A Black Man in Cinema

In DWP Ep. 5 the audience gets to see Reggie, a "standard" black male role in cinema, or a stereotypical black man, be broken. I want to respond and elaborate on two things discussed in class regarding this episode.

The first thing I want to talk about is the scene where the cop was holding a gun to Reggie. I noticed that most of the people in class didn't seem uncomfortable or surprised by seeing how fast Reggie was broken from his hard complex, but I was. When I watched that instant transformation of personality, I was totally anxious. I realized I've only ever seen that stereotypical black male role in cinema, and I've never experienced the raw emotion or the situation that was in that scene (not even really in another movie)! I wasn't surprised when I reflected on this. No one in cinema ever shows the other side of that hardness. It was just an eye opening experience for me.

I also want to talk about the white guy in that scene saying the “n word.” I feel a little strongly about this issue, more than just in the episode but in life. He was SO upset. He was instantly offended, defensive, and uncomfortable. He felt like he was being called a racist, even though people repeatedly reminded him that they weren’t trying to call him a racist, and he couldn't let it go. And I feel like any white person who casually uses that word experiences this! But the issue is here- if you could feel ALL of those instant emotions just from someone asking you NOT to use a word, imagine what it feels like to hear the word, and experience the emotions it evokes. Yes, it's in a song. Yes, you're using it casually and with your friends. But that doesn't exemplify any emotions that may come from hearing a white person say the word. I just don't understand why white people get so confused and sensitive and defensive when black people don't want them to say that word! Just don't say it! It isn't that big of a deal. It isn't calling you a racist. If it makes a black person uncomfortable, then it just does and you need to respect that. But white people just can't handle it. Someone in class mentioned that they felt like white people hated the fact that African Americans took a word that was once used as an insult and to put black people down, and they turned it into something powerful and uniting, and something that was reserved for them, and that this could be where some of the anger regarding the reservation of the word to only black people comes from. I thought that was super interesting to think about…

#Tabatha