Representation Of Exploitation And The Oppression Of Black Men And Women In Hip-Hop Films
The thesis paper has focused deeply on black men and women in hip-hop cinemas like Set It Off, Straight Outta Compton as well as New Jack City. The paper aims to investigate the exploitation and the oppression that has been faced by the black men and women in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
New Jack City is a 1991, American gangster film that has focused on the interplay of gender and race. The Afro-American people were deeply influenced by the movie where there were several characters like Gee Money, who later transformed into a junkie, Keisha, a murderer but was himself murdered in the movie. There was the ill-fated Nino Brown who snitched. All the characters were heroes as they have their authenticity. The characters most notable feature was the color of their skin. They were black and came up from the hood like most black men and women at that time. They drove cars, had cash like the way every real-life men or women aspired.
Officer Nick Peretti had the famous dialogue in this movie: “Drug ain’t a black thing or a white thing. It’s dead thing. Death does not give a shit about the color”. The famous line resembles the pain in every black person's mind, and it states that death hardly cares about the color of the skin. The severe oppression of the black men and women compelled the office to say so.
The film Straight out of Compton, reflects on the power of the black women’s side stories. The film has hip-hop playing in its background; the soundtrack has a mesmerizing effect on the audiences of the 90’s. The rap songs like “One Less Bitch and a bitch is a bitch” became largely famous in this period. The black women hating was focused all throughout the film. The film world of gangsters has received substantial critical attention over the last half century this portrayal has gained attention in the film. The movie is adept in criticism of racism, the brutality of the police, exploitation of black men and women by white managers to mention a few. The film has made the lead men more relatable, vulnerable as well as more human than the gangsta personas who always try to hide their realness in their cover of hard masculinity. The black survival in America has been clearly portrayed in the movie.
The scenes of the movie had a magnetic pull on their audiences. The scene where the police and the rap group N. W. A had a tiff related to a concert was engrossing to watch. The police asked the rap group to stop playing their protest song “Fuck tha Police" to which they lend deaf ears. The consequences of this were however disastrous. The police started firing gunshots and even barricaded the group. This revealed the racial tension and brutality of whites over black people. Set It Off has portrayed four black women who have been suffering due to lack of money after which they finally decide to get into a bank robbery. Black feminism was pivotal in this film. The rap songs in the film have portrayed about the women and their journey. The black power movement was the underlying idea in this movie. The birth of Hip-hop music was associated with black youth, and in all the movies, this has been portrayed. In the movie, there is a crime reference scene that has been compared to the scene in Godfather, challenging racial and gender conceptualization.
“Lida 'Stony' Newsom: [singing on the roof] Frankie wanna blow-up a bank, UH! Frankie wanna rob a bank, UH!”Cleo: “Shit, we're ain't robbing stagecoaches, man! We need something to set it off with”. The lines have a typical connection with their intention to rob a bank, and this was all because of their frustration as black women and their oppression in the society. “1990s wave of black gangsters films, when many Afro American women occupied positions and spaces previously reserved for men –mostly white-only” have been reflected in the mentioned movies and the ways the women tried to cope up in such situations have been glorified too. A hip-hop woman of the era was beyond hip-hop music and was more engrossed in hip-hop culture, and the films are a replica of such elements. In the recent years, however, the Afro Americans beside their affinity to hip-hop culture seem to be much more positive about the growth and success of their next generation, unlike their ancestors. They have a strong belief that hard work can bring them success and the success of their children extremely gratifies them.
Afro-American contribution towards the society is being acknowledged and appreciated in the 21st century. This has paved the path for a new beginning for them. A glaring example of the immense success of the Afro-Americans was the winning of the presidential election by Barack Obama.
