RACE RELATIONS AND HORROR CULTURE: THE UNSUNG HEROES
On the 7th July 2020, Scary Movie turned 20.
The American parody slasher film quickly gained commercial success upon release in 2020, turning into a franchise with three additional movies, and the cultural impact it had led to many imitations after its release. Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2 are both directed by actor, comedian and filmmaker, Keenan Ivory Wayans, with the screenplay developed by Marlon and Shawn Wayans. The family’s involvement in both pre-production and production, (plus Marlon and Shawn were prominent characters in the story), suggests that they had the creative freedom that a lot of filmmakers, particularly Black filmmakers, didn’t have.
However, in a recent interview with Marlon, he revealed that they too faced ownership problems in the franchise that they helped create. Before we can delve into the franchise and its critical reception, the history behind black people and horror must be examined.
In particular, how the development of film-making failed racial progression, forcing Black filmmakers to fight for their right to tell their stories with their own voice.
On reflection of the first film I saw that genuinely shocked me with its depiction of Black people, I think back to D.W. Griffith’s 1915 war film, Birth of a Nation, originally titled The Clansman. The film, split between fiction and history, details the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the relationship of two families. It’s record-breaking; being the first 12-reel film ever made, and the longest film at the time, coming in at three hours. What sounds like a huge achievement for movie-making is actually a reflection of the industry’s problem with race relations.
The film is loaded with discriminating stereotypes; we see Black members of the South Carolina legislature eagerly feast on fried chicken, drink liquor carelessly with their feet up on their desks, and more negative tropes. But what shocked me the most, however, is the character Gus and his story arc. Gus, described as ‘A Renegade Negro’, is played by white actor Walter Long (who of course wears blackface to portray him).
Gus’s story-line centres around Flora Cameron, the Pet Sister. As Flora goes into the woods to fetch water, Gus sees and begins to follow her. He tells her of his desire to marry her, and out of genuine fear Flora tells him to “stay away or I’ll jump!” Gus fails to listen, and as a result, Flora leaps to her death. In response to this, the Klan hunts down Gus and lynches him. The film was such a huge commercial success that it became the first American motion picture to be shown in the White House by President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson continued to endorse the film by stating “that’s exactly the way it is”.
Because of this, Birth of a Nation not only shaped the film industry but American culture as a whole.
“Black history is black horror,” says author and educator, Tananarive Due in Xavier Neal-Burgin’s documentary, Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. Racism in the horror genre stems from the beginning of cinema itself, thus, it’s impossible to ignore the historical context behind such movies that have been produced throughout the years. Before we consider the progress of black representation in horror, let’s reflect on the eras that led us up to this point. The world struggled politically and economically as the Great Depression dominated people’s lives in the 1930s. Communities longed for an escape, a means to distract them from the strife that affected the world. Through this, an advanced form of cinema took over the scene – the ‘talkies’.
In James Burns’ Cinema and Society in the British Empire, 1895 – 1940, he explains that between 1927-1940, the film industry transformed drastically, “as the development of a practical application for adding sound to film revolutionised the medium”. The shift tested positively in both Europe and America, as audiences opted for fantastical movies with vibrant sounds such as Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz. In addition to this, Universal Classic Monsters gained popularity among audiences, meaning that horror culture underwent a major transformation too. Similarly to Birth of a Nation, what should have been a victorious achievement for everyone and the motion picture business, became another opportunity for Black people to be seen as the “other”.
The pre-code exploitation film, Ingagi (1930), was made to profit off this current trend. Within the film, an explorer goes to Congo and discovers a tribe of gorilla-worshipping African women, where they’re given to gorillas as sex slaves during a ritual. This not only contributes to the relation between hypersexuality and Black women, but the Black characters are white women in blackface. To make matters worse, Ingagi was presented as a factual documentary that was shot in Congo. In actuality, it was predominately filmed in Los Angeles and the entire premise of the film was steeped in so much fabrication that the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association revoked their involvement in the film. Despite this, the primitive nature of Ingagi reflects how Black people were seen at the time as this was a common theme in horror culture (King Kong was inspired by Ingagi).
A further example: Georgette Harvey starred as the lead woman in Marshall Neilan’s, Chloe, Love is Calling You. She played Mandy, a woman who uses voodoo to get revenge for her father’s lynching. This was another popular trope for Black women in horror - their power and being are centred around spirituality and black magic. These motifs continued well into the 1970s, where Blaxploitation films gained vast popularity.
However, during this era, Black characters began to have their own feelings, emotions and purpose. They were beginning to be written as real people. Sugar Hill (1974) was one of the early films where a black woman took the lead role as the protagonist. The American horror blaxploitation zombie film saw Marki Bey play Diana Hill, a woman who calls on voodoo queen Mama Maitresse to help with her gruesome revenge on her boyfriend’s murderers. Bey is beautiful, talented and badass; delivering her lines with a smoothness that’s difficult to replicate. Black people in horror culture started off as the monsters and slowly became the heroes.
While representation for Black women on screen started to improve, behind the scenes things had barely shifted. Black women filmmakers continue to face disparity in their field due to race and gender. They are there and have been, yet their work continues to be overlooked. Ava DuVernay became the first Black woman to win the US Dramatic Directing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. She received an Oscar nomination for her documentary 13th, which isn’t labelled as horror and yet after watching it, I was petrified. It’s bittersweet to know that she is the first Black woman director nominated for a Golden Globe in 2015, as the annual ceremony was 72 years old at the time. Nevertheless, the increase in recognition for Black women behind the camera is something to be celebrated, especially in horror. Nia DaCosta’s remake of the supernatural thriller, Candyman, will be coming to our screens later this year. The buzz (pun unintended) around the film is enough to say the title five times (pun intended).
The critical reception of Scary Movie was a shock not only to the Wayans, but to the cast, crew and studio heads themselves. They knew they were involved in something magical but didn’t know to what extent. Scary Movie opened in the US on the 7th of July 2000, on only 1,912 screens. The film had a $19 million budget yet grossed $278 million worldwide. It became number one at the box office, earning around $42 million in its opening weekend.
One of the beauties of cinema is that it possesses the power to immortalise. People, culture, fashion and ideologies of an era can be stored, packed away and discovered decades later for future generations. While a lot of movies of the past are filled with hate, fear and discrimination, it’s important that we do not to erase its existence for numerous reasons. It’s vital that we, as a society, reflect on how far race representation in horror has come. It’s crucial that we, the future’s present voice, ensure that we make the creative choices to sit on the right side of history.
By Christine Ubochi
