Slavery in Hollywood: representation and reception

This thesis is an analysis of a selection of four case study feature films made between 1903- 2013 that investigates how American slavery was represented on the big screen and the reception of these representations in the US at various points in the 20th and 21st centuries. The films are used as the primary source of knowledge of the time in which they were made and its prominent racial attitudes. Using film as a primary historical source to understand the development of American ideas about slavery and race relations, this research explores the complexities of the cinematic industry, its engagement with the social and cultural environment from which it emerged, the industry which created it, and the ways It was consumed. Relying on a diverse range of films featuring American slavery, this research submits that any film set in the past can be used to explore the values, assumptions, and ideological conflicts of the present in which it was made. Furthermore, it contends that analysis of historical films allows the exploration of the contemporary audience’s engagement with the past the films present. The methods and approach of this research provide evidence-based analysis of each film’s production and reception and close readings of individual texts. The four case studies undertaken in this thesis include a selection of different representations of plantation slavery: nine silent Uncle Tom’s Cabin films ( 1903-1927), based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel documenting the life of Uncle Tom; Song of the South (1946), a live-action/animated musical film based on the adaptation of Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris; Mandingo (1975), an adaptation of a 1957 novel on a slave breeding plantation by Kyle Onstott; 12 years a Slave (2013), a period drama film based on the 1853 slave narrative memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.