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Civil Rights and Race Relations 1850 - 2009 > film and fiction > Flashcards

film and fiction Flashcards

1
Q

Uncle Toms cabin plot

A

2 slaves have to be sold
uncle tom - taken to Mississippi by boat (where he saves Eva)
- Eva’s father st clare buys tom
- eva dies and tom about to be set free but father dies and tom is sold to legree who beats tom to death
- Shelby arrives to buy tom and witnesses his death so frees all his own slaves in toms memory
meanwhile Eliza’s story
- flees north hoping to gain freedom in Canada and is helped by quakers

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2
Q

who wrote uncle toms cabin and when

A

harriet Beecher stowe 1852

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3
Q

background to uncle toms cabin

A

1850 compromise to maintain the balance of free and slave states
new fugitive slave act
- $5 reward for every fugitive released (not taken back by the south)
- $10 for every fugitive sent back to the south
north was furious
this book was written in response to the 1850 compromise

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4
Q

background to harriet beecher stowe

A

born in conneticut but rejoined family in cincinatti (bordered Kentucky = first hand accounts from runaway slaves)
child of Lyman beecher (re-nowned preacher and anti-slavery)

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5
Q

which newspaper was uncle toms paper serialised in and when

A

the national era

june 1851-april 1852

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6
Q

selling stat for uncle toms cabin

A

biggest seller 19th century after the bible

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7
Q

who famously read uncle toms cabin

A

Lincoln

‘so this is the little lady who started this great war’

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8
Q

negative impact of uncle toms cabin

A

popularised the stereotype of an ‘uncle tom’ - dutiful long suffering servant

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9
Q

how is uncle tom portrayed

A

pious Christian slave
middle aged man (but pictures depicted him as older as removes anything sexual with eva)
tom saving eva goes against rape stereotype
toms faith is tested and dies an almost biblical death
religious aspect contradicts the old testament justification for slavery

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10
Q

how is eliza portrayed

A

heroine
mother losing her child, harry
easy to empathise with

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11
Q

eliza quote

A

chapter 7
‘if it were your harry, mother, or your willie, that were goin to be torn from you by a brutal trader … how many miles could you make in those, brief few hours, with the darling at your bosom…’

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12
Q

fugitive slave quote

A

‘now jphn, I don’t know anything about politics, but I can read my bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate; and that bible I mean to follow’

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13
Q

who wrote gone with the wind and when

A

Margaret Mitchell, 1936

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14
Q

background to gone with the wind

A

set clayton county and Atlanta, Georgia during American civil war and reconstruction
southern plantation fiction / ‘Anti-tom’ literature
published during the depression and new deal

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15
Q

background to Margaret mitchell

A

born in Atlanta and grew up with stories of the civil war from her suffragist mother

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16
Q

plot of gone with the wind

A

1861 - southern belle, scarlett, lives on tara a large plantation in Georgia
several love stories
civil war begins, Yankees capture tara
after civil war scarlett takes charge of rebuilding tara (against high taxation by northerners)
becomes a shrewd business woman
is attacked by a free a/a and his white companions (is avenged by the kk)
scarlett then returns to tara after Rhett leaves her (daughter dies) and is comforted by her childhood nurse mammy)

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17
Q

how many coies of gone with the wind were printed world wide

A

30 million

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18
Q

outcry from a/a over gone with the wind

A

criticised
NAACP attempted to boycott the film
Walter White helped with the director Selznik to play down some of the racism in the film

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19
Q

how does gone with the wind portray the institution of slavery

A

a benevolent institution
pre-emancipation south is beautiful and idyllic, society functions and slaves are happy
chaos by evil northerners during civil war and reconstruction

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20
Q

slavery quote in gone with the wind

A

chapter 42
‘slaves were neither miserable nor unfortunate. T he negroes were far better off under slavery than they were now under freedom’

