Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The issue of interracial coupling between African-Americans and whites has always been a controversial issue in America. The increasing number of black-white couples is often seen as a sign of society’s growing acceptance of these unions, yet certain images of interracial couples, as deviant or inherently different from intraracial couples, still dominate. Significant opposition to interracial couples still exists within families, communities, and the larger society (Childs 2001; McNamara et al. 1999; Rosenblatt et.al 1996). Nowhere is this opposition more apparent than in our popular culture, especially mainstream box-office films that rarely depict intimate black-white relationships. Those films that do include an interracial couple tend to reinforce the existing racial hierarchy, rendering interracial relationships problematic. In the contemporary mainstream films that are discussed, the depictions of black-white relationships reinforce the dominant ideologies that blacks and whites do not belong together. Through these cultural images, interracial relationships between blacks and whites are constructed as deviant and unacceptable to large numbers of whites. White opposition manifests as a belief that the races have “real biological and cultural differences” and that it is necessary to maintain racial boundaries. Blacks are also depicted as opposing interracial relationships, but their opposition stems from a distrust of whites and a history of oppression and discrimination.
In the films selected, an oppositional discourse against interracial relationships, was expressed, whether subtle or explicit. Using the concept of a “dominant gaze,” it is evident that certain “interracial images” are produced: the relationships do not last; the relationships are deviant, such as extramarital affairs, one night sexual encounters or part of a subculture; the relationships are not based on a foundation of love and friendship but rather motivated by sexual desire or curiosity; and/or the black and white individuals come from opposite and often opposing worlds with strong familial and community opposition. Hollywood’s portrayals of black-white relationships can be read as “texts” which define difference between blacks and whites and reinforce boundaries. This is further evidenced in the small number of films that depict intimate relations between blacks and whites. Considering that movies both reflect and influence societal views, the small number of films as well as the overwhelmingly negative depictions of interracial relationships, when they are shown, reveals the lingering opposition to interracial sexuality and marriage, as well as the persistent racialized images of African-Americans.