"I think that when you make something, a film or any creative work, it has to be about something you care about, something that matters. And for me, that’s the struggle for justice and the exploration of Black identity in America. It’s not just about representation; it’s about creating a space where the stories of marginalized people are told with dignity and depth."

Ava DuVernay

What is Race & Ethnicity Film Theory?

Race and ethnicity in film theory examine how films represent, construct, and challenge notions of racial and ethnic identities. This field of study explores how cinematic narratives, characters, and aesthetics reflect and influence societal attitudes toward race and ethnicity. Key areas of focus include the portrayal of racial stereotypes, the role of cinema in shaping racial ideologies, and the opportunities for marginalized groups to express their perspectives through film. Theoretical frameworks often draw from cultural studies, critical race theory, and postcolonial theory to analyze the power dynamics and cultural politics inherent in film production and reception. Ultimately, race and ethnicity film theory seeks to understand and critique the ways in which cinema participates in the broader social construction of race and ethnic identities.

Key Figures

Stuart Hall

Stuart Hall has written extensively on both race as a societal construct and representations of race and ethnicity in media and popular culture.  In his essay “The Spectacle of the ‘Other,’” he emphasized how race and ethnicity are not fixed, but constructed, reconstructed and reproduced in media. This understanding of encoding/decoding (or constructing / deconstructing meaning) is foundational for understanding how audiences interpret racial imagery.

Frantz Fanon

In his two key texts, Black Skin, White Masks (1954) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961), Fanon introduces important concepts behind the lasting psychological impacts of colonial thought that continue to influence conetemporary thinking on race & ethnicity. He argued that true liberation required not only political independence but also the deconstruction of colonial ideologies and the reclamation of indigenous cultures and identities.  He addressed both the psychological scars of colonial oppression as well as the need for rebellion and liberation from such ideologies.

bell hooks

bell hooks (she intentionally did not capitalize her name) was a prominent cultural critic, feminist theorist, and author. Her work often explores the intersections of race, gender, and class. In her book "Black Looks: Race and Representation" (1992), she discusses how black women are often marginalized in media and calls for a more inclusive and diverse representation.

Key Concepts

Representation

Representation refers to how films depict various racial and ethnic groups. It involves analyzing how characters of different races and ethnicities are portrayed as more or less visible and/or complex than others. This concept explores whether these characters are portrayed in a multidimensional and authentic manner or if they are reduced to mere stereotypes. It also looks at the types of stories being told about these groups and how accurately they reflect real-life experiences.

Example: Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther offers a groundbreaking representation of African culture and characters in mainstream cinema. The film presents African traditions, technology, and leadership in a positive light, with strong, multidimensional Black characters, challenging the industry's history of negative or simplistic portrayals of African identities.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes in film refer to the oversimplified portrayals of racial and ethnic groups that are often negative or reductive. Analyzing stereotypes involves understanding their origins, persistence, and impact on audiences' perceptions and attitudes toward those groups.

Example: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Although considered a classic, Breakfast at Tiffany's features Mickey Rooney (a white comedic actor) as Mr. Yunioshi, a grossly exaggerated and offensive caricature of a Japanese man. This portrayal highlights how deeply ingrained racial stereotypes have been in Hollywood and serves as a case study for the damage such stereotypes can inflict on public perceptions and cultural understanding.

Whiteness as Normative

This concept examines how whiteness is often positioned as the default or standard in American and European films. White characters and their experiences are typically at the center of the story, while non-white characters are marginalized or exoticized. This normativity means that white perspectives are seen as universal, whereas others are viewed as deviations. Studying this phenomenon reveals how films contribute to maintaining racial hierarchies and the invisibility of white privilege.

Example: La La Land (2016)

La La Land focuses on a romance between an aspiring actress and a jazz musician in Los Angeles. The film has been criticized for its portrayal of jazz, a genre deeply rooted in African American history, through a white lens. The main characters are white, the casting does not reflect the diversity of the city of Los Angeles and the film marginalizes the contributions of Black musicians to the genre. These choices reinforce the normativity of white experiences and perspectives. This focus underscores how films can contribute to cultural erasure and maintain whiteness as the default.

Othering (The Other)

Othering refers to the process by which films depict certain racial and ethnic groups as fundamentally different from, and often inferior to, the dominant group. This concept involves analyzing how films create a dichotomy between "us" (usually white characters) and "them" (non-white characters). Othering can manifest through exoticization, dehumanization, or portraying non-dominant groups as threats or outsiders. This is also an important concept in Postcolonial Film Theory.

