The omnipotent whiteness: the treatment of Civil Rights in the American Hollywood cinema. Three paradigmatic examples of commercial success

Abstract

The presence of the African-American community in North American cinema dates back of the beginning of the seventh art. However, the relationship between the representation of whites and blacks on the screen was always uneven. With the passing of time Hollywood has seen an evolution in the forms of approach to the rights of blacks in their films. However, this alleged inclusive policy manifests, in an underlying way, a solid segregationist root. The purpose of this article is to analyze three films from different eras concerning the issue of Civil Rights, made in Hollywood by white filmmakers, to examine how, through different strategies, the white man positions himself in a place of power. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer, 1967), Mississippi Burning (Alan Parker, 1988) and The Help (Tate Taylor, 2011) are commercially successful films that address the problems of blacks from a supposedly revalorizing approach but that deep down they hold a strong racist spirit.