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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until December 09, 2027

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More Than Magical Negroes, Thugs, and Slaves: Black Men''s Meaning-Making of Self and Black Masculinities in Film

Stone, Anthony
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0947-7692
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1703168922515557

Abstract Details

2023, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Sociology.
Visualizations of Black males have transfixed the minds of laypersons and scholars for hundreds of years. Yet, while diverse Black boys and men are hyper-visible in contemporary U.S. films, scholars still utilize a deficit perspective when analyzing their representations and argue that they are overwhelmingly depicted in deleterious, disparaging, and stereotypical ways. Scholarship on the impacts of such representations assumes a link between negative portrayals and negative outcomes. Much less attention has been given to the potential benefits of more nuanced and positive portrayals of Black characters on the lives of everyday Black men. Moreover, such limitations means that we know surprisingly little about how audiences of Black males interpret their on-screen equivalents as related to their own understandings of who they are. Drawing on qualitative data from in-depth individual and focus group interviews with 51 Black men from across the United States with varied social locations, I examine how they (re)negotiate race, masculinity, and personhood with respect to the Black cinematic characters they consume. Relying on foundations in Black Male Studies, conceptualizations of Black males and masculinity, and Collins Black feminist thought, I develop the theory of Black Masculine Thought to understand how Black men decode Black male characters in film. More specifically, the findings reveal three main strategies that the men use to decode their on-screen counterparts. First, while they acknowledge the existence stereotypical portrayals, they either deflect them as unimportant, or they actively resist them by reconsidering the characters in complex, humanizing ways. Second, they approach Black men in film as sources of social representation or identification. They see themselves in a range of characters and use them as inspiration for their own lives—especially instances where characters persevere through struggle. Finally, they are especially attuned to, and inspired by the importance of love in representations of Black men’s lives, ranging from romantic love to the love of self, as inspired by a desire to earn the admiration of all. Through these findings, I identify the processes whereby Black men achieve individual and collective meaning-making through conversations about and within cinema. As Black men and boys continue to be stereotyped in media and real life and are much too frequently murdered by state sanctioned actors—who often refer to stereotypical images and understandings of Black masculinity as justifications—my dissertation offers a more nuanced, positive, and humanizing understanding of who Black men are. Ultimately, the findings of this project illustrate important implications for future studies on Black men and boy’s representation in media as they reveal a much more complex and creative audience engagement with Black characters and Black themes than scholars have assumed. Scholars can use these ideas to move away from deficit perspectives when engaging research on Black males and their representation.
Annulla Linders, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Earl Wright II, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Ronald Jackson II, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Omotayo Banjo, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
302 p.
Sociology
Black Masculinities; Race; Race and Media; Social Psychology; Race in Film; Reception Study

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stone, A. (2023). More Than Magical Negroes, Thugs, and Slaves: Black Men''s Meaning-Making of Self and Black Masculinities in Film [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1703168922515557

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stone, Anthony. More Than Magical Negroes, Thugs, and Slaves: Black Men''s Meaning-Making of Self and Black Masculinities in Film. 2023. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1703168922515557.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stone, Anthony. "More Than Magical Negroes, Thugs, and Slaves: Black Men''s Meaning-Making of Self and Black Masculinities in Film." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1703168922515557

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1703168922515557
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.