Ethnic Notions

Ethnic Notions
Directed byMarlon Riggs
Produced byMarlon Riggs
Narrated byEsther Rolle
Distributed byCalifornia Newsreel
Release date
  • 1987 (1987)
Running time
56 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Ethnic Notions is a 1987 video essay documentary film directed by Marlon Riggs. It examines anti-Black stereotypes in popular culture from the ante-bellum period until the advent of the Civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Production

Ethnic Notions was Riggs's first professional feature documentary. It was produced in association with public television station KQED in San Francisco.

Content

The documentary describes the history of stereotypes which contributed to anti-Black prejudice in the United States, and examines the caricature of Black people in U.S. popular culture from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, starting with the ante-bellum period and ending at the advent of the Civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The film uses voice-over narration provided by African-American actress Esther Rolle in explaining film footage and historical stills. It also presents a set of contemporary interviews with historians George Fredrickson and Lawrence Levine, the cultural critic Barbara Christian, folklorist Patricia Turner, choreographer Leni Sloan, and Black memorabilia collector Jan Faulkner, who discuss the consequences of historical African-American stereotypes.

Stereotypes described in the film include The Tom, The Sambo, The Mammy, The Coon, The Brute, The Pickaninnies, and The Minstrels. The stereotypes are shown in different mediums such as cartoons, feature films, popular songs, minstrel shows, advertisements, folklore, household artifacts, and children's rhymes.

The documentary touches upon issues of servility, sexuality, appearances, the noble savage, and the impact of mass media on the image of African Americans and how this affects their self-image.

Reception

Ethnic Notions won a national Emmy Award, as well as awards at multiple film festivals. It became a core text in college courses across the United States.

References

  1. ↑ Morris, Wesley (February 6, 2019). "Blackness, Gayness, Representation: Marlon Riggs Unpacks It All in His Films". The New York Times. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Grant, Nancy (December 1987). "Ethnic Notions". The Journal of American History. 74 (3): 1107. doi:10.2307/1902247. JSTOR 1902247. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 HARPER, PHILLIP BRIAN (2016). "100 MARLON RIGGS The Subjective Position of Documentary Video (1995)". In Kahana, Jonathan (ed.). The Documentary Film Reader - History, Theory, Criticism. Oxford University Press. pp. 830–832. ISBN 9780199739653.
  4. ↑ Gerster, Carole; Zlogar, Laura W., eds. (2006). Teaching Ethnic Diversity with Film - Essays and Resources for Educators in History, Social Studies, Literature and Film Studies. McFarland Incorporated. p. 265. ISBN 9780786421954.
  5. ↑ Bullert, B. J. (1997). "5 Tongues Untied". Public Television: Politics and the Battle Over Documentary Film. Rutgers University Press. p. 96. ISBN 9780813524702.
  6. ↑ Aitken, Ian, ed. (2013). The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film. Taylor & Francis. pp. 764–765. ISBN 9781136512063.

Further reading