"His" Story

(Why are Black male characters the first to die in the movies?)

Have you ever noticed that the black characters in a movie seem to be the first to die? Black
actors must tell family and friends who see their films "don't be late, and don't go to for popcorn
in the first 15 minutes, or you'll miss me". I heard that the first character to die in Steven
Spielberg's Jurassic Park was a Black man. I got there five minutes late, so I missed him. He was
the only Black man, other than Samuel Jackson in the entire film. There are a number of possible
explanations for this phenomenon. It could be a coincidence. If so, it has been a recurring
coincidence for as long as there have been blacks in white-written films. Another explanation is
that white film producers may like to been seen as liberal in the casting of their films. "We cast
African American actors in our films". What you find out is that by the first twenty pages of the
script, any African American actors not names Denzel, Samuel, Wesley or Eddie no longer exist
in the story in any meaningful measure. They're like the day players in the Star Trek series. Don't
look for them to return from the orange planet with Kirk, Spock and Bones.

I'm not a psychologist, nor am I a clairvoyant, but I am a writer and filmmaker and I do have
theories on this subject. More than likely, the explanation has to do with our history.
Screenwriters are taught to draw from their knowledge and experience when they write. We write
what we know. That knowledge and experience is, of course, influenced by their 20-40 years of
living in an American society that fears and mistrusts African Americans in general, African
American males in particular. Since screenwriters often manifest their Freudian fantasies in what
they write, and screenwriters in the American film industry are, for the most part, white and male,
it seems logical to me that their biases against Black males, however subconscious, work their
way into their stories. Even the most liberal-minded white screenwriters can harbor a deeply
suppressed fear and mistrust of Black males whether or not they have had any substantial
interaction with Black males. "I'm not a bigot. I once had dinner with my Black coworker".In
Los Angeles, CA, neighborhoods are well segregated and it is conceivable that a white man or
woman can live a substantial portion of their lives without any meaningful interaction with
members of other races, learning what they learn about other races from television, film and news
portrayals of members of these races, portrayals that were created by other white men and women
with a similar lack of such interaction. That being the case, since it is human nature to fantasize
about vanquishing our enemy, or standing up to our fears and prevailing over them, and since it is
clear that white men are conditioned to fear Black men, the reasons for the early exit of the Black
characters begin to crystallize.

To understand this point, we need to examine history. Throughout history, European males have a
long track record of imperialist domination and subjugation of people of color around the world.
In the U.S., white men have, since slavery, have endeavored to dominate and subjugate Black
men, whom they fear may be physically superior and mentally stronger than they are. White men
have utilized the master-slave relationship to mentally and physically abuse Black men, separate
Black men from family, deny all economic opportunity, and most effectively, to divide the race
against itself. To this day, a white male-dominated society continues to exert a less subtle, and yet
equally as effective and legal means to dominate Black men. The "war against drugs" is not a war
against the foreign and domestic producers and worldwide distributors of illegal drugs, but a war
against the end users of certain drugs that are prevalent in their distribution within Black
communities around the nation, i.e. crack cocaine and heroine, while abusers of powder cocaine,
are less apt to be prosecuted and even less apt to be imprisoned if apprehended. White male-
controlled prisons are packed with Black men, who have been relegated to common street
thuggery to earn more than a subsistence-level income. White men know that their use of the
legal system under the guise of a "war on illegal drugs" to mentally and physically dominate
Black men, separate Black men from their families, denying economic opportunity whenever
possible and divide the race against itself. Does this sound familiar? Black males between the
ages of 18-30 are killing each other in mass quantities, fighting over a tiny percentage of the
financial proceeds from the inner city distribution of these drugs, while high-level Caucasian
distributors make billions of dollars, not only without fear of prosecution, but with government
backing. The war against affirmative action is a similar device, which is designed to dominate and
subjugate people of color at the highest level, but that will be the topic of another piece.

