Reel Women: Black Women and Literacy in Feature Films (Joanne Kilgour Dowdy)

     In Reel Women: Black Women and Literacy in Feature Films. Kilgour Dowdy talks about film production and how black women are displayed. She uses specific movies such as "Losing Isaiah", "The Color Purple" and "Clara's Heart" to emphasize the "standard" roles of the black actress. Kilgour Dowdy's main purpose was to show how in these films, the black woman rarely shows her intelligence. She portrays the helpless victim of drugs, abuse, being powerless and always falling short of the white actors/actresses. With Kilgour Dowdy's research, she concludes that the portrayal of black women in film should be more inspirational and directed more towards literacy.
     I totally agree with Kilgour Dowdy in many ways. How black women are presented in film is demeaning. Not demeaning in a sexual way but demeaning in character. There should be more films where you see a black woman reading, changing laws, CEO of businesses etc. Even looking at films now, nothing has changed. There are still stereotypical films of black women. In class we discussed, the film "Precious" and it's powerful message.  Even with a positive ending black women in the film were portrayed as  fat,helpless,abusive,terrorizing and homosexual. I can't speak for the actresses out there today but if I was an actress, I would  do more films that are positive, showing me as an amazing asset to my community and America. I say, let's empower the black women by creating movies that shows a black woman doing great things. These roles help others to see black women in a different and brighter light.