FINAL
INTRODUCTION:
From Frantz Fanon to Robert Stam and Ella Shohat, all of these theorists present revelating works on race, sexuality, class and their implications in media throughout time, as well as their conscious and unconscious manifestations.
Frantz Fanon in “The Negro and Psychopathology,” delves into the psychological impacts of colonialism and stereotyping on black individuals through harmful narratives. Fanon concludes that one must take agency over stereotyping and negative portrayals in order to escape the “neurosis” that comes along with societal norms and expectations. By subverting these arbitrary standards, black individuals will overcome generational oppression.
bell hooks in her work “Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators,” highlights the unique intersectionality of black women that makes them susceptible to multiple forms of oppression through portrayal in the media. She argues that black women are subjected to harmful stereotypes that deny them freedom of expression in popular forms of media. She also introduces the term “oppositional gaze” which refers to the type of spectatorship black women take on when viewing media to subvert expectations and give agency back to these women. It allows black women to critique media in a way that dismantles oppression instead of upholding it.
Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” builds off of Lorde’s previous works on difference and repetition by explaining how it manifests in different ways to continue oppression. In addition, Lorde upholds that women should be aware of intersectionalities of feminism with racism, classism, ageism and heterosexism. Ignoring “difference” but embracing the differences within women is crucial to dismantling oppression.
Finally, Robert Stam and Ella Shohat in their piece “Stereotype, Realism, and the Struggle Over Representation,” discusses the portrayals of marginalized communities in film. They delve into “positive” and “negative” portrayals of these groups, as well as historical pushback from these communities. In addition, Stam and Shohat add nuance to the discourse surrounding “stereotypes,” and instead offer up an alternative explanation that film is a culmination of societal perception just as much as it is the creation of the characters themselves.
With all these theorists in mind, I will first describe the commonalities among the works, then discuss the differences each present. Finally, using the HBO series “The Watchmen,” I will explain how each of the theorists would feasibly compliment and discuss two scenes within the television series.
By utilizing the theories of all of these authors, I will explain how “The Watchmen,” particularly their developments of characters like protagonist Angela Abar and her grandfather Will Reeves, as well as Dr. Manhattan are products of portrayals of race, sexuality and gender. In addition the narrative focus of the series serves to emphasize their individual struggles with identity and societal oppression, as well as their actions done in an attempt to subvert them.
SECTION 1–Dominant Culture and Stereotyping as a Means of Oppression:
All of the theorists, from Fanon’s view of the collective unconscious of the black community, to Lorde’s definition of the “master’s tools,” in investigating institutional oppression specifically examine the psychological ripple effect perpetuated by stereotyping. They delve into the social implications of harmful narratives, as well as providing strategies on how to overcome generational, institutional, and social oppression.
Fanon’s work examines how black people are psychologically affected by harmful stereotyping of black individuals in media, specifically stories targeted towards young children. It is this reinforcement, Fanon says, that villainizes the black community through learned racism. Through adulthood, it is seemingly impossible for a black individual to dismantle these stereotypes from the perceptions of people, particularly the “white world, “(111) (1). He explores how colonization and systemic racism impacts the psyche and identity of the colonized. Fanon's work emphasizes the ways in which colonialism and its modern day manifestations in storytelling creates psychological trauma and a learned unconscious sense of inferiority among colonized peoples, also known as the “collective unconscious,” (112) (2). In order to overcome these learned societal expectations put upon black individuals, Fanon writes that through “collective catharsis” of narratives that empower black culture and dismantle colonial thinking, they may begin to feel less pressured to adapt oneself to eurocentric expectations, and overcome generational traumas that shape their actions in a eurocentric society.
hook’s reading also touches on the effects of negative portrayals of black individuals in the media, specifically black women. She argues that black women face a multitudes of harmful stereotyping in media, writing that “When most black people in the United States first had the opportunity to look at film and television, they did so fully aware that mass media was a system of knowledge and power reproducing and maintaining white supremacy, “ (308) (3). Similar to Fanon, hooks states that societal oppression of black people stems from upholding ideals of white supremacy. This in turn leads to limited portrayal of black people onscreen, and leaves black women with even fewer characters to express relatability due to oppression from the white community as well as black men. hooks states the way for black women to regain agency in light of stereotyping onscreen is the “oppositional gaze,” or when black women create new meaning from media to critique and evolve new meaning: “We create alternative texts that are not solely reactions. As critical spectators, black women participate in a broad range of looking relations, contest, resist, revision, interrogate, and invent on multiple levels,” (317) (4).
