This thesis raises and addresses the intellectually challenging and socially relevant question why three recent films and a hip hop album that are often associated with the Black Lives movement (BLM) feature black heterosexual male heroes while the BLM movement itself was founded by Queer women and has an explicit LBGT agenda. The thesis shows solid knowledge of the historical context and the existing scholarly, theoretical and public debates, and offers an interesting and very original contribution to these debates. It is based on an impressive amount of research and the research methodology, applying gender and race theory to cultural and film analysis, is explicitly named.
The movement gained great popularity not only with hashtag-users and participants in protests, but it was also immediately picked up by the media and in public debates, while numerous variations of the slogan emerged to either mock or hijack the movement. The media attention can be divided into three different kinds: reports about the movement in connection to the police shootings, reports about protests and current incidents, and a wider field in which BLM was connected to the cultural scene in the US from 2012 to the present, which will be referred to as the cultural discourse.
Part of this cultural discourse are Steve McQueen's movie 12 Years A Slave (2013), Ava DuVernay's movie Selma (2014) and Nate Parker's movie The Birth of a Nation (2016), all three historical dramas, as well as Kendrick Lamar's album To Pimp A Butterfly (2015). All four cultural productions were directly connected to BLM by the media. They were brought up in discussions about and within the movement, and, even though BLM was initially created in response to racially motivated police brutality, the three movies also triggered debates about other cultural and societal issues, such as the acknowledgment and representation of Black directors and actors in US cinema. Although Lamar's album provided the anthem of the movement, “Alright”, and addresses police brutality in the other songs as well, it also uses a number of common rap themes, treating women, for instance, from a male-centered and at first glance misogynist perspective. Especially when we look at other Hip Hop artists connected to BLM as well, it becomes clear that the pop-cultural narrative that is associated with BLM is actually about black heterosexual men.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Guiding Principles of #BlackLivesMatter in Three Historical Films
Black Cinematic Representation and the Concepts of Double-Consciousness and Postmemory
The Visualization of Double-Consciousness in Footage of Police Brutality
Old Wine in New Skins: Constructing Black Masculinity in the Three Films
Gender as Power
The Hero as an Embodiment of Societal Values
The Transformation into a Hero: An Investigation in Three Scenes
A New Representation of Black Manhood Paves the Way
Chapter 2: The Guiding Principles of #BlackLivesMatter in its Unofficial Anthem “Alright”
Masculinity and Agency: Encoded Hip Hop Elements in “Alright” and To Pimp a Butterfly
The Street Code of Nihilism: Lamar's Tragic Narrative and “Second Sight”
A New Representation of Black Agency: “Alright” as a Leading Narrative
Objective & Themes
This master's thesis examines the incongruity between the original inclusive principles of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and its public representation in pop-cultural works, specifically focusing on how these productions utilize the figure of the black male tragic hero to embody societal values and redefine black masculinity.
- The impact of historical dramas and hip-hop music on the cultural discourse surrounding BLM.
- The application of W.E.B. Du Bois' "double-consciousness" and Marianne Hirsch's "postmemory" to contemporary black identity.
- The construction of the black male "tragic hero" as a guiding figure in media representation.
- Gender relations and moral superiority as primary instruments for defining black agency.
- The critical engagement with traditional hip-hop tropes and street codes in Kendrick Lamar's work.
Excerpt from the Book
The Transformation into a Hero: An Investigation in Three Scenes
As I have argued, in the movies the gender relations signifying power relations are symbolized and visualized in a quadrangular constellation. On one axis they are established between the black male protagonist and hero, who needs to be heterosexual to make them work, and white male antagonists, also heterosexual; on the other axis they are established by female black characters and female white figures who don't have to be present in a defined role, but whose function can also be fulfilled in absence, making the constellation visually a triangular one while the quadrangle remains on a symbolic level. I will investigate one scene from each film in order to analyze the quadrangular constellation in it, identify the black male protagonists' hamartíae and consequently describe their transformation into a heroic figure embodying guiding cultural values.
