Hattie Mcdaniel “The Mammy” Actresses broke the intended mold and integrated their own personalities into performances
Dorothy Dandridge “The Tragic Mulatto” The glamour did not last as she was relegated to these films; her promise strangled by race
Pam Grier “The militant” Grier as Foxy Brown was strong, sexy and independent hence the emergence of the “sister-with-attitude”
Diana Ross “The Renaissance Woman” She is intelligent and determined. She could have a career, love, and keep her individuality

Changing Direction In Hollywood

The journey from the segregated table to the podium must have been long for Hattie mcDaniel: in 1940, she became the first african-american to receive an oscar. Since then, the role of the mammy has faded and roles for black women have transitioned from the tragic mulatto, to the militant, and the renaissance woman. they are now featured both on and behind the scenes.

Story by Chauntelle Folds

Throughout the decades black women have been able to chip away at the façade of the Hollywood film industry, but still have not been able to break the glass ceiling completely. Of course, this is not to disregard all of the success they have achieved. The brilliant performances by actresses such as Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett and Halle Berry have been award-worthy – each nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. But it seems that despite all of the toil throughout generations, black women have still yet to receive the respect and opportunities they deserve.

Jeff Friday is CEO of Film Life, a production, media, and marketing company focused on urban films as well as the founder of the American Black Film Festival. He points to the movie, The Secret Life of Bees (2008) as the first dramatic film with an ensemble of black actresses to hit theaters in the past ten years. “Aside from that, there are very few films that are written, produced, and funded in Hollywood that have black women,” Friday said. “I think there is a perception that you can’t open a movie in Hollywood with an ethnic woman as the lead. Because of that, outside of maybe Halle Berry, you don’t really see many movies featuring women of color. So I don’t think there has been a lot of progress at all in the last ten years.”

Hollywood is not clamoring and creating roles for the black actress, and she is rarely cast as the leading protagonist in productions which are not black films. Moreover, the production of these films is also limited by Hollywood’s fickleness because the film industry continues to underestimate the possible box office impact of the black female audience.

“If you look at How Stella Got her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhale, The Preacher’s Wife, Love Jones, and so on and so forth, I would guess that the larger majority of those moviegoers were black women, as compared to black men,” Friday said. “With the price point that you could make a movie – you don’t have to spend $50 million to tell a black story – you would think that studios would be more focused on films that are about women of color.” Friday describes the phenomenon as defying business logic. “I really do think that it’s a combination of things: of being lazy, of being ignorant (to some degree) of what the potential is, and really this prioritization,” he explains. “The studios are in the blockbuster business now. ”

In essence, the film industry has to be taken with a grain of salt. As social and racial consciousness has advanced throughout the decades, so have the roles and opportunities available to African-Americans. Breaking into mainstream, many argue, is the key to longevity and widespread success.

“If your films are always only films that play to a black audience; well they say black films don’t play international, so you’ll never be an international box office star if you don’t get in,” he explains.

It remains that it is still disproportionately difficult for black actresses to “get in.” Unlike their male counterparts, who have been able to capture the film industry and be propelled into global success, black women have, in comparison, been left behind.

“Not only is there not a Will Smith, there’s not an Eddie Murphy, there’s not a Denzel Washington, there’s not a Samuel L Jackson, there’s not a Jamie Foxx. So if you look at it, there is just a skew towards men, and I think this industry,” Friday said. So black women are afflicted by a double-edged sword of both race and gender biases, limiting the scope of their careers and placing them under the Hollywood radar; underestimated and underutilized.

Despite the trials and tribulations, black women have still been able to leave their mark on the film industry and continue to tirelessly reach for advancement. While there are not many “leading ladies,” there are numerous black actresses with profitable, prolific careers whose portrayals have made it impossible for Hollywood to ignore.

Behind the scenes, women such as Debra Martin Chase and Stephanie Allain are pioneers; within their careers they have shaken Hollywood into recognizing that black women can reach the upper echelons of the industry, and have opened doors for other women to advance. Writers, directors and producers such as Mara Brock Akil, Millicent Shelton, and Gina Prince-Bythewood now have a platform to extend the scope of black roles.

The possibilities are limitless for women of color and time will ultimately show that “content of character,” will be the reigning qualification for Hollywood in the future.

“I’d like to see one of the female artists or big female executives start a company that markets movies directly to women. I think that would be a very interesting business proposition, because I believe that the black woman is the anchor of the black moviegoer and stories that feature women always do well,” Friday admits. “That’s potentially astronomical.”