Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hip-Hop Sees No Color: Talking Points #2

In "Hip-Hop Sees No Color" Leslie Grinner argues that the movie "Save The Last Dance," at its core, portrays the white race as the superior one. Through the use of the acronym SCWAMP, Grinner gives examples of the ideologies of Straightness, Christianity, Whiteness, Able-Bodiedness, Male-Dominant, and Property Owning which can all be found in the film, "Save The Last Dance."

I saw the movie, "Save The Last Dance," and I remember as I watched it, thinking that the crux of the movie, although on the surface seems to be about Sara, the white girl, adjusting to a "black world," it actually seems to be more about Derrick, the ex-bad black kid, indoctrinating himself into a white world. Instead of the film being about the white girl learning to be "gangsta," to me, is more of a film about the black kid, learning to be "white." The whole idea of Derrick being smart (an uncommon theme among blacks in movies) and needing to channel that in the right direction (or the "white" direction) while at the same time, his friend Malachi continuing down the "black" path, resonated more with me while I watched this movie.

As I read this article, I couldn't help thinking about how blacks have been portrayed in the media/television shows. TV shows such as Good Times, The Jeffersons, and What's Happenin', which all portrayed blacks struggling to make ends meet in their ever-present efforts to become more successful(white)came to my mind. I also thought about TV shows such as Welcome Back Kotter, The White Shadow, Different Strokes, and Webster, whose themes were all white people who were in a position of instilling their wisdom on their black subjects in an effort to reform them into being more white.

More recently, movies such as Dangerous Minds and Freedom Writers (see clip below) further exemplified the aformentioned theme:



So, In conclusion, the whole idea of SCWAMP does seem quite valid, not only in "Save The Last Dance," but in almost all media consisting of blacks. I guess in many cases, it's "You are White until proven otherwise?"

5 comments:

  1. I agree. I also referenced Freedom Writers. I thought about the shows that you mentioned of blacks in television. In all the struggling black americans there is also The Cosby Show and even Family Matters. These two shows have African American characters in the lead that are in more upper class lifestyles. It seems hard to find shows like that in recent years.

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  2. Fresh Prince of BelAir is another one- Will getting "Saved" from the Inner City West Philadelphia (born and raised LOL)by the Black yet thought of a "White" status in Bel Air. Yes, we are on the same wavelength.

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  3. I like that you included your original reactions to the film...I agree that the crux of the movie is that "whiteness" and the SCWAMP ideology works for both Sara and Derrick - the movie isn't as much about Sara immersing herself in a different culture as it might seem on the surface.

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  4. I think it was interesting to hear a male's perspective on this film. As a female, I strictly paid attention to Sara's story and took Derrick's as a subplot. It is interesting that you looked at Derrick and Malichi's plot first and foremost.

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  5. I liked your blog also liked hearing it in a male perpective.

    Good work !

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