During the early age of film, Oscar Micheaux was a pioneer of the industry, making films primarily for black audiences but also for white audiences who decided to look too. Oscar's career had seen many films that were observed as must see in the black community. These movies could be viewed through the story, or it could be seen from a more outside perspective, giving social commentary on the many events that took place in the 20's.
Oscar was subjugated to racial prejudices and hard times ever since he was young. He would eventually move to the city of Chicago at the age of 17 to seek a better education. He held down numerous jobs moving from one employment to another until he got swindled out of 2 dollars and decided to become his own boss. Eventually, he would become a homesteader in South Dakota where he would take his experiences as inspirations for his later novels and films.
Writing several noted novels, he would sell thousands of copies detailing the struggles of African Americans. His most attributed novel would later be forwarded into a motion picture leading to Oscar taking lead in a new field of entertainment.
Throughout his career, he produced over 40 films, and The Homesteader became known as Micheaux’s breakout film; it helped him become widely known as a writer and a filmmaker. And while his films were mainly directed at a black audience, whites would also be seen appreciating his films if the time was taken to watch, as in their eyes black films were lesser just like those who made the films, and for this, it was not necessary to watch them. However, when they watched his movies most found a profound appreciation and came to understand his themes of racism and prejudice.
His movies challenged stereotypes and the misconceptions had about the African American community. These stereotypes included the idea of rape. theft, and ignorance. All of his movies, despite containing a different theme per film, all challenge the idea of Africans being inferior. For this reason, Oscar will forever be regarded as a standout filmmaker, who challenged powerful misconceptions about African Americans in a time where violence against African Americans was common and the KKK was at its largest.
Sources:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0584778/
http://www.oscarmicheauxmovie.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1E0NrcnwAE
I really like how you focused on Micheaux's work, because it really illustrates the changing social and political consciousness of African-Americans that was rising post-WWI. It's really interesting to note how his intended audience reflected his work: because he was presenting to a majority African-American audience, he held no qualms about including lots of social and political commentary. Micheaux's work is essentially the exact opposite of what we saw through Birth of a Nation, which I think is in part due to their different audiences and contexts: Birth of a Nation was during the peak of segregation and Jim Crow, and was directed towards primarily prejudiced white audiences. Micheaux's films, on the other hand, were directed towards other African-Americans who were sympathetic to his ideas, and was also right before the Harlem Renaissance, which would feature the rise of several prominent African-American social figures.
ReplyDeleteI liked learning about how influential Oscar Micheaux was. It seems that not only was he one of the first African American filmmakers, but also the first people to incorporate social messages in his films. I like how since he portrayed black characters in a positive light, his films gave black people a role model that they could look up to. At the same time, he used his films to change the racist mindset the White audience members had.
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