Revolution Televised.pdf

178 Conclusion
and this film recognizes the black effort in the interest of U.S. freedom,
even when African Americans faced unspeakable oppression
on the home front. Although Boycott tells a familiar story of
Martin Luther King Jr. and the bus boycott, the film offers different
perspectives on and interpretations of King’s motivations and emotions
as well as conflicts over the boycott decisions. These films are
important strides in acknowledging a lost history.
However, these representations reveal certain problematic trends.
The majority of the films are set in the pre-integration era. The recurring
image in such films as Miss Evers’ Boys and A Lesson before
Dying is that of the beaten-down African American exhibiting a
sense of dignity in impossible situations. The narrative trajectory inevitably
leads the viewer to the image of the stoic African American
who stands up against all odds and confronts the problems of legalized
segregation. While these are uplifting narratives, they do not
reveal the complexity of emotions or motivations of the African
American characters. For example, the Tuskegee Airmen, unquestioning
of the potential conflicts, concentrates on the battle these
black men waged for the right to fly and die for a country that despised
them.
The proliferation of HBO films about the past prior to the Civil
Rights era overlooks the narratives present in contemporary American
society. Many current incidents beg for visualization, a way to
come to terms with the contemporary U.S. social and political environment.
Racism, while at times more covert, still plays an active
role in the lives of all minority groups. The stories that have made
their appearance on HBO in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s
should have been told two to three decades ago. Again, these are
important stories that need an outlet. However, over time, it appears
that within this genre HBO is unwilling to tackle the present racial
climate.
These HBO television movie images are in stark contrast to those
created by black comedians such as Chris Rock, who use HBO as
a forum for their specific brand of African American humor. Far
from downtrodden, Chris Rock, in his comedy specials and weekly
HBO series, presents an assertive and politically charged black
man. Rock also brings us directly back to the present-day lives of
African Americans. 17 What happens when Rock uses HBO to openly
discuss African American existence within the United States? At
times these programs create an oppositional image to mainstream