African-American representation in Hollywood films was slow to develop. Their characters were few and far between, and plagued with stereotyped and clich?d representation.

The current status of African-American character portrayal in film is subject to debate among sociologists and the African-American community. Are the roles being played by African-Americans positive or negative?

For Adilifu Nama, Pan African Studies professor, it is not a matter of positive or negative, but rather an issue of complexity.

“The historical legacy of black cinema has been antagonistic,” Nama said.

He said the film industry has portrayed African-Americans as caricatures of stereotypes and not necessarily reality. Many black actors often come form to the standard stereotypes set in precedent.

Nama said that more opportunities for black actors and directors have slowly become a part of the Hollywood machine.

Despite these opportunities he questions the amount of real power that black actors and directors have in Hollywood. He said he was skeptical about who makes the decisions of how black characters will be portrayed on film.

African-American men fall into stereotypes in movies, such as the pimp. A recent example of this is Terrence Howard’s character in the recent movie “Hustle ‘ Flow.” Nama said Howard is a good actor but his character was one-dimensional and a negative stereotype.

“We’ve seen the black pimp for years now,” Nama said.

Howard’s character is nothing new. Morgan Freeman played a pimp named “Fast Black” in the 1987 film “Street Smart.” Freeman played opposite Christopher Reeve, a journalist in pursuit of a story to keep from losing his job. He wrote a fake story about a pimp that people believed to be true.

Nama said Freeman received critical acclaim for his role as the ruthless and destructive pimp, but it remained a one-dimensional stereotyped character.

Film roles are clich? when it comes to race and the black image he said.

“Black actors have been pigeonholed in those type of characters,” said Nama.

The “magical black man” is another stereotyped character for black men. Characters like “Bagger Vance,” played by Will Smith in “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” and “John Coffey,” played by Michael Clarke Duncan in “The Green Mile,” have the job of making sure white characters’ needs are fulfilled and once they are, the black character is gone.

O Mills, a third-year pre-med and business major, feels that the film “Man On Fire” starring Denzel Washington was positive in showing the relationship between an African-American man (Washington) and a young white girl whom he was hired to protect.

“He even died for her,” said Mills.

Nama feels that film is still presenting the same historical relationship between blacks and whites. Their only role was to further the objective of the white protagonist.

Some of the stereotyped imagery and characterization in film can come across as offensive to viewers.

“Very few films are overtly offensive, but they do offend,” said Nama. “They are guilty of being offensive but they don’t offend me.”

He said the way race has been used in film is a formula. “I’m not offended,” because I see the certain formula, he added.

Nicole Young, freshman sociology major, said that black people are always being degraded in films but it seems the actors don’t seem to have a problem playing those roles. She would like to see more positive black roles in film, and not the “ghetto roles.”

Nama said the African-American influence in the film industry, both in and behind the scenes, is still in its infancy.

“We got in this game very late,” he said.

Nama is teaching Black Images on the Silver Screen this semester. The class focuses on films that have had a dramatic cultural impact on America and those that have been catalysts in Hollywood.

Some of those films include “Carwash,” “The Toy,” “Brother from Another Planet” and “Ghostdog.”

Nama said students are amazed that these films have action, love stories and comedy and use all the elements to dialog something bigger in terms of the social comprehension of racial stereotypes and bringing that understanding to an entertaining and educating format.

Race is a part of our fears and desires, Nama said.

“To see black images, it is to see one’s self; our place in our society. Films, though they are fantasy, they are very much dialogue of our reality.”

Taline Helwajian can be reached at ane@sundial.csun.edu.