Red, White & Black: Cinema and the Structure of U.S.
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Wilderson, Frank B., III, PUBLISHER: Duke University Press, "Red, White & Black" is a provocative critique of socially engaged films ong>andong> related critical discourse. Offering an unflinching account of race ong>andong> representation, Frank B. Wilderson III asks wheong>theong>r such films accurately represent ong>theong> ong>structureong> of U.S. racial antagonisms. That ong>structureong>, he argues, is based on three essential subject positions: that of ong>theong> White (ong>theong> "settler," "master," ong>andong> "human"), ong>theong> Red (ong>theong> "savage" ong>andong> "half-human"), ong>andong> ong>theong> Black (ong>theong> "slave" ong>andong> "non-human"). Wilderson contends that for Blacks, slavery is ontological, an inseparable element of ong>theong>ir being. From ong>theong> beginning of ong>theong> European slave trade until now, Blacks have had symbolic value as fungible flesh, as ong>theong> non-human (or anti-human) against which Whites have defined ong>theong>mselves as human. Just as slavery is ong>theong> existential basis of ong>theong> Black subject position, genocide is essential to ong>theong> ontology of ong>theong> Indian. Both positions are foundational to ong>theong> existence of (White) humanity. Wilderson provides detailed readings of two films by Black directors, "Antwone Fisher" (Denzel Washington) ong>andong> "Bush Mama" (Haile Gerima); one by an Indian director, "Skins" (Chris Eyre); ong>andong> one by a White director, "Monster's Ball" (Marc Foster). ong>Theong>se films present Red ong>andong> Black people beleaguered by problems such as homelessness ong>andong> ong>theong> repercussions of incarceration. ong>Theong>y portray social turmoil in terms of conflict, as problems that can be solved (at least ong>theong>oretically, if not in ong>theong> given narratives). Wilderson maintains that at ong>theong> narrative level, ong>theong>y fail to recognize that ong>theong> turmoil is based not in conflict, but in fundamentally irreconcilable racial antagonisms. Yet, as he explains, those antagonisms are unintentionally disclosed in ong>theong> films' non-narrative strategies, in decisions regarding matters such as lighting, camera angles, ong>andong> sound.