Lorde critiques stereotyping as a tool of oppression that reduces individuals to narrow, oversimplified categories based on age, race, class, and sex, especially relating to women. She highlights how these stereotypes perpetuate power imbalances and limit people's self-expression and agency. Stereotypes, according to Lorde, are tools used by dominant groups to maintain control and suppress the voices and experiences of marginalized communities. Furthermore, they restrict individuals' abilities to fully express their unique identities and experiences, forcing them into predefined roles that are often dehumanizing and oppressive. Lorde offers up multiple solutions that go against institutional strategies designed to oppress or “the master’s tools,” (112) (5). Lorde advocates for a culture of women that embrace intersectionality and the many differences in womens’ experiences to create interconnectedness. This unity can help dismantle harmful narratives about different types of women and create affinity stemming from diverse experiences.
Stam and Shohat work discusses the negative effects of stereotypes in film, as well as advocating for a nuanced interpretation of stereotypes themselves.The authors discuss how stereotypes through the eurocentric lens can lead to prejudice, discrimination, and cultural misrepresentation. Stereotypical portrayals in media and popular culture contribute to reinforcing biased perceptions and limiting opportunities for nuanced understanding and empathy of marginalized groups despite pushback. Furthermore, stereotypes can contribute to internalized oppression, where individuals from marginalized groups may internalize negative stereotypes about their own identity. Although representation can go a long way to amending previous harmful portrayals, it is discourse, the authors argue, which makes overcoming stereotyping possible. They write “Rather than directly reflecting the real, or even refracting the real, artistic discourse constitutes a refraction of a refraction; that is, a mediated version of an already textualized and "discursivized" socio ideological world. This formulation transcends a naive referential verism without falling into a "hermeneutic nihilism" whereby all texts become nothing more than a meaningless play of signification,” (180) (6). All in all, societal critique of realism and stereotypes in text is the most critical lens in which to dismantle negative portrayals of marginalized communities.
SECTION 2–Emerging Stereotypes, Amending Stereotypes:
Though all the authors write about stereotypes and various ways of dismantling them, each has a vastly different approach in doing so. Each theorists presents a differential view on the role of agency and opposition to oppression institutions
For one, Fanon states that it is through the unlearning of a black individual’s unconscious thoughts and actions of inferiority that the community can overcome societal oppression driven by colonization. Fanon takes an introspective, psychoanalytic approach focused on excavating how racist colonial stereotypes become entrenched in the unconscious of the black community, in order to dismantle their psychological hold and heal one’s diminished sense of self worth. Unlike others, Fanon’s approach focuses on amending the individual’s mindset, rather than shifting the views of others.
In hook’s essay, she also mentions that black women face a unique form of oppression from not only the dominant white culture, but from black men as well. This mention of intersectionality that differs black and white women deviates slightly from Fanon’s “collective unconscious” of the unified experiences of the entire black community. She quotes a previous essay she wrote about her experience viewing black women onscreen: “We laughed with the black men, with the white people. We laughed at this black woman who was not us. And we did not even long to be there on the screen,” (311) (7). As a way to regain agency over portrayal of black women in cinema, hooks advocates for the oppositional gaze which involves black female viewers consciously interrogating the racial and gender biases embedded in mainstream visual culture, rather than passively consuming stereotypical images. She encourages black women to not take the backseat in witnessing their own oppression onscreen, but instead undermine the phallocentric gaze in which men derive visual pleasure from black women. The oppositional gaze empowers black women to resist stereotyping by critically deconstructing objectifying representations.
