Bruce Baum—“Hollywood on Race in the Age of Obama: Invictus, Precious and Avatar”. Read: Stephen Pimpare—“The Welfare Queen and the Great White Hope” (both attached in uploads). Watch: Precious.
( http://123moviesfreez.com/watch/precious-2009-online-free-123movies.html )
watch a clear and original version of the movie.
Then write 150 words answering these questions below and write about a different aspect of the readings and the film, Is Precious a racist film if you only look at the black representations in
the film? What types of stereotypes do you see in the film, and why do you think Lee Daniels includes these stereotypes in the film? Students usually want to love Precious because it affects them
as they watch it (the film tends to make students cry), but you might need to detach yourself from how you feel about the narrative itself in order to think about what the film is saying. What
argument do the images make about blacks and welfare, and is this an accurate account? How do the images in the film recapitulate colorblind racism? You have to include a quote from the readings
and screenings in your post. The writing must have proper style, grammar, mechanics, spelling, and formatting. This is the end of the first post.
The second posting falls under: “Bamboozled, the Mirror, & Double Consciousness” Read: W. E. B. Du Bois—“Of Our Spiritual Strivings” ( http://www.bartleby.com/114/1.html ). Read: Ed Guerrero
—“Bamboozled: In the Mirror of Abjection” . Watch: Bamboozled.
Then write 150 words that answer these questions (you can write about a different aspect of the readings and the film, but make sure that it pertains to the film and reading): Spike Lee’s
Bamboozled underscores W. E. B. DuBois’s notion of "double consciousness": how does Lee create a visual manifestation of "double consciousness"? Ed Guerrero argues that
Bamboozled prefigures Precious: how does Bamboozled do this? What do you make of all of the racist "toys" and collectibles that Pierre and Sloane reveal throughout the film? Is satire a
good way to mock (in an attempt to destroy) this heavy subject matter? What do you make of the final montage in the film?