The adventure-fantasy film King Kong, directed by Merion C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack in 1933, has deserved its place in classical Hollywood cinema for its spectacular special effects, which were completely new at the time and its introduction of the female scream to the horror picture. After more than 70 years, the movie has lost little of its fascination and film scholars have not grown tired of examing the metaphorical meaning of the ape-monster and the representation of blackness and whiteness in this Beauty and the Beast fable. In his article “Humanizing the Beast”, Thomas E. Wartenberg focusses on King Kong’s transgression from the stereotypical racist representation of the Black male sexual monster of Skull Island to the romantic hero in the New York sequence. He argues that the film reverts the racism constructed in its first half and uses the second half to propagate that “it is a mistake to see Black men as sexual monsters because they are human beings like all of us” (Wartenberg 175). Rather than rating the ape’s personality in the New York sequence as a positive depiction of Black masculinity, I would argue that the stereotypical representation of the sexually aggressive black male was merely transformed into another stereotype, namely the non-threatening, desexualized noble negro; the latter no longer possesses any evil character traits but is nonetheless destructed in his inferior weakness in order to restore white womanhood to its pedestal and reinforce white capitalist male power structures.
Table of Contents
1. Cooper’s KING KONG (1933): Black Masculinity between White Womanhood and White Male Capitalist Structures
Research Objectives and Themes
This essay explores the cinematic representation of black masculinity in the 1933 film King Kong, arguing that the film reinforces white supremacist power structures by transforming the "black monster" stereotype into a desexualized, tragic figure that serves to protect white womanhood and capitalist hierarchies.
- The intersection of racial and gender stereotypes in classical Hollywood cinema.
- The symbolic role of white womanhood as a catalyst for racialized violence and order.
- A critical analysis of "humanizing" the beast versus reinforcing white capitalist power.
- Historical context of the Great Depression and its influence on portrayals of labor.
- The use of cinematic lighting and aesthetics to construct white female desirability.
Excerpt from the Book
Cooper’s KING KONG (1933): Black Masculinity between White Womanhood and White Male Capitalist Structures
The adventure-fantasy film King Kong, directed by Merion C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack in 1933, has deserved its place in classical Hollywood cinema for its spectacular special effects, which were completely new at the time and its introduction of the female scream to the horror picture. After more than 70 years, the movie has lost little of its fascination and film scholars have not grown tired of examing the metaphorical meaning of the ape-monster and the representation of blackness and whiteness in this Beauty and the Beast fable. In his article “Humanizing the Beast”, Thomas E. Wartenberg focusses on King Kong’s transgression from the stereotypical racist representation of the Black male sexual monster of Skull Island to the romantic hero in the New York sequence. He argues that the film reverts the racism constructed in its first half and uses the second half to propagate that “it is a mistake to see Black men as sexual monsters because they are human beings like all of us” (Wartenberg 175). Rather than rating the ape’s personality in the New York sequence as a positive depiction of Black masculinity, I would argue that the stereotypical representation of the sexually aggressive black male was merely transformed into another stereotype, namely the non-threatening, desexualized noble negro; the latter no longer possesses any evil character traits but is nonetheless destructed in his inferior weakness in order to restore white womanhood to its pedestal and reinforce white capitalist male power structures.
Starting in the Reconstruction era, white Southern men had placed white women on a pedestal. Despite being considered intellectually inferior to the white man in terms of gender, they had been racially empowered. White womanhood was equated with purity, chastity, innocence, domesticity and angelic features. Earlier phrenological discourse had already equated whiteness with beauty and placed the Caucasian race at the tip of the Chain of Being.
Summary of Chapters
1. Cooper’s KING KONG (1933): Black Masculinity between White Womanhood and White Male Capitalist Structures: This chapter analyzes how the film utilizes racial and gender tropes to solidify white hegemony, contrasting the "sexual monster" archetype with the desexualized "noble negro," and linking the film’s narrative to the historical realities of segregation, the Great Depression, and white capitalist expansion.
Keywords
King Kong, Black masculinity, White womanhood, Hollywood cinema, Stereotypes, Capitalism, Race, Segregation, Great Depression, Gender constructs, Colonialism, Noble negro, Beauty and the Beast, Miscegenation, Power structures
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this essay?
The essay examines the 1933 film King Kong to reveal how it constructs and maintains racial and gender hierarchies through the lens of early Hollywood cinema.
What are the central thematic areas discussed?
Key themes include the representation of black masculinity, the idealized status of white womanhood, white capitalist power dynamics, and the persistence of racist stereotypes in film.
What is the author's primary research argument?
The author argues that the film does not genuinely humanize the "beast," but rather shifts from a "sexual monster" stereotype to an "emasculated noble negro" stereotype to reinforce white dominance and protect the pedestal of white womanhood.
Which methodology is employed in this analysis?
The author uses film analysis and critical cultural theory, incorporating historical discourse on race, gender, and economic conditions of the 1930s.
What topics are covered in the main body of the text?
The body covers the symbolic functions of Fay Wray's character, the role of cinematic lighting in defining beauty, comparisons to The Birth of a Nation, and the economic interpretation of Kong as a displaced laborer.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms such as racialized gender roles, white supremacy, capitalist structures, cinematic gaze, and historical segregation.
How does the author interpret the "beauty and the beast" motif in the film?
The author interprets this motif as a vehicle to reinforce the superiority of white female purity and to justify the "taming" or destruction of the black male subject to maintain social order.
What significance is attributed to the Empire State Building scene?
The Empire State Building is identified as an ultimate symbol of modern, urban civilization, where the "primitive" laborer (Kong) is inevitably defeated by the technological and financial power represented by white male entrepreneurs like Carl Denham.
- Quote paper
- Natalie Lewis (Author), 2004, Cooper's KING KONG (1933): Black Masculinity between White Womanhood and White Male Capitalist Structures, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/56037
