“Angry Black Woman” vs. “Kind Black Woman”: Exploitation in American Cinema
Written by Cailey Tin, one of our poetry writers, and edited by Shraddha, one of our editors!
The "angry black woman" is a racial trope that has been prevalent in global society for centuries, particularly in American movies dating back to the 1800s and up to the present day. It is a constant stereotype in the media we see from adult Hollywood movies to sitcoms for children.
In this popular film trope, a black woman is portrayed as constantly upset, but the problem usually centers around the fact that whether or not they voiced a sincere concern isn’t the focus of the scene. The noise of whatever they were opinionated about gets drowned out by their shouting, causing a scene, or disturbing the white protagonist’s vacation plans with their hot, newly married spouse.
The kinder, "softer" black woman, on the contrary, is another creation of the film industry. It is an exertion of effort from the producers and writers to make this character more likable, by allowing them to go to unnecessary lengths to prove to viewers that they’re a wholesome, loveable person.
If the black woman isn’t portrayed with borderline anger and internalized trauma, they must go above and beyond in kindness, making sacrifices, and delivering sweet dialogue, requiring much more from them to be considered a likable character, as compared to their white women counterparts. The powerful contrast between the two versions of a black woman as played on film makes others’ perception of them even more black and white than it really is: that black women in real life must sit obediently, with tolerance and patience, because either they let other "characters" get what they want from them, or they would be deemed by others as a fit-throwing, hostile, and ill tempered bomb.
The most harmful issue with this trope is that they leave the audience with unfair expectations for a black woman to exceedingly express how gentle and loveable they “can be”, when no human being should be required to prove anything before being appreciated and loved back. And if this woman doesn’t do the "bare minimum", then society’s perception of them, thanks to them being spoon-fed with stereotypical content on screen, is that this woman is the utter opposite of gentle: aggressive with no exception to having bad days like everyone else. There’s no room in between.
This pattern of portraying black women in American cinema, with no room for real and human characteristics, which is also globalized and consumed internationally, should be put to an end.
To learn more about this topic, linked below is a thesis by Michelle Webber that covers films with better portrayals of black women, black women in literature, and the root of stereotypes.
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This piece was written by one of our poetry columnists, Cailey. Reach 'em at @cailey.tarriane on Instagram!
This piece was edited by one of our editors, Shraddha. Reach 'em at @shraddhagulati_ on Instagram!
