"Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks"

Paper Summary:

The paper analyzes the book which is an exploration into the history of African-American images in the film industry, from silent films to 20th Century blockbusters. The paper shows how Bogle discusses the type casting of blacks into the categories described in the book's title, as well as how he takes his investigation deeper into an examination of the American film industry as a whole, and addresses social, historical, and cultural contexts in which we must examine all screen productions.

From the Paper:

"Bogle provides much-needed insight into the origins of black film characters. First appearing on the screen in 1903, the "blackface" had already become the standard representation of the African-American on stage. Character typing and stereotyping began early in Hollywood; by the 1920s the major "boxes" to which black characters could fit had been created and, according to Bogle, still remain. At first it seemed that the author would overanalyse and generalize each role just to make it fit one of the "boxes." But soon it became obvious that Bogle, rather than placing modern politically correct interpretations on decades-old films, makes clear what should be obvious even to the occasional filmgoer."

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