During the Jim Crow years, when lynching was at its peak, the first item of interest to the white
hoards of murderers was always the genitalia of the black man. Castration and amputation of
various appendages were the highlights of lynchings, which would normally take place in a
conspicuous public venue and be witnessed by men, women and children who would enjoy a
picnic lunch for the show. Dr. Frances Cress Welsing has always attributed castration as a
manifestation of fear on the part of the Black genitalia. The white male always felt a threat from
the black male genitalia, according to Dr. Cress-Welsing's theories, as it represents the potential
extermination of the white race. Inter-breeding between Black men and white men will always
produce children of color and, left unabated, this trend will eventually result in the elimination of
the "pure-bred" Caucasian. Consequently, it became, and still remains very important to the white
man to "protect" the white woman from the feared black genitalia. Perhaps another form of this
need to castrate the Black male manifests itself in the portrayal of Black male characters in the
media, movies and television in particular. Black men who make us laugh are less threatening to
white men, especially if those Black men are particularly buffoonish and for as long as the black
race is the object of their humor. A buffoonish Black man seems less likely to be a threat to appeal
to white women. The portrayal of Black men as being homosexual effects this same goal. A
homosexual black man poses no threat to white men who would seek to "protect" white women
from Black genitalia. Likewise, a Black character whose primary purpose it is to serve the white
man is less threatening to the white man. Note that the central characters of stories portrayed in
films such as The Green Mile and Bagger Vance fit the stereotype of subservient and mystical
Black males with no love interests, who apparently existed to solve the white mans' problems…
somewhat like a genie. We do not, for the most part, see the strong, virile and intelligent Black
male character who loves his wife or girlfriend, or who works to support his families. That
doesn't play as well in Peoria, Ill. (read "middle America").

Bear in mind, also, that writers are driven, not only by their own fears and prejudices, but by
those of the audiences that the stories are intended to reach. If audiences in Peoria, Illinois, for
example, are more comfortable viewing stories featuring noble and heroic white characters who
are paternalistic toward the subservient black characters, or black characters devoid of social
redemption, then these are the stories that will, for the most part, get produced by the studios.
Expressions of moral outrage from N.A.A.C.P. and African Americans (only 12% of the populus)
notwithstanding, these stories will prevail over those which may portray persons of color in a
more balanced light.

The portrayal of Black men as gangsters and thugs is damaging in more than one way. This "thug
life" portrayal becomes the ideal by which young Black men and women live their lives, forcing
them to become adolescent adults with guns and out of wedlock babies. Secondly, this portrayal
tends to dehumanize Black men in the eyes of the world. As Adolph Hitler demonstrated, it is
much easier to annihilate a race after that race has been lowered to a subhuman status in the eyes
of society. For example, nobody seems to be outraged upon hearing about the death of thousands
of 18-30 year old black males in inner cities every year, through violence and drug abuse. To
most people, Black and White, it has become an accepted fact of life in the inner cities. The fact
that millions of Africans are dead and dying or AIDS has also failed to create a meaningful
outrage around the world. Contrast this with the response that might be expected had thousands
of 18-30 year old white males been murdered every year or if a European nation is being
decimated by AIDS. The dehumanization is in full swing and media portrayals have contributed
to this dehumanization.

Why are the Black male characters the first to die in movies? Why are Black women portrayed as
overweight and sassy? Why are Hispanic and native American characters portrayed as dim-witted
and lazy? Why are characters of middle-eastern descent portrayed as terrorists? All of these
portrayals are based upon a general ignorance of the facts as they relate to each group at issue.
The fact that most intelligent persons who have had any dealings with each of the ethnic groups at
issue may know that these stereotypes are, for the most part, falsehoods, is of little consequence
when such stereotypes have existed for generations and are slow to die, being kept on life support
systems by the television and film media.

The simple remedy to this problem is to be found in portrayals that originate from the life
experiences from members of the ethnic groups to be portrayed. Tell your own stories. If you're
not a writer, support a writer who can tell your story accurately. John Wayne was asked why the
cowboys always beat the Indians in his films. His response was "if the Indians want to win the
movie battles for a change, they need to make their own damned movies!".