TY - CHAP

T1 - Lee Daniels' The Butler

T2 - Trangressions / Transformations: Literature and Beyond

AU - Völz, Sabrina

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Although Lee Daniels adamantly resists being labeled a black filmmaker, he is viewed as one and, therefore, has been subjected to criticism stemming from the representations of race and African American experience in his films. Non-white filmmakers have often felt compelled to adhere to the double bind, to walk a tightrope between producing resisting images sated with political subtexts and social responsibility, while trying to avoid undermining their films’ aesthetics, production values, and accessibility. In her essay, “Artistic Integrity: Race and Accountability,” bell hooks posits that a number of black filmmakers have either internalised “white su-premacist aesthetics,” or that they – consciously or unconsciously – tend to reproduce those black, stereotypical characters and dehumanizing images audiences are assumed have come to expect or prefer. Lee Daniels’ award-winning film Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (2009) seems to fit the bill. While it attracted crossover audiences worldwide and received raving reviews from numerous white film critics, it – at the same time – harvested scathing criticism by important African American writers, such as Ishmael Reed and Armond White, the head film critic of the New York Press, who accuses the film of being a “sociological horror show.” Thus, the same film espouses two diametrically opposed readings, showing a deep racial divide. In my paper, I will delineate the Precious debate and examine how Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) avoided the pitfalls of Precious. The Butler negotiates the double bind through more familiar subject matter as well as a greater awareness for historical contextualization and avoidance of problematic stereotyping. Yet by strictly adhering to the modes of Hollywood history-oriented filmmaking, Daniels makes an important, but im-perfect film.

AB - Although Lee Daniels adamantly resists being labeled a black filmmaker, he is viewed as one and, therefore, has been subjected to criticism stemming from the representations of race and African American experience in his films. Non-white filmmakers have often felt compelled to adhere to the double bind, to walk a tightrope between producing resisting images sated with political subtexts and social responsibility, while trying to avoid undermining their films’ aesthetics, production values, and accessibility. In her essay, “Artistic Integrity: Race and Accountability,” bell hooks posits that a number of black filmmakers have either internalised “white su-premacist aesthetics,” or that they – consciously or unconsciously – tend to reproduce those black, stereotypical characters and dehumanizing images audiences are assumed have come to expect or prefer. Lee Daniels’ award-winning film Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (2009) seems to fit the bill. While it attracted crossover audiences worldwide and received raving reviews from numerous white film critics, it – at the same time – harvested scathing criticism by important African American writers, such as Ishmael Reed and Armond White, the head film critic of the New York Press, who accuses the film of being a “sociological horror show.” Thus, the same film espouses two diametrically opposed readings, showing a deep racial divide. In my paper, I will delineate the Precious debate and examine how Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) avoided the pitfalls of Precious. The Butler negotiates the double bind through more familiar subject matter as well as a greater awareness for historical contextualization and avoidance of problematic stereotyping. Yet by strictly adhering to the modes of Hollywood history-oriented filmmaking, Daniels makes an important, but im-perfect film.

KW - North American Studies

KW - African American Film

KW - Precious

KW - Lee Daniels' The Butler

KW - Black Film

KW - Lee Daniels' The Butler

KW - Lee Daniels' Precious

KW - history-oriented film

KW - Gender and Diversity

KW - Afro-Amerikaner

KW - bell hooks

KW - Black Film

KW - Media and communication studies

KW - African American Film

KW - Lee Daniels' The Butler

KW - Precious

KW - Black Film

KW - history-oriented film

UR - http://www.stauffenburg.de/asp/books.asp?id=1430

M3 - Article in conference proceedings

SN - 978-3-95809-590-8

T3 - Studies in English and Comparative Literature (SECL)

SP - 83

EP - 100

BT - Trangressions/Transformations

A2 - Glaser, Brigitte Johanna

A2 - Zach, Wolfgang

PB - Stauffenburg Verlag

Y2 - 27 July 2015 through 31 July 2015

ER -