Boys, Boyz, Bois: An Ethics of Black Masculinity in Film and Popular Media

by Harris; Keith M.

• ISBN13: 9780415975780
• ISBN10: 0415975786
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-22
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

i Boys, Boyz, Bois /i concerns questions of ethics, gender and race in popular American images, national discourse and cultural production by and about black men. The book proposes an ethics of masculinity, as ethnics refers to a system of morality and valuation and as ethics refers to a care of the self and ethical subject formation. The texts of analysis include recent films by black/African American filmmakers, gansta rap and hip-hop and black star persona: texts ranging from Blaxploitation and New Black Cinema to contemporary music video to autobiography and the public image of Sidney Poitier. The book is a significant contribution to cultural studies and gender studies and critical race theory. What is distinctive about the book is the question of ethics as a question of race and gender.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(20)
Spooks in the Mirror: Racial Performativity and Black Cinema	21	(18)
``Stand up, boy!'': Sidney Poitier, ``Boy'' and Filmic Black Masculinity	39	(24)
Super Bad: Jim Brown, Blaxploitation and the Coming of Boyz	63	(16)
Boyz, Boyz, Boyz: New Black Cinema and Black Masculinity	79	(20)
``Untitled'': D'Angelo and the Visualization of the Black Male Body	99	(14)
Conclusion	113	(6)
Notes	119	(16)
Bibliography	135	(18)
Index	153