OVID.tv Presents ETHNIC NOTIONS Film Review — Racism’s Ugly Face

Posted on by Anushka Mukherjee

A happy lullaby tune fades in as the screen zooms in on a book titled ABC in Dixie: a Planation Alphabet. Each letter of the alphabet narrates the many stereotypes that haunt the African American community to this day. 

So begins Marlon Riggs’ Ethnic Notions, a 1986 documentary that examines how harmful depictions of African Americans have cultivated a nation diagnosed with chronic racism.

Careless Sambos, devoted Mammies, loyal Toms, savage Brutes, and goggle-eyed Pickaninnies slide across the screen one by one. They are everywhere: cartoons, songs, movies, books, advertisements, house decorations, minstrel shows, and even children’s rhymes. You too may recoil with repulsion at these opening scenes.

OVID.tv Film Gives Us a Detailed Tour of Racism’s Imagery in America

The film takes us through the history of these stereotypes and caricatures, explaining how unrealistic images of Black people  have evolved into different tools of racism in America. In reality, Black people’s lips are not so big that they take up half their face. Their eyes are not so humongous and demonic. Their mannerisms are not this vile. Yet we see the repeated advertisements with such stereotypical images. The film reminding us that with the repetition reality is lost.

As we watch the racist imagery parade, Esther Rolle narrates throughout, as many other respected scholars weigh in. “They have had a great impact on our society,” says Larry Levine, one of the first scholars to comment on the issue. “They, therefore, tell us both about the inner desires of the people who create and consume them and also about some of the forces that shape reality.”

Like this reviewer, you will likely find Ethnic Notions to be a short but dense course on racism in America. We gain fascinating insights on how these caricatures become more prominent in society as they take up the stage. For example, Rolle speaks of the 1820s when T.D. Rice, known as an Ethiopian delineator, performs blackface for the pleasure of the masses. Soon enough, his performance, known as the Jim Crow, becomes a symbol of segregation in the South. The scene then cuts to choreographer Leni Sloan who breaks down the true roots of Jim Crow. He explains how it was a dance many of the enslaved started on the plantations as a way of outsmarting the law that prevented them from dancing.

We then see images and clips of minstrels flash across the screen as blackface performers take on the Jim Crow character and the singing, dancing Sambo. Their exaggerated dialect, tattered clothes, curved spine, and big lipped mouth is a disturbing image, meant to mockingly represent an entire race.

For this writer the insightful and comprehensive commentary of Ethnic Notions, powered by the vile pile-on of racist imagery, is a must-watch film for those of us who want to stay educated on the many ways the White American culture has oppressed the African American community. Those who are not a big fan of documentaries that are heavy on brutal history may want to skip this one. Historians, culturalists, or anyone interested in educating themselves on how certain stereotypes have fostered anti-black prejudice would most likely be interested in Ethnic Notions.

 

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Length: 57 minutes

Director: Marlon Riggs

Narrator: Esther Rolle

To view the film, visit OVID.tv page for Ethnic Notions.

Images courtesy of OVID.tv

Anushka Mukherjee

About the Author: Anushka Mukherjee

Anushka is a book and film enthusiast. She spends the majority of her time in the world of literature lost amongst their world and their characters. When she isn't journeying through her current read or film, she is out and about on her next adventure. Having lived in five countries and traveled to at least ten, she caught the travel bug at a young age. And with travel comes food, which is Anushka's soul mate. Her passion for the culinary world has never let her down, and she has started taking that skill from the table to the kitchen. When she is taking a break from whatever fictional world she was in, she can be found in the kitchen experimenting on new recipes with her parents.
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