Week 13 CHC

1. Using what Guerrero defines as the plantation genre as a means to date the phases of the black image in Hollywood we find there are three phases; the first being pre-blaxploitation which portrayed black people as submissive, example films during this phase include "Jezebel" and "Gone With the Wind"; second there was blaxploitation which was a phase during the 60's and 70's which provided strong characters resisting "the man", example films during this phase include "Slaves" and "Mandingo"; and finally the new black cinema is the most recent phase including characters equal to all those around, films from this phase include "The Brother From Another Planet" and "The color Purple".
2. There rejection of the norms of Hollywood was a politically conscious decision, to contest Hollywood's aesthetic codes during a time of great change including: The Civil Rights Movement, Womens Rights Movement, the Anti-War Movement, and national liberation struggles in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
3.Bill Gunn's notion exemplified a subversive attack on the Hollywood system by subtle changing and attacking from within the walls of Hollywood.
Spike Lee avoided studios and went with a more independent approach and used independent cinema as a stepping stone to the Hollywood system.
4. Baraka views Spike Lee's filmmaking as a younger generation focusing on the economic struggle instead of the political struggle whereas Baker views Lee's economic focus as a political ideology giving hope to the re-institutionalizing of black commerce and culture.