{"product_id":"expanding-the-black-film-canon-lisa-doris-alexander-9780700628407","title":"Expanding the Black Film Canon: Race and Genre across Six Decades","description":"If the sheer diversity of recent hits from \u003ci\u003eTwelve Years a Slave\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMoonlight\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eGet Out\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBlack Panther\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBlackkKlansman\u003c\/i\u003e tells us anything, it might be that there's no such thing as \"black film\" per se. This book is especially timely, then, in expanding our idea of what black films are and, going back to the 1960s, showing us new and interesting ways to understand them. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen critics and scholars write about films from the Blaxploitation movement--such as \u003ci\u003eCotton Comes to Harlem\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eShaft\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSuperfly\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eCleopatra Jones\u003c\/i\u003e--they emphasize their importance as films made for black audiences. Consequently, Lisa Doris Alexander points out, a film like the highly popular, Oscar-nominated \u003ci\u003eBlazing Saddles\u003c\/i\u003e--costarring and co-written by Richard Pryor--is generally left out of the discussion because it doesn't fit the profile of what a black film of the period should be. This is the kind of categorical thinking that Alexander seeks to broaden, looking at films from the 60s to the present day in the context of their time. Applying insights from black feminist thought and critical race theory to one film per decade, she analyzes what each can tell us about the status of black people and race relations in the United States at the time of its release. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy teasing out the importance of certain films excluded from the black film canon, Alexander hopes to expand that canon to include films typically relegated to the category of popular entertainment--and to show how these offer more nuanced representations of black characters even as they confront, negate, or parody the controlling images that have defined black filmic characters for decades.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lisa Doris Alexander\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0700628401\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780700628407\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Kansas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/30\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d","brand":"Lisa Doris Alexander","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43925721481471,"sku":"9780700628407","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_418ce117-b7cd-41db-9025-b1ae845439c7.jpg?v=1681078959","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/expanding-the-black-film-canon-lisa-doris-alexander-9780700628407","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}