The "Spiritual Black Man"

I had a discussion the other day with a friend. The subject of race in movies came up. I'm always curious as to why certain stereotypes in movies, especially popular ones, are still so popular because they are either funny, pathetic or evil.

Anyway, my friend told me about the "spiritual black man", a character that exists in movies where most the actors are white. He is a wise character who leads the main character on a journey of self-discovery and epiphany. Usually this "spiritual black man"(sometimes woman--see Matrix Reloaded), uses special powers or profound insight to direct the hero on the path to success. See The Green Mile, or The Legend of Bagger Vance.

Now, apparantly my friend says that "white" America, and by that I mean filmmakers, use the "spiritual black man" character because America feels guilty about the way black men and women have been treated in the past. So in order to alleviate some of the "guilt", stories are written where the minority is sort of the "higher power" who, without his/her guidance would mean the white protagonist would fail in his attempt at resolve.

So, what do you think? Does the "spiritual black" character in a movie make you feel better about yourself--reduce the "guilt" you feel about race relations?

How do you feel when a black character in a predominantly white film is the one character that is wiser and more magical than the lead white one?

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r66-The member who always asks WHY?

Very interesting. I was thinking about this yesterday after watching Pulp Fiction and reading the screenplay. In the final story, it begins with Jules and Vince almost getting killed by bullets from someone's gun. Miraculously, Jules and Vince survive -- the huge bullets somehow miss them both, and neither of them even dodged. Jules, the cool badass black man, is shaken by this, looks at the bullet holes in the wall behind him, and knows they should both be dead. Vince, the white guy, shakes it off -- but Jules sees it as divine intervention. He automatically experiences God's power because of their survival. Vince just sees it as a freaky occurance. In the car ride afterwards, he brings up an example he knows of where some other people survived the same kind of thing. He scoffs at the spiritual - can't believe it - and then he turns around and asks another black man his opinion on it. Strangely enough, when this happens, Vince's gun goes off on accident (or is it?) and he kills the black man in the back.

This experience changes Jules' life and his career when he decides to quit the hitman gangster business. Oddly enough, we know that Jules lives on after the movie's over - but we've already seen that Vince is going to die at the hands of Butch.

Does the spiritual black man make me feel better about myself? It depends on which spiritual black man you're talking about. Roger Ebert, in his review of Matrix Reloaded, noted the large black cast in the movie and their power and connection with the spiritual. He said that perhaps black people were cast in this role because they emit an aura of coolness that white people don't seem to possess. Is that a bias? Maybe or maybe not. Certainly there are white people that you can find "badass" or whatever - and other races as well. Do black people have something "special" about them? Maybe. Maybe our own soul can detect it. Or maybe it's because we know from history that black people have always labeled themselves as "people with SOUL" -- Soul Food, Soul Train, Soul Cinema, etc. Soul = spirituality = black spiritual man.

Why was this thread called "The Spiritual Black Man" anyway? Your question at the end of your post didn't refer to one specific sex, though. What about the spiritual black woman? I know you mentioned the woman in the post, but still... very curious.

I think that when we see a spiritual black person in a movie, there are two factors going on -- A. That black people are the ones described with "soul". B. Since they are "soulful black people", they must be here to help us get in touch with our spirituality before it's too late.

So true Sexy. I think I wanted to broaden the question a little because in the past, it has been black men that have been more magical or spiritual in movies.


Sort of off topic here:
Also, this discussion I had with my friend took place in a part of San Diego called Old Town. Old Town is the historic part of the city with many restored buildings and people dressed in historic mexican garb. Of course San Diego's history includes cultures from Mexico as well as Native Americans. As we strolled through this part of town, I noticed that all the tourists were very, very caucasian, while vendors and tour guides were dressed in clothing that seemed to represent their ethnicity.

The tourists, I noticed, liked to take pictures with these vendors. I got to thinking, why would a tourist want to take a picture with someone who looked mexican or Native American. I thought to myself, when they return home and show these photos to friends they say things like, "Here I am in Old Town San Diego with a real Mexican!", or "See, here I am with a real Indian!"
It reminded me of something you would experience at a zoo.

My friend told me that caucasian people feel "guilty" about the past, and therefore want minorities to feel good, and the way they do this is by taking pictures with them. Somehow that segued into a discussion about how this also happens in the movies.

Your friend is getting there, but I don't think he's right. It isn't guilt that's causing people to be that way -- it's FASCINATION!! People want to see the real thing - they want to see truth. We are truthseekers that way. Even if their truth isn't the truth. Got that, Ruth? OK.