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21
Q

names of the two slaves in gone with the wind

A

mammy and prissy

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22
Q

how is mammy portrayed in gone with the wind

A 
scarletts a/a nurse
close motherly relationship with scarlett
never given name / own identity
content in her position
belongs to the white family
uneducated
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23
Q

how is prissy portrayed in gone with the wind

A 
domestic slave
stupid
squeamish
a liar
hysterical
written as comic relief
caricature which reinforces slave owners claims a/a need to be slaves as they cant function on their own
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24
Q

who wrote huckleberry finn and when

A

mark twain 1885

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25
Q

background to huck fin

A

written 20 years after civil war
Mississippi
set in plantation era
is the sequel to tom sawyer

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26
Q

background to mark twain

A

lived in Mississippi
family became impoverished on death of hos father
wrote this as an adventure book, not a great somment on civil rights

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27
Q

synopsis of huck fin

A

huck living with a new family and unhappy about cleanliness church and school - pap kidnaps huck and holds him in a cabin
fakes own deth and escapes
meets jim (slave escaping slavery)
unsure whether to help him
goes through some adventures with jim and become friends
gets caught on the Phelps farm
tom sawyer arrives and big stunt to release jim, fails and jim sacrifices his freedom in staying by injured tom
tom reveals is all a game and jim is free

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28
Q

impact of huck finn - on schools

A

after Shakespeare most studied book at school

1957 NAACP removed it from the majority of schools including the mark twain intermediate school Virginia

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29
Q

how is jim portrayed in huck fin

A

at the mercy of white characters
white characters ten to be morally inferior to him
regularly the butt of the jokes and outwitted by whites
portrayed as stupid (eg tom and huck play a trick on jim which they blame on witches and he falls for)
language towards him is derogatory (nigga is used over 200 times)
reinforces racial stereotypes

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30
Q

how huck and his relationship with jim evoloves

A

at first huck sees socieites rules around slavery as correct but breaks them as has little respect for rules
each adventure brings the two closer
huck begins to form his own view
huck writes a letter to send to miss Watson but tore it up saying ‘all right I’ll go to hell then’
then huck decides to help jim escape slavery
huck undergoes a transformation as he stops accepting social norms and instead follows his own beliefs
twain encourages people to be like huck
can be seen as a metaphor for the civil war

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31
Q

who wrote to kill a mockingbird and when

A

harper lee, 1960

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32
Q

background to to kill a mockingbird

A

set in economic depression in the twon of Maycomb Alabama

1954 - brown, 1955-6 - Montgomery bus boycott = published at height of the civil rights campaign

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33
Q

background to harper lee

A

born Alabama

at college she wrote a series of short stories on racial injustice

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34
Q

plot of to kill a mockingbird

A

close knit community of Maycomb
atticus finch raising two kids scout and jem
goes to the defence of a/a tom robinson who has been accused of raping and beating a white woman
scout and jem face slurs and discrimination
despite atticus overwhelmingly proving tom innocent the all whote jury finds tom guilty
atticus inadvertently offends bob ewell (typical white trash) who then vows revenge
scout and jem then attacked but are rescued by Arthur boo Radley who kills bob

35
Q

impact of to kill a mockingbird

A

staple on school reading lists
the national education association in 1968 placed the novel on a list of receiving the most complaints from private organizations after little black sambo
told through a kids eyes adds innocence and misunderstanding
parallels with scotsborough case

36
Q

how is segregation and discrimination portrayed in to kill a mockingbird

A

Maycomb = small town with two different communities living separate lives side by side
typical accusation by a shady white girl of rape against an innocent black man
scout and jem faces discrimination

37
Q

quote on discrimination in to kill a mockingbird

A

‘“you aint got no business bringin’ white chillun’ here - they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, aint it, miss Cal?”’ Zebbo then steps in tells lula she is wrong and scout and jem are welcome

38
Q

how is tom robinson portrayed in to kill a mocking bird

A

falsely accused of rape
portrayed as harmless, innocent, intelligent and hardworking
good manners and courtesy come across in the trial
refuses to repeat the foul language bob ewell directs at him
refuses to accuse mayella, a black servant for lying about him in the court case
goes against many racial stereotypes

39
Q

how is atticus portrayed

A

the character who breaks the racial divide
knowing full well the all white jury will convict tom he still defends him
in his summing up to the court he powerfully states yes all black people lie and yes they are basically immorl beings but he insists the truth is there has never been a person who has not told a lie and not a man living who hasn’t looked at a woman with desire

40
Q

white trash

A

apart from atticus and his kids all whites in the novel are portrayed much more inferiorly to blacks
ewells - white trash, ignorant and full of racial prejudice

41
Q

who wrote beloved and when

A

toni Morrison (female + the only a/a on the course) 1987

42
Q

background to beloved

A

powerful civil rights laws had been passed but a/a still hadn’t gained social equality
watts riot 1965
Newark riot 1967
watts riot 2 1992
beloved made powerful as its portrayal of race relations reflected what was happening in contemporary America
on a side not cincinatti was where harriet beecher stowe grew up

43
Q

plot to beloved

A

two stories run side by side, ‘present day’ 1873 and 1850
paul d visits sethe and they begin to recall their earlier lives as slaves
they try to escape a racist slave owner ‘schoolteacher’ who cathches and rapes sethe
paul ends up in a chain gang in Georgia
sethe is cared for by the only nice white character amy Denver
schoiolteacher comes back to get sethe so shes tries to kill her children as not to let them into slavery but only kills one
in the present the ghost of sethe’s daughter ‘beloved’ appears. she becomes increasingly abusive and sethe goes rapidly downhill.
the book ends with a warning that this is not a story to pass on

44
Q

impact of beloved

A

references to the fugitive slave act + cincinati (beecher stowes home town)
2006 in a new York times pol of 200 critics, writers and editors Beloved was named the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years
staddles history and fiction

45
Q

how sethe is portrayed in beloved

A

slavery has destroyed much of her identity

would prefer her children to be dead then in slavery

46
Q

who wrote and when the help

A

Kathryn Stockett, 2009

47
Q

background of the help

A

set in Jackson Mississippi 1962-4 during the height of the civil rights movement where geographically there was much civil rights action (Meredith, freedom summer, voting drives)
references to Medgar evers, an NAACP leader assassinated outside her home in Jackson

48
Q

plot of the help

A

tells the story of the relationship between the help and their white employers
how skeeter writes a book “the Help’ based on the testimony of 12 slaves in a fiction town of nicetown but is in reality all about the white employers of jackson

49
Q

impact of the help

A

too early to say as was written 2009 but was published in first year of Obamas presidency
highlights the separate lives the black and white communities lead
jim crow laws shown
reveals little has changed since 1860s mammy character in gone with the wind (has its own mammy character which the kid loves more than her own mother)
lynchings

50
Q

harpers weekly

A

new York based periodical 1857 - 1916
produced heroic depictions of a/a particularly during the civil war and reconstruction periods
eg 54th Massachusetts volunteer infantry
attempted to depict a fictional idyllic life for a/a living in the south

51
Q

some well known pintings of a/a

A

Eastman johnsons ‘negro life at the south’ 1859 - brought the artist immediate celebrity + was valuable as captured a time in American life that was altered by the civil war
Anshutz ‘the way they live’ depicted an a/a women tending to a meagre cabbage patch

52
Q

how many copies of uncle toms cabin in first 3 months

A

300,000

53
Q

how many copies of huck finn every year

A

200,000

54
Q

how many copies of gone with the wind sold by 1939

A

2 million

55
Q

how many copies of to kill a mockingbird worldwide

A

30milion

56
Q

how many weeks did the help stay on the new York times bestseller list

A

100 weeks

57
Q

brief plot summary of birth of a nation

A

two halves looking at life in the south during civil war and then reconstruction
heroes are kkk who in the final scene save the day and reunite two couples in the ‘second coming of the prince of peace and his angels in the city of god stand in their approval over the scene’
saving the south and southern belles from the largely evil a/a

58
Q

date of birth of a nation

A

1915

59
Q

impact of birth of a nation

A

Hollywood sensational film
first full-length silent film
premiered at a grand gala with expensive ticjets
president Woodrow Wilson had a private screening at the whithouse and is said to have enjoyed it
NAACP protested against it
helped with the reforming of KKK
led to the biggest deterioration in race relations in the usa due to a film

60
Q

date of in the heat of the night

A

1967

61
Q

where is in the heat of the night set and why is this significant

A

Mississippi
during the 60s was centre of the civil rights movement with james Meredith’s attempt to get into old miss and the voting drives / freedom summer

62
Q

plot of in the heat of the night

A 
murder mystery
phillip Colbert is murdered
Gillespie is the police chief
ends up arresting then working with virgil tibbs
eventually solves the murder
63
Q

significance of in the heat of in the heat of the night

A

shows Gillespie and mr tibbs gaining respect for each other over the course of the film
mr tibbs is more intelligent + earns more in a week then Gillespie earns in a month
shows different atmospheres in north and south (quote)
when Endicott slapps tibbs for his insolent questioning mr tibbs slaps him back (one of the first times this happened on screen)

64
Q

name quote in the heat of the night

A

‘“Well, you’re pretty sure of yourself, ain’t you, Virgil. Virgil, that’s a funny name for a nigger boy to come from Philadelphia. What do they call you up there?” Virgil: “they call me Mister Tibbs.”

65
Q

when was Mississippi burning

A

1988

66
Q

plot of Mississippi burning

A

based on real events
3 civil right activists who were helping a black registration drive in Mississippi disappeared (2 are white and one is black)
2 white FBI agents investigate
trick KKK into confessing

67
Q

criticism of Mississippi burning

A

misleading depiction of the civil rights movement
black characters play a minor role
movie focuses on two FBI agents who in reality took little interest in the civil rights movement
when the film was released coretta scott king criticised the film for ignoring the role of both black and white civil rights activists

68
Q

when was roots aired on American television

A

eight evenings in 1977 and seven evenings in 1979

69
Q

how did American tv tend to deal with a/a in the 50s and 60s with some examples

A

reinforced stereotypes
often only given supporting roles
‘I spy’ - portrayed a/a a few times as poorly educated, comic actors
‘good times’ - portrayal of teenager JJ as stupid

70
Q

viewing fact about roots and stat

A

most widely watched miniseries in US television history

140 million American saw all or part of the two series

71
Q

story (BRIEF) of roots

A

traces kunta kinte being captured in west Africa, made slave and his family till present day

72
Q

why was roots so popular

A

history of a/a was personalised
many of hollywoods finest whote actors played the roles of racists and slave owners
style led itself to popular discussion - brought a story to life in a way no documentary could ever do

73
Q

when was Malcom x the film

A

1992

74
Q

plot of Malcolm x

A

plots life of Malcolm X’s early life, conversion to islam, role as a civil rights activist, and assassination

75
Q

impact of Malcolm x (negatives)

A

limited as was not really a box office success
came 32nd on the list of top-grossing films of 1992
predominantly black audiences
Ashley clark wrote in the guardian he never thought Hollywood would support a movie as unapologetically supportive of a radical, controversial black figure

76
Q

impact of Malcolm x positives

A

a film was made and supported by Hollywood depicting such a radical man
at time of Rodney king murder by police

77
Q

when was the wire

A

2002-8

78
Q

where is the wire set and why is this significant

A

Baltimore, Maryland
northern town
most set in south

79
Q

themes of the wire

A 
illegal drug trade
seaport system
city gov and bureaucracy
school system
print news media
80
Q

why was the wire so significant

A

for the first time of a major cable channel the lives of an urban black underclass were shown in detail - and is shown through their eyes

81
Q

what did the daily telegraph say about the wire in 2009

A

arguably the greatest television program ever made

82
Q

why did the wire not have an impact on race relations

A

pretty low viewing stats as was on HBO = expensive
plot complexity and language often was easily understood by white audiences
also just like beloved, white audiences didn’t want to be educated on black problems

83
Q

some themes to consider when analysing film and fiction (6)

A 
education
empathy
scale
stereotypes
pro or anti civil rights
shock factor

Civil Rights and Race Relations 1850 - 2009 (9 decks)

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