In 12 Years a Slave the scene in which Solomon becomes a hero is the one in which Patsey returns from Master Shaw's farm and is confronted by the jealous Master Epps (01:45:50). This scene, composed of multiple frames, is also the one in which the quadrangular relationship becomes most obvious in all three movies. It starts with a close up of a shirt on a clothing line turned upside down, moving lifelessly in a breeze. The camera zooms out into a peaceful scene of black female slaves hanging clothes on lines, when shouting can be heard from a distance and Master Epps storms into the scene and grabs one of the women. He asks for Patsey, and pushes the woman to the ground when she says that she doesn't know where Patsey is. Then he moves on to another woman, hugging her tenderly and desperately while she is obviously in fear of him.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This chapter outlines the emergence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and its subsequent integration into the American cultural discourse, highlighting the tension between the movement's inclusive founding principles and the male-centered narratives often projected onto it.
Chapter 1: The Guiding Principles of #BlackLivesMatter in Three Historical Films: This chapter investigates how three historical dramas—12 Years a Slave, Selma, and The Birth of a Nation—utilize the trope of the black male hero and traditional gender relations to establish moral superiority and challenge white hegemonic representations.
Chapter 2: The Guiding Principles of #BlackLivesMatter in its Unofficial Anthem “Alright”: This chapter analyzes how Kendrick Lamar’s "Alright" and his album To Pimp a Butterfly navigate the nihilistic elements of traditional hip-hop to transform the artist into a tragic hero, thereby creating a new narrative of black agency that aligns with BLM’s principles.
Keywords
Black Lives Matter, #BlackLivesMatter, Black masculinity, Tragic hero, Double-consciousness, Postmemory, Hip-hop, Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly, Gender relations, Racial injustice, Representation, Agency, Cultural discourse, Moral superiority.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this thesis?
The work investigates the cultural representation of black male identity in the context of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, specifically looking at how pop-cultural productions like film and music create a sense of black agency.
What are the primary themes discussed?
The central themes include the construction of black masculinity, the role of gender as a power category, the function of the "tragic hero" in cultural discourse, and the critical intersection of race, memory, and media.
What is the main research objective?
The objective is to explain the discrepancy between the inclusive, decentralized principles of #BlackLivesMatter and the movement’s frequent public association with a black male heterosexual narrative.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The thesis utilizes filmic and literary analysis, specifically applying theoretical frameworks like W.E.B. Du Bois' "double-consciousness" and Marianne Hirsch's "postmemory," alongside gender analysis based on Joan Scott’s theories.
What does the main body cover?
The main body focuses on the analysis of three historical films (12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Birth of a Nation) and Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp a Butterfly, exploring how these works negotiate historical and cultural narratives to establish black heroes.
Which keywords characterize this work?
The most relevant terms include #BlackLivesMatter, black masculinity, tragic hero, double-consciousness, gender relations, and cultural representation.
How does the author analyze gender in the selected films?
The author argues that gender relations are used as a "category of power." By framing black men as morally superior to white oppressors within the domestic sphere, the films use gender to solidify the black male protagonist's heroic status.
What role does the "reversed hamartia" play in the hero's development?
A "reversed hamartia" is a flaw that does not destroy the hero but rather negotiates traditional stereotypes. It reveals a moral dilemma—such as a father's choice to prioritize family survival—that ultimately elevates the protagonist into a morally superior figure.
How does Kendrick Lamar use hip-hop codes in his music?
Lamar uses traditional, often nihilistic or misogynistic elements of street code not to glorify them, but to critically interrogate them. He positions himself as a "tragic hero" to address the inescapable reality of systemic oppression while advocating for self-accountability.
- Quote paper
- Ingeborg Morawetz (Author), 2017, The Black Lives Matter movement and representations of black male identity, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/371884