Lorde argues that the "master’s tools" of racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression cannot be used to effectively dismantle those same oppressive systems and ideologies. Honing in on the feminist movement, Lorde rejects the exclusion of women belonging to other marginalized groups, and calls for a unification of women regardless of “difference,” in experience to present a collective, unified voice that uplifts those often left out of academic feminist spaces. “Without community there is no liberation, only the most vulnerable and temporary armistice between an individual and her oppression. But community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist,” (112) (8). Lorde advocates for developing new frameworks, language, and ways of thinking that emerge from and validate the realities of those facing multiple, intersecting oppressions.
Shohat and Stam offer different origins for the emergence of stereotypes themselves, stating that institutional settings and power structures enable stereotyping, beyond just the representations themselves as well as the politics of language use, casting decisions, and audience expectations that shape stereotypical portrayals. The authors offer a more nuanced appraisal of stereotypes because they argue that due to historical development, stereotypes are malleable because they are products of social and economic change. They argue that dismantling stereotypes requires analyzing the broader discursive structures, institutions, and practices that produce and enable stereotypical representations, not just changing the representations themselves.
SECTION 3:
Episode 6: “This Extraordinary Being”
In episode 6, Will Reeve’s, Angela’s grandfather, takes on the persona of “Hooded Justice” to anonymously fight white supremacists due to the discrimination he faces in the police force. The scene takes place in Will and June’s apartment (Kassell, 0:23:37). After will puts on his signature hood and noose outfit, June puts white makeup on the part of his face where his eyes are exposed. She tells him the reason is ““You're gonna get it with that hood. And if you want to stay a hero, townsfolk gonna need to think one of their own's under it.”
Fanon’s reaction to this scene applies directly to his theory of the collective unconscious among the black community. Due to learned colonial idealizations, Will and June believe that the only way to gain validity in white society is by masquerading as a white person. Because Fanon writes black people are demonized from a very early age, he would uphold that Will and June are using the white makeup as a defense mechanism of safety due their shared experiences with trauma. This would be a correct assumption, as Reeves previously was almost lynched by his fellow police officers for attempting to arrest a man with alleged KKK affilliations.
hook’s interpretation would hone in on the transition from Reeve’s reflection of the white face point, to Angela’s reflection as she experiences the transformation simultaneously due to the nostalgia drugs she takes. hooks would highlight the use of the oppositional gaze in portraying Angela in the footsteps of her grandfather. Not only does the fight to end societal and institutional oppression transcend generations, but by portraying Angela in the reflection of a superhero, she takes agency over her own life’s purpose and inserts herself into this new interpretation of reality. This ties in with hook’s argument that deriving new meaning and critiquing media dismantles oppression and opens up alternative means for interpretation.
Lorde was deeply critical of systems of oppression, including racism and white supremacy. The scene portrays Will Reeves, a black man, having to conceal his racial identity by adopting a white persona in order to operate as a superhero and fight injustice, in other words, using the master’s tools. From this lens, she may have critiqued the scene as reinforcing the idea that black identity and empowerment must be suppressed or hidden within a white supremacist framework in order to be deemed heroic or acceptable. At the same time, the scene highlights Reeves' subversive use of the "Hooded Justice" guise to resist racist systems and fight for justice, which Lorde may have seen as an act of resistance against oppression, albeit one constrained by the limitations imposed by a racist society.
Shohat and Stam would highlight the fact that Reeve’s is conforming to the eurocentric standard of whiteness to be seen as heroic to white society. However, because their belief is that stereotypes are an ever changing product of time and development, the authors would argue that the discourse surrounding this scene would result in a positive notion that June and Will, as a result of the limiting society they lived in at the time, used the mask of a white person as a symbol of resistance and silent irony against the white people who use institutionalized law and social discrimination to oppress them. Ultimately, while the scene could be interpreted as a powerful commentary on the insidious nature of racism.
