This page was last edited on 29 January 2022, at 00:00. Its a needed win for Cher, who's in a low patch at the time, but it's also a good reminder of Clueless's underpinnings as a modernized riff on Jane Austen's Emma. Gettin real tired of the sassy black friend trope whos only there so the white character can have a best friend, Mira (@Miraread_tweets) December 19, 2020. Huge milestone, but it doesnt hide the fact that as a character she really had no depth and no inner thoughts as the other characters. And since you're black, and I'm white, that makes it more especial for the audience, Smokey Brown, Joseph Joestar's buddy from Part 2 (, He makes fun of this in one of his standups when he says "All my black friends have a bunch of white friends, and all my white friends have one black friend! However, he gives advice that turns Guy into. That said, alot of fans wished they were more than that. Why arent there more blacks and more whites in the same film? Diversity should not be a policy or guideline; it should be a natural occurrence. The idea for Clueless went through several iterations, beginning as a TV series, then getting turned into a feature film at the advice of Heckerling's agent, Ken Stovitz, then getting rejected "so many times it was a joke," according to Stovitz. As a result, the artist feels a distinct disconnect from their culture and artwork, as their work is only seen in terms of being exotic and mystic, feeling as though they must live up to the stereotypical expectations to be taken seriously in the art market. ", When talking about the "sensitive issue of race", Miranda and Courtney gain one in Mipsy - a. Sure, she had a best friend who had no shortage of issues (seriously,the entire premise of the movie is kind of weird) and shemight havebeen lacking a little in the morality department. The whole "Sassy Black Woman" or "Black Best Friend" thing has its roots in the classic film eras of the 30s, 40s, and 50s, when most black actresses could expect to play slaves, maidsand little else. another day). When Piccolo developed cancer and died, Sayers stood by him and encouraged him. 20 of the most iconic fictional best friends in movies. The nickname, incidentally, is because he is so chronically unhip that it goes far beyond not conforming to stereotypes; he's actually "whiter" than his aggressively Anglo friends. Were committed to keeping our work free for all who need it, because we believe that high-quality explanatory journalism is a public good. Article: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/02/hunters-amazon-al-pacino-logan-lerman-review I decided to critique a review on one of my favorite shows, Hunters . Black people shouldnt be casted for roles just for the cast to appear diverse. They should be cast because they are talented. Im glad you enjoyed it!! Since so many movies, particularly movies set in a fictionalized dystopian Los Angeles, enforce the idea that diversity leads to conflict, its still refreshing to see a movie like Clueless suggesting that racial diversity in social settings like high school leads to the normalization of that diversity. Set in Beverly Hills and focusing on spoiled, shallow, but essentially good hearted teenager Cher Horowitz. This subtly belittles the race and degrades their influence. By formulating this stereotype, we are stereotyping all African Americans and subconsciously labeling them at a smaller level of interest and importance. Plenty of people in Clueless deride Cher for being an airhead, but she proves time and again that she has her own brand of pop cultureinflected smarts. But studios continue to balk at women-led films (see: the leaked Sony emails about why female superhero movies are a terrible idea for a particularly potent example). But don't write offClueless as just another teen movie. At the time I only considered her smart, beautiful, and stylish. Weve obviously come a long way since Mammy, but the fact that shades of this type still exist in some of todays most popular television shows and movies speaks to an ongoing idea of black femininity and identity that we wouldnt even be able to scratch the surface of here. The Office just takes it to the extreme with Michael. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Design a site like this with WordPress.com, Your Neighborhood Friendly Token BlackGirl, http://appiah.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Is-the-post-in-postmodernism-the-Post-in-Postclonial-Critical-Inquiry-17.2.-1991.pdf, Whos That on Screen and Why Does She Look Like Me? It was hard to connect with characters I saw on the big screen, but seeing as they were all I really had to look up to, I didnt necessarily have a choice. Its less likely to see a black main he acts as a part-time narrator and gives typical reactions to Joseph's very bizarre journey. I honestly dont know. Rhodes. "Some of my best friends are white!" - Self-Hating White Guy) or bizarre character circumstances (e.g. Most people remember classic 90s and '00movies like Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, or High School Musical. (Also, Neptune, the town where the show takes place, is divided into classes which look at the money you make and frequently also the colour of your skin (some exceptions, but as a rule the white kids are on top) - Wallace wasn't so much the black best friend to give the main character a black best friend, rather he was black because she wouldn't be able to make friends with someone who wasn't also spurned as a social outcast to some degree, and with the town being a little racist as well as money obsessed, it made sense for it to be the black boy she felt sympathy for. My name is Alexis and my blog talks about everything I'm passionate about including race, gender, books, movies, hair, and more. We meet Remy Remington, an African American in Big City, whom Cricket immediately becomes friends with. She said the studio "kept pressuring me to create more of a life for the boys in the film, to create more of an ensemble piece, which didn't make sense to me at all.". Newer series/movies such as The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Tall Girl, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Stranger Things also have the trope. Seeing how little Hollywood cared about casting Black people as more than someone around to give advice and cheer on the white protagonist is the earliest memory I had of seeing how Black people are degraded and belittled in the American media. You can also contribute via. The token black friend in a sense now becomes a reflection of the entire black community. but then he dies in Vietnam, and Forrest names his eventual shrimping company after him - giving a share of the profits to his mother, beforehand Karla was going to die, but they decided to spare her, revealing the vampire serial killer to just be Principal Higgins, and die to motivate her to finally face the killer, In a fake ending written to confuse potential leakers, she was one of the killers, but this was never intended to be canon, is revealed as a traitor who wishes to remain subservient to men. And for a long time, I never thought anything was wrong with themor that they were giving off terrible representationuntil I got older and started examining them closer. The students at Bronson Alcott are extremely wealthy, but in Cluelesss L.A., that