| Color
Adjustment
Color Adjustment traces 40 years of race relations through the lens of prime time entertainment, scrutinizing television's racial myths and stereotypes. Narrated by Ruby Dee, the 88 minute documentary allows viewers to revisit some of television's most popular stars and shows, among them Amos and Andy, The Nat King Cole Show, I Spy, Julia, Good Times, Roots, Frank's Place and The Cosby Show. But this time around, Riggs asks us to look at these familiar favorites in a new way. The result is a stunning examination of the interplay between America's racial consciousness and network primetime programming. The story, told with wit, passion, and verve, shows how African Americans were allowed into America's primetime family only insofar as their presence didn't challenge the mythology of the American Dream central to television's merchandising function. It demonstrates how the networks managed to absorb divisive racial conflict into the familiar non-threatening formats of prime-time television. Clips from the shows that captivated, amused, and sometimes angered audiences are interwoven with the parallel story of the Civil Rights movement as brought into our living rooms on the evening news. Writers and producers - such as Hal Kanter (Julia), Norman Lear (All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons), Steve Bochco (Hill Street Blues, LA Law), David Wolper (Roots), and others - take us behind the scenes of their creations. Esther Rolle, Diahann Carroll, Tim Reid and other black performers ruminate upon the meaning and impact of the roles they themselves played in shaping prime time race relations. Cultural critics Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Herman Gray, Alvin Poussaint, and Pat Turner point out that while these television programs entertain, they also reinforce and legitimate a particular notion of the "American Family." As engaging as it is perceptive, Color Adjustment sheds light on the racial implications of America's favorite addiction - television watching. It will help viewers reexamine America's and their own attitudes towards race.  Media and Black Stereotypes Media and Society Cultural Studies US History Since 1865 American Society |
GEORGE FOSTER
PEABODY AWARD ERIK BARNOUW AWARD, ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN HISTORIANS "Marlon
Riggs, with his usual éclat, traces the evolution of black images
in American television. It is a tortuous story, with moments of shame
and of achievement, of aspiration and of compromise, of courage and
cowardice - an unfinished chronicle posing tellingly the difficult issues
of racial strategy vis-à-vis media under complex webs of social,
political and industrial control…An important ninety-minutes of
media self-scrutiny." "A cogent
and thoughtful survey of Black America as represented by American television,
from the demeaning stereotypes of Amos
'n' Andy
to the subtler, more insidious ones of The
Cosby Show." "Surveys
the strange history of TV's various racial fantasies, taking us from
the early days of Amos
'n' Andy
to the advertising idyll of The
Cosby Show.
With its witty visuals and enlightening interviews, Color
Adjustment
tells us just the story we most need to hear, raises precisely the questions
that must be raised, now that the media spectacle shines triumphant
all around us." "A fascinating
reminder of how far TV and American society have come… and how
far both have to go." "An impressive
and provocative and quietly adversarial documentary...examines the relationship
of the lighthearted world of video fiction to the grinding realities
of a society reluctantly coming to grips with the expansion of civil
rights…A unique and thoughtful statement that should be seen by
anyone involved in the creation of television." "One of
the most provocative and insightful analyses of the representation of
blacks I have ever seen…A powerful and needed history lesson." Producers: Marlon Riggs, Vivian
Kleiman Video
Purchase: $195
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In
Color Adjustment, 