Publication Date: May 24, 2024
Pages: 192
Series: Multicultural Education Series
Talking about race does not have to be incredibly awkward. In this book, Gooding offers twelve clear, cogent, and concise racial rubrics to help users of mainstream media more readily discern patterns hidden in plain sight. The text primarily leverages popular movies as the medium of analysis—since they are unparalleled in their cultural significance—but the rubrics apply to other forms of media, such as television, print, and social media. “Why does the Black guy die first?” is a well-known rhetorical question that challenges the disparate treatment of non-White characters onscreen. This subtle statement about the representation of persons of color within mainstream movies has remained largely unexplored until now. Race and Media Literacy, Explained provides concrete concepts and a uniform vocabulary with which to recognize and further analyze these formulaic images. After participating in this dynamically interactive experience, readers will never see media the same way again!
Book Features:
Frederick W. Gooding, Jr. is associate professor of African American studies and the Dr. Ronald E. Moore Professor in Humanities in the Honors College at Texas Christian University.
“Accessible, historical, and personal, Race and Media Literacy, Explained extends scholarship from a leading historian on representation and misrepresentation in Hollywood cinema. Gooding positions his personable analysis in this book as a challenge to fans, critics, students, scholars, and makers of film alike to correct harmful omissions in Hollywood with active and thoughtful forms of commission to produce humane and equitable representations of all on screen.”
—Jamal Ratchford, associate professor of history and race, ethnicity, and migration studies, Colorado College
“Race and Media Literacy, Explained is a masterpiece of textual analysis that deftly explores the intersection of race, entertainment, power, and gender. With a sophisticated historical framework, Frederick W. Gooding, Jr. charts the discursive ways in which movies in particular explore the human condition under the creative constrictions of race. Black life, the author demonstrates with keen quantitative and qualitative analysis, has been often reduced to a particular marginality that is not always flagrantly racist. From the “Angel” figure to the “Physical Wonder,” this book details the curious examples of the diversity of racial imagery in Hollywood and beyond.”
—Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, professor of history and director of the Center for the Study of Popular Music at the University of Connecticut, author of America’s Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy
“Race and Media Literacy, Explained is a timely and much needed contribution to the fields of ethnic studies, Black studies, film and media studies, and cultural pluralism in U.S. education. With rich materials, deft analyses, and a combination of both a poignant storytelling style of narratives and a concise and unequivocal presentation, Frederick Gooding, Jr.’s work showcases how viewers can—and should—vividly see race and race relations in American mainstream cinema.”
—An Tuan Nguyen, clinical assistant professor, Asian American studies, University of Houston
Contents (Tentative)
Acknowledgment
Series Foreword
Preface
Part I: Introduction: White Screens, Dark Theaters
Introduction: Evaluating the Worth of a Motion Picture
Setting the Stage
1,000 Words?
Judgment Day
Beware Black Engineers
Who’s Fault?
Who’s House?
The black Guy Really Does Die First
Doing the Math
1. Have We Seen This Movie Before?
Wdf?! (Why Die First?!)
But What Is a Mainstream Movie?
Take It From the Top
Mainstream Racism in Black and White
RACISM: Now in Living Color
2. Value and Visibility
Nothing New to Report
Introducing the Harm Theory Rubric
Sixth Sense: I See White People
Seeing (White Hot) Stars
The Curious Case of White Women
Coming Soon
Part II: Conflict and Climax: Color Me Bad
Chapter 3: Angel Figure
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature Analysis
Black Mirror
Angel Figure Top Ten Examples
4. Background Figure
30-SECOND SPOT
TRAILER
MAIN FEATURE ANALYSIS
BLACK MIRROR
BACKGROUND FIGURE TOP TEN EXAMPLES
5. Comic Relief
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature Analysis
Black Mirror
Comic Relief Top Ten Examples
6. Menace to Society
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature
Black Mirror
Menace to Society Top Ten Examples
7. Physical Wonder
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature
Black Mirror
Physical Wonder Top Ten Examples
8. Utopic Reversal
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature Analysis
Black Mirror
Utopic Reversal Top Ten Examples
9. Assumed Affluent
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature Analysis
Black Mirror
Assumed Affluent Top Ten Examples
10. Family Tied
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature Analysis: Family Tied
Black Mirror
Family Tied Top Ten Examples
11. Hero
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature Analysis
Black Mirror
Hero Prototype Top Ten Examples
12. The Intellectual
30-SECOND SPOT
TRAILER
MAIN FEATURE ANALYSIS
BLACK MIRROR
TOP TEN PROTOTYPE EXAMPLES: INTELLECTUAL
13. Manipulator
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature Analysis
Black Mirror
Manipulator Prototype Top Ten Examples
14. Romantic
30-Second Spot
Trailer
Main Feature Analysis
Black Mirror
Romantic Top Ten Prototype Examples
Part III: Resolution: Emotion Pictures
15. Using Logic With Emotion Pictures
My Non-Horror Top Ten Movies for “Why Die First?!”
The Bottom Lines
But It’s Just a Movie, Right?
Glossary
Watchdog Guide
References
Index
About the Author
Professors: Request an Exam Copy
Print copies available for US orders only. For orders outside the US, see our international distributors.