Episode 8: “A God Walks into Abar”
Dr. Manhattan tells Angela in the bar previously that she will concoct a great idea to hide his true identity so that they can be together. The scene finally comes to fruition in the morgue (Kassell, 0:42:53), where Angela sorts through a multitude of dead bodies to construct Dr. Manhattan’s new identity. Finally, Angela uncovers the body of Calvin, a construction worker that died in Saigon. She picks the final one for Dr. Manhattan’s transformation, and he assumes this person as his own. Angela looks at him in his new form, and embraces him with hope and relief.
Frantz Fanon’s analysis of the scene would specifically hone in on the choice of bodies for Dr. Manhattan’s transformation. Angela noticeably is hesitant to select Calvin’s body in the wake of the other men (white). Fanon would cite this reasoning as a manifestation of the “collective unconscious” of black individuals. He would argue that Angela is internally grappling with whether to deny her own desires and identity to be accepted within colonial culture, and wonders if she should pick a white male for Dr. Manhattan to appear as because she has an unconscious inferiority complex in proximity to whiteness.
Building off of that note, hooks would likely applaud Angela’s agency in choosing the representation of Doctor Manhattan. By picking out a visual identity for Doctor Manhattan, and being satisfied with the results, Angela uses the oppositional gaze to define her own representation of reality. Instead of passively accepting her role in Doctor Manhattan’s life, she redefines her portrayal of him in a physical manner, restating her agency and taking the reins on her own personal comfort level.
Lorde on the other hand would critique Angela’s behavior. She would likely state that by using the “master’s tools,” to change Dr. Manhattan’s appearance to make him presentable for society, she is actively using the tools of oppression to perpetuate the ideals of dominant white culture. In addition, she would critique how Angela, as a black woman, is forced to accept and internalize this stereotypical, inauthentic depiction of black masculinity in order to have a relationship with Dr. Manhattan. In essence, through Lorde's intersectional feminist lens, this scene exemplifies how oppressive racial and gender hierarchies remain deeply entrenched, with the powerful white male perspective still dictating how black identities are represented and consumed, even in seemingly progressive narratives.
Shohat and Stam would likely scrutinize the overall decision making process behind superhero narratives that allow for a white male character like Dr. Manhattan to simply "put on" a black persona as a form of masquerade or performance. They would emphasize how this scene exemplifies the politics of casting decisions and the white male gaze dictating representations of blackness, rather than amplifying authentic black voices and perspectives. Although they would likely critique this aspect, they would probably have a more nuanced view and conclude that this scene cannot be viewed in isolation, but emerges from and reinforces larger discursive structures of racism, stereotyping and objectification of black people.
Conclusion:
In my analysis of the theorists, synthesized with “Watchmen”, it can be concluded that stereotypes are a product of dominant oppression, internalized oppression and the ever changing political climate of society. Due to the complex nature of their emergence, there is no one way to fully dismantle them. Some methods may be tied to the individual, while others have to do with accepting differences in lived experience. Dismantling oppression through years of conditioning and unconscious bias is no easy task, but consuming media through a critical, agency-driven lens is crucial to being able to recognize oppression when it occurs.
Bibliography
Fanon, Frantz. "The Negro and Psychopathology." In Black Skin, White Masks, 141-209. New York: Grove Press, 1967. Pg. 111.
Fanon, pg. 112.
hooks, bell. "Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators." In Black Looks: Race and Representation, 115-131. Boston: South End Press, 1992. Pg. 308.
hooks, pg. 317.
Lorde, Audre. "Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference." In Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Trumansburg, NY: Crossing Press, 1984. Pg. 112
Shohat, Ella, and Robert Stam. "Stereotype, Realism, and the Struggle Over Representation." In Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media, edited by Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, 277-309. London: Routledge, 1994, pg. 180.
hooks, pg. 311.
Lorde, pg. 112
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