THE HOLLYWOOD JIM CROW
The Hollywood Jim Crow
The Racial Politics of the Movie Industry
Maryann Erigha
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
© 2019 by New York University
All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Erigha, Maryann, author.
Title: The Hollywood Jim Crow : the racial politics of the movie industry / Maryann Erigha.
Description: New York : New York University Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018020940| ISBN 9781479886647 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781479847877 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: African American motion picture producers and directors. | African Americans in the motion picture industry. | Motion pictures—Social aspects—United States—History.
Classification: LCC PN1995.9.N4 E75 2018 | DDC 791.43/652996073—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018020940
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CONTENTS
Introduction: Race Matters in Hollywood
1. Representation and Racial Hierarchy
5. Manufacturing Racial Stigma
Conclusion: Hollywood’s Racial Politics
FIGURES AND TABLES
FIGURES
Figure I.1. Antoine Fuqua at the premiere of The Magnificent Seven
Figure 1.1. Cultural representation pyramid
Figure 1.2. 1963 March on Washington
Figure 2.1. Variety headline
Figure 2.2. Race of cast and production budgets for Black-directed movies
Figure 3.1. Average production budgets by race of director
Figure 3.2. Ava DuVernay at the Ultimate Disney Fan Event
Figure 4.1. “She’s Back” billboard ad
Figure 5.1. John Singleton at a Canadian entertainment cultural showcase
Figure 6.1. Carver Theater in downtown Birmingham, Alabama
Figure C.1. Black-directed movies headline cinema in Athens, Georgia
TABLES
Table 2.1. Domestic box office, Tyler Perry–branded films
Table 3.1. Racial representation of directors, major distributors
Table 3.2. Racial representation of directors, independent / studio independent distributors
Table 3.3. Top-budgeted Black-cast movies by Black directors
Table 3.4. Top-budgeted Black-cast movies by non-Black directors
Table 4.1. Black-directed franchise movies
Table 4.2. Top-grossing Hollywood franchise movies
Introduction
Race Matters in Hollywood
The movie The Magnificent Seven (2016), an action/adventure
