

Male representations are normally iconic whether in the field of sport, entertainment or technology. ‘Man of the Year’ reinforces this appeal with a better than average chance that the target audience could not come close to the degree of success represented. The iconic males often appear in advertising images for fragrances like Hugo Boss or Beckham, Watches, (which very much seems to saturate advertising copy in Men’s Magazines) Clothing Ranges and Computer Games. With FHM the high end branding will be just within the reach of the reader but not as high end as other up market magazines like GQ.
Consumerism and aspiration work hand in hand within Men’s Magazines with the manifest desire to improve and better oneself driven by products and services. Brands will on occasion be ‘downmarket’ e.g. Puma reflecting the change in the demographics of the magazine (age and social class). The ratio of advertising copy to editorial copy in Men’s Magazines like FHM is still significant as is their heightened role in paying for the production costs because of falling circulation but is still less than Women’s Magazines at approximately 50:50. As the demographics of the magazine decline (in terms of so called upmarket and downmarket trends) then so will the advertising with advertisers like Rolex not wanting to waste their time with an audience who can only aspire to their products – watches and advertising images of watches carry with them connotations of upmarket social class which now found more within the covers of GQ than FHM.

Young men from ethnic minorities are the main social group represented in both films. Each film has a young black male protagonist: Rocket in City of God and Hubert in La Haine. The American ‘hood’ film sub-genre often has a character that is trying to reject a life of crime and escape the trappings of the ‘hood’ in which he lives (see also Boyz N The Hood and Menace II Society). Rocket and Hubert both conform to this archetype, and reject crime as a way of life. Rocket flirts with crime but cannot go through with muggings and hold-ups due to his compassionate nature. He tries working at a supermarket but is fired for his connections to the favela. By the end of the film he has become a successful photographer because of his access to the gangs and knowledge of the favela. Similarly, Hubert rejects the rioting of the other youths on his estate. He runs a gym that he worked hard to get a grant for, and promotes boxing as a sport for young people to get involved in. The audience first meets him in the ruined gym after the rioters have trashed and burnt it in the previous night’s riots. The film ends with Hubert sucked in to potentially committing the murder of a police officer (or being murdered himself) as retaliation for the shooting of his friend. Characters who try to escape the ghetto life are often stopped from doing so by circumstances out of their control – or even by death (see also Bullet Boy and Benny in City of God).
These representations of young black males are life-affirming and positive. However, other characters confirm the more negative stereotypes of youths from ethnic minorities. For example, Lil Ze in City of God and Hubert in La Haine are both drug dealers. Lil Ze is a typical crime film villain; the audience watches his rise to the top, followed by his subsequent decline and death. He is violent and psychotic, with no remorse for his actions or sympathy for his victims. He is a cocaine dealer, rapist and gang leader; out of control, hungry for power and desperate to control the favela. On the other hand, Hubert’s drug dealing is only glimpsed in one scene; elsewhere, we see him giving money to his mother for food, and to pay for his sister’s books. He deals hash to help his family; and the film-makers do not judge him for this. The scene in which he makes a transaction is done very matter-of-factly and the audience does not even hear the conversation between Hubert and his customer because the audio highlights the conversation of Hubert’s friends, who are standing in the background of the shot. Dealing is seen as just a typical fact of life rather than dangerous or immoral.

http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/social-realism-case-study/

Bullet Boy was written and directed by Saul Dibb (as a first time director) in 2006 who then unusually went on to direct the high production value historical drama The Duchess two years later. The narrative focuses on gun and gang crime in Hackney, east London and stars Asher D from the urban musical collective, So Solid Crew from south London and explores multiculturalism as a key narrative theme, violence and the idea and effect of ‘learnt violence’ within an urban setting.
Asher D is a classic social realist, frustrated angry central protagonist who has recently been released from prison who has a young brother (Curtis) who looks up to him as an aspirational role model but who is ultimately killed in a violent attack – the narrative involves Ricky’s (Asher D) involvement with gangs and as in many social realist film offersmoral closure showing Curtis throwing a gun he has been hiding into the river signifyinghim turning his back on gun crime. This is England offers similar closure with Shaun throwing a George Cross flag into the sea symbolising his turning his back on racism.

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