Example: District 9 (2016)

In the film District 9, director Neil Blompcamp utilizes a science fiction setting to turn the alien invasion genre on its head.  Aliens arriving in South Africa and finds themselves rounded up and forced into a life of hardship in a Ghetto.  A thinly veiled critique of the apartheid system, the science fiction genre uses the visual difference of the alien body to emphasize the idea of the other.  Over the course of the film, a human comes into contact with an alien substance that slowly transforms him, leading into issues of intersectionality as well.  Read on…

Intersectionality

Intersectionality explores how race and ethnicity intersect with other social categories such as gender, class, sexuality, and disability. It recognizes that individuals have multiple, layered identities that influence their experiences and representation in films. This concept helps in understanding the complexity of identity and how overlapping systems of oppression operate in cinematic narratives. This is the reason that Intersectionality can also be found on our Feminist Film Theory page as well. Author bell hooks is central to discussions of intersectionality as they apply to the female and black experiences in the United States. 

Example: Moonlight (2016)

Moonlight intricately explores the intersections of race, sexuality, and masculinity within the life of a Black man growing up in a rough Miami neighborhood. The film provides a layered and nuanced portrayal of identity, illustrating how different aspects of one's identity interact and shape our experiences.  

Cultural Hegemony

Cultural hegemony refers to the dominance of certain cultural norms and values propagated and reinforced through films. This concept explores how films serve as tools for maintaining the status quo by promoting ideologies that support existing power structures. Analyzing cultural hegemony involves looking at how dominant racial and ethnic groups control the portrayal of minority groups and how these portrayals uphold societal inequalities.

Example: Get Out (2018)

In Get Out, Jordan Peele exposes mechanisms of cultural hegemony in the form of white liberal elite society. In this film, the Armitage family and their friends maintain dominance not through overt racism, but through a seemingly benevolent, post-racial ideology that masks exploitation. They have a performative embrace of Black culture that exemplifies how hegemonic whiteness co-opts and commodifies Blackness while still exerting control over Black bodies and minds. The “sunken place”, a place created out of a hypntotic state instituted by Missy Armitage becomes a metaphor for the enforced silence and disempowerment of black culture within a society that upholds white norms as universal. Through genre subversion and symbolism, the film critiques the structures of white supremacy disguised as liberal tolerance, showing how racial hegemony operates not only through violence but through media coded ideology and assimilation.

Resistance and Agency

This concept focuses on films that challenge dominant narratives and provide marginalized groups with a platform to voice their experiences and perspectives. It examines how characters from racial and ethnic minorities assert their agency and resist oppressive systems within the narrative. Such films often subvert traditional stereotypes and offer alternative, empowering representations that highlight the resilience and strength of marginalized communities.

Example: Hidden Figures (2016)

Hidden Figures tells the true story of three African American women mathematicians—Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson—who worked at NASA during the Space Race. The film highlights their crucial contributions to the success of the space missions, showcasing their resilience and intelligence in the face of systemic racism and sexism. This film exemplifies resistance and agency by focusing on how these women challenged and overcame barriers, thus providing a powerful counter-narrative to the dominant historical accounts that often overlook the contributions of Black women in science and technology.

Check for Understanding

Teacher only box

You may choose to have students look at a film through a Race & Ethnicity Film Theory lens.  This page contains questions to guide their analysis: Race and Ethnicity Film Theory Analytical Task 

Teacher only box

Depth of Knowledge Questions

Here are some questions that can promote students' ability to think deeply about film through a feminist film lens.  These can be class discussion questions, exit tickets, or (at the DOK 4 level) larger projects for them to work on. 

DOK Level 1 - (Recall - measure, recall, calculate, define, list, identify.)

• What is the main focus of Race & Ethnicity film theory?

DOK Level 2 - (Skill/Concept - graph, classify, compare, estimate, summarize.)

• Summarize how Race & Ethnicity film theory views the role of cinema in society.
• Discuss areas of similarity and difference between Race & Ethnicity Film Theory and Postcolonial Film Theory.

DOK Level 3 - (Strategic Thinking - assess, investigate, formulate, draw conclusions, construct.)

• Investigate how Race & Ethnicity film theory analyzes the representation of various races in film.
• Formulate a critique of a specific film using the principles of Race & Ethnicity film theory.

DOK Level 4 - (Extended Thinking - analyze, critique, create, design, apply concepts.)

• Analyze a  film through the lens of Race & Ethnicity film theory. What social commentary can be derived from this analysis?
• Create a short film script that reflects Race & Ethnicity ideologies and principles in its storyline and characters.