Summary
For this study, a film called “The Long Walk Home” was selected, which was first released in 1991. This cinematic film tells the story of two families who faced crisis times in American history. One of the wives is a decent black maid who works hard both at work and at home. The other main character is a representative of the whites and is the wife of an accomplished businessman. In this contrast, the director of the film touches on the topic of racial identity and attitudes toward people of different skin colors and classes. It is in this way that the selected work is connected to ideas about representation, racism, and ethnicity.
The historical event that is presented in this film is the uprising started by Rosa Parks. At that time, the woman refused to give up her seat on public transport, which caused a great resonance in society. Using actual events as the basis of the historical background gives the film more credibility. Therefore, the thesis statement of this research paper is that the film “The Long Walk Home” represents how a conflict related to race can affect the lives of various representatives of society.
Annotated Bibliography
Thesis: The film “The Long Walk Home” is a representation of how a conflict related to race can affect the lives of various representatives of society.
Benshoff, H. M., & Griffin, S. (2021). America on film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies. John Wiley & Sons.
This source raises the topic of diversity issues in the cinema of the United States of America. To prove their point of view, the authors cite a variety of well-founded and qualitative arguments and an overview of industrial, socio-cultural, and aesthetic factors (Benshoff & Griffin, 2021). These aspects form an idea of how race, class, gender, sexuality, and abilities are portrayed on cinema screens. The book is valuable for this research paper on the topic of race and its impact on individuals because it discusses in detail the minor aspects of cinematography. These include theoretical knowledge of the genre, authorship, cultural studies, the male gaze, feminism, and queer theory (Benshoff & Griffin, 2021). The authors use films and their in-depth analysis as examples to support their claims.
Bernardi, D., & Green, M. (2017). Race in American film: Voices and visions that shaped a nation. ABC-CLIO.
The next book that is of value for this research work is the work of Daniel Bernardi and Michael Green, entitled “Race in American Film.” In the resource, the authors note that the cinematography industry is primarily a reflection of current trends in society and what concerns society (Bernardi & Green, 2017). Thus, the film is an effective tool for reflecting attitudes towards race and ethnicity at a given time. The book provides comprehensive information about various examples of films about race and ethnicity, which is essential to maintain the thesis that race and racism affect society. The authors painstakingly study all aspects of the topic chosen for the work. To do this, they resort to analyzing the historical aspect as well. Besides citing films as examples, the book also has a list of actors who were considered racist and highly influential. Thus, this source provides data from a cultural and historical point of view on the problem of race.
King, J., Ribeiro, S. L., Callahan, C., & Robinson, T. (2021). Representing race: The race spectrum subjectivity of diversity in film. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(2), 334-351.
The last source that was chosen to investigate the topic of racial identity and maintain the thesis of the research paper is the article “Representing race” by King et al. This academic resource provides information that there are many films in America in which various racial and ethnic groups are represented. Thus, the aim of the scientists was to determine the assessment of motivation, attitudes, and opinions of individuals on this issue (King et al., 2021). To systematize and analyze the data obtained, criteria were derived that were divided into balanced critics, adherents of the storyline, tolerant students, and reasonable defenders, which will assist in the project under study and support the thesis.
As a result, the researchers received a large amount of information about how different groups of people relate to paintings that raise the topic of race as the main plot. Most of the study participants provided an opinion that more such films are needed, which is a positive trend. This is due to the fact that the dissemination of awareness is becoming critical to reducing discrimination and the division of people along ethnic and racial lines. Moreover, the importance of increasing the number of racially diverse actors was noted.
Race and ethnicity. (n.d.). Film Reference. Web.
This web source emphasizes that race is an affiliation, although there is no scientific basis for racial differences. Moreover, the resource provides critical information and contributes to
differentiation, continuing to influence discourses about the classification of people and racial characteristics. This work supports the above thesis by considering the categories of race and ethnicity, subject to changes in time. This circumstance is influenced by factors such as location, historical period, personal representation, or situational context.
References
Benshoff, H. M., & Griffin, S. (2021). America on film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies. John Wiley & Sons.
Bernardi, D., & Green, M. (2017). Race in American film: Voices and visions that shaped a nation. ABC-CLIO.
King, J., Ribeiro, S. L., Callahan, C., & Robinson, T. (2021). Representing race: The race spectrum subjectivity of diversity in film. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(2), 334-351. Web.
Race and ethnicity. (n.d.). Film Reference. Web.