cover image Redefining Black Film

Redefining Black Film

Mark A. Reid. University of California Press, $30 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-520-07861-1

Though often academically impenetrable, this ``feminist-Marxist-black cultural'' overview is useful for its strong criticism of how studio-produced films about blacks, even those directed by African Americans like Spike Lee and Melvin Van Peebles, offer ``tendentious images of blacks.'' After examining the work of early-20th-century black filmmakers such as Bill Foster and Oscar Micheaux, Reid, who teaches English at the University of Florida, explains how minstrel comedy became part of successful black comedies of the 1970s, in which politically aware comedians like Dick Gregory transmuted the black character from object to subject. In a look at black family films, Reid suggests that A Raisin in the Sun managed to incorporate black feminism and pan-Africanism; he also argues that black viewers have not always been receptive to the violent and misogynistic fantasies of black action films. Reid attacks Spike Lee's lack of sociopolitical analysis and his ``simulated form of blackness'' and concludes by analyzing the achievements and challenges facing independent black filmmakers, who in his view are best able to explore serious issues. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Mar.)