This is a sample of my essay writing skills, Esse. Don't plagiarise, play your eyes (some close attention).
Embedded in a backdrop of rich and somewhat obvious colonial and imperial allegories, Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996, USA) proposes a modern and ethnically diverse America (also known as ‘Earth’), defending against an attack from extra-terrestrial war-mongers, who seek to strip the planet of precious resources and exterminate the indigenous population.
The highest grossing blockbuster of 1996, alien invasion epic Independence Day contains many key debates on race and representation in contemporary Hollywood. The representation of Will Smith especially, needs to be looked at in depth, as this film marks a major turning point for Black representation in contemporary SF film. Using Smith as an example, we can also contrast his personal representation of Black identity to theories of the dominant White masculine hero, immortalised by SF poster-boy, Charlton Heston, who Smith has literally replaced in the 2007 remake of The Omega Man (1971, Boris Sagal, USA): I Am Legend (2007, Francis Lawrence, USA).
At first glance, Independence Day could be seen as being fairly progressive and more realistic in its scope of a multicultural modern America, displaying a ‘poster perfect alliance of multi-ethnic American’s battling aliens and making America and the rest of the world safe’ (McCriskin & Pepper: 2005: 32). Although in terms of diverse representation, the tarring of the whole world with America’s brush is heavily corrupt and evokes notions of cultural imperialism. The significance of the title itself directly reconceptualises America’s independence from British rule, into universal independence from an alien oppressor.
Independence Day manages to portray America as the safe guarders of the whole world, yet coverage of foreