Cross-Cultural Spectators: Examining the Representation and Development of Black Female Protagonists on the Big Screen

Abstract

Historically, the representation of Black women in film has been non-existent at worst and highly questionable at best. As cross-cultural spectators—a Black woman and a White man—we used an oppositional gaze to critically “look” at the representation and adult development of Black female protagonists across U.S. films. Based on a critical visual methodology of 12 U.S. films, four themes emerged - #noBlackgirlmagic, transition from object-to-subject, the lies (you) tell, and hair it is. The implications for adult and higher education are discussed based on the findings.

Keywords

Black women protagonists U.S. films representation adult development

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