It reminded you of something you see at the zoo -- okay, maybe you feel guilt at seeing gorillas locked up in a cage, etc. -- but don't you also experience fascination? Isn't the REAL reason you go to the zoo to seek beauty you don't always get to look at in person everyday? Who goes to the zoo to primarily feel guilty? A seriously depressed, anxiety ridden person with a dark, creative sense of fun? Hey, let's call a mental hospital and tell them we've got a new idea for a field trip.

It's the same reason you might go to a drag queen show and get a picture with Applelonia Johnson. FASCINATION!!!

While I agree with you about being facinated with what I see at the zoo, keep something in mind: the people we saw working at the park were only dressed the part. Most of the people working there were American, they were only of Latino descent. The only thing that distinguished them were their clothes: brightly colored skirts, peasant tops and lace fans they incorporated into their dances.
At least at the zoo, gorillas are gorillas and tigers are tigers. When I see a drag show, I'm actually seeing a real drag queen. You're right, I am facinated when I see these things, but not so much when the perception is built on falsities that no one questions because it's a photo op.

BTW:

Hit it, Human League.



Keep feeling fascination
Passion burning
Love so strong!
Keep feeling fascination
Looking, learning,
Moving on!



If it seems a little time is needed
Decisions to be made (Hey hey hey hey)
The good advice of friends unheeded
The best of plans mislaid



Just looking for a new direction
In an old familiar way
(Hey hey hey hey)
The forming of a new connection
To study or to play



And so the conversation turned
Until the sun went down
And many fantasies were learned on that day



Keep feeling fascination
Passion burning
Love so strong!
Keep feeling fascination
Looking, learning
Moving on!



Well, the truth may need some re-arranging
Stories to be told
(Hey hey hey hey)
And plain to see the facts are changing
No meaning left to hold



And so the conversation turned
Until the sun went down
And many fantasies were learned on that day



Keep feeling fascination
Passion burning
Love so strong!
Keep feeling fascination
Looking, learning
Moving on!

The phemomenon of the magical or seemingly omniscient minority is an old one, and has been written about a lot. Usually it is a black character but not always. At any rate, it's rather sad that the stereotype has persisted so long.

The origin of the magical black man is probably hard to pin down. It could be guilt, xenophobia, or something else, or even all those things combined. No matter what though, it's an unfortunate stereotypical role that gets used a lot. Why's it unfortunate. Because black actors with lots of talent are being wasted on these crappy roles. The magical black character is almost always there to serve some white character in need of help, and almost never has any characterization other than the fact that he's magical or mystical or whatever.

For a magical black woman see Ghost.

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I was gonna mention Oda Mae Brown, but she starts off as a con artist and isn't a very spiritual lady. It's not until Patrick Swazye's character shows up that she becomes psychic. Still, her lineage was psychic ("My mother had it" she said) so I guess....

of course there's also Whoopi Goldberg in the Sister Act movies.... and she even played God in that last Muppets movie that was on TV last November.

I think it's only Whoopi Goldberg who plays spiritual black woman roles.

I think it has something to do with the fact that Hollywood make films for a white audience. White is the norm and everybody else is part of The Others. When you need someone to play a character connected with The Other Side, whatever shape that side is taking, you need someone from The Others, and you can't take a white person since they are part of the norm. This is not a part exclusively for black actors but for pretty much any non-white actor depending on what kind of a part it is. The native american, in contact with the spirits, in Natural Born Killers for example who represents the only decent thing in the movie and the only victim that the couple actually show remorse for killing.

There was a time when the color black always stood for bad and evil in films (still do sometimes) and the bad guys were always dressed in black and often had dark hair and more "non-arian" features - not necessarily afro-american though. But somewhere in time this changed and we got a lot of "silent heroes" often dressed in cool black. Today you can just take a look at a film like Matrix or The Crow and what kind of clothes the heroes are wearing. I think nowadays black and dark colors stand for masulinity, determination, and heroism. The fact that we don't have more heroes whose skin color is black is partly because the majority of the audience is still white. The number one reason, however, is that the number of black directors and producers in Hollywood is very low. One thing is certain though and that is that when you need a "cool" actor, black actors are always wanted.

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The novelist does not long to see the lion eat grass. He realizes that one and the same God created the wolf and the lamb, then smiled, "seeing that his work was good".

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They had temporarily escaped the factories, the warehouses, the slaughterhouses, the car washes - they'd be back in captivity the next day but now they were out - they were wild with freedom. They weren't thinking about the slavery of poverty. Or the slavery of welfare and food stamps. The rest of us would be all right until the poor learned how to make atom bombs in their basements.

Interestingly, the most recent movie I saw is Hollywood Homicide in which the main character is a spiritual white man, while the other protagonist is a materialistic white man, and the villain is a materialistic black man. Just an aside.