wealth knows no color boundary. Thank you, I appreciate it!! he VANISHES without any explanation whatsoever. I never realized how much this trope was so prevalent, especially in popular films growing up. Yet the film's overall tone is one of sweetness. He was initially a reservist who was assigned to fill in for Jordan when he was not available for duty and had his own life to lead otherwise. It also reminds me of a quote I once saw (although I dont exactly remember who said it) that having a minority role does not mean that the production should expect a large minority following in return; one role does not mean the same as cultural acceptance on the bigger screen. He's an experienced homicide cop. In. By eliminating the agency of these characters the media is saying that their real-life stories dont exist or, more importantly, dont matter. Is it because she has no love life, no apartment, and no family? Heckerling's strategy paved the way for more teen-centric updates of classics both great (10 Things I Hate About You, Cruel Intentions) and not so much (the less said about O and She's the Man, the better). Stream Mixtape #94: Rebirth of Spring Now. AJ is definitely the smartest both academically (he gets LOTS of A's while Timmy and Chester pretty much fail exclusively) and in terms of common sense, though his attempts to get Timmy to not make ridiculously bad decisions don't really work. . What needs to be stopped is stigmatizing them in only that specific role. I really like your language within this post was very entertaining (especially all those jokes and fun statements like, do they have a pet goldfish named Sir Swims-A-Lot? Looking forward to reading more . Thank you for visiting my blog. In the most extreme instances of this trope, the protagonist doesn't even notice what he's doing. Rachel True played a straighter example in the film. Simply being black as well as friends with a white character does not automatically make a character this trope. And since you're black, and I'm white, that makes it more a-special for the audience! Rare to see that but there are some examples. Even now I can find myself evaluating my closest friendships and trying to ask myself if Im the token minority. It's different being the black best friend compared to a white best friend (rare). Winston serves no purpose on the Fox comedy other than to add diversity. film and television there has been a certain trope of the white, main character Several productions have used minorities, specifically black actors, as sidekicks to the white stars. While the white protagonists grow and evolve as people throughout the series or film. However, I do like your analysis of Dionne, showing that the token minority can be played correctly and respectfully. Your black best friend is sassy. In all, and their black, best friend/sidekick. I liked how you analyzed Dionnes character because even though I have seen Clueless once before, I never looked at her character from this perspective. It might have needed to be taken prior to Wilmore's upgrade to correspondent. I also really liked the questions/reflections that you wrote into your post, it made reading it feel more interactive and fun. Black people deserve to be depicted as heros just as well as they're able to play that nice best friend whose only role is to make their white counterpart look good. You've got class. The magazine showcased middle-class black people doing every-day activities that were usually associated with white people. Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. It's plenty funny, and it's not afraid to wink at its characters' occasional lack of perspective. That's what white heroes are for.) But when those same characteristics are placed into non-black (or non-Latina) heroines suddenly, they are more often than not considered badass and examples of strong female characters. Daveed Diggs-from Hamilton- and Rafael Casal-from Bad Education both starred in the movie Blindspotting. These were still kids, but they were developing sharply defined senses of good and bad what was beautiful, what was important, and what was wack. Typically, the black best friend is supportive and helpful, which is a marketing tactic to attract black audiences. There are many variations on the type some less or more sassy than others but always at the core of the character is the fact that she isnt a character but a caricature of the black woman. The token black friend in a sense now becomes a reflection of the entire black community. (Until it's time to save the day of course. The thing about Michael is, he's not a racist out of bigotryhe's a racist because he's an idiot. diversity element in a film or television show. The movies target audience might not have spent weekends poring over the pages of 19th-century mannered comedies, but Clueless slapped a plaid skirt and a 90s sensibility on Austen's pointed societal commentary and made it appealing to new and younger generations. Stacey Dash as Dionne Davenport: Clueless Clueless is about a 15-year-old. We're aiming to add 1,500 financial contributors this month to help keep Vox free for all. The awkward and vaguely hostile relationship between Marsalis and Leno subverted this trope pretty effectively. The problem with the mentality that minorities cannot play big roles is that it can lead to some serious whitewashing (ex. So I wrote Fox a pilot about this very happy character, Cher, and they didnt want to do it. She is flawless to the point of being unreal. If a movie features one token black character, it's likely to be the black best. Then flashes up again. I want more movies where Black people are the stars of those cheesy coming-of-age movies. He also includes his feelings about the show early on. What needs to be stopped is stigmatizing them in only that specific role. Because that is what people go through so we as a black community should be able to see that even if it is as the white protagonists sidekick. If you don't feel like dusting off your VHS tape, Clueless is available to stream on Netflix. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. That is what makes it beautiful. Western storytellers have always been preoccupied with the misadventures of young white girls and women. People want to see themselves in movies; not literally, but see figures that they can relate to. Throughout the opinion piece, they include ma. and Turk. ", Also inverted and parodied in "How to Not Get Your Ass Kicked by the Police" with this advice: "Get a White Friend.". I was a few years away from being a teenager in 1995, and, thus, many of the references in Clueless went completely over my head the first time I watched it. In the future, I hope to work as a journalist for a local or entertainment news site. Oprah's producing a movie with Chris Rock based on it. I think the show tried a little harder than most shows to make the minority best friend more three-dimensional. high school years. In later years Eva served as this to April, to a) make Becky look bad, and b) use the. When I did happen to connect to a Black, female character on screen, she was nearly always in a secondary role. Youre right!! And in the three years since we launched the Vox Contributions program, tens of thousands of people have chipped in to help keep our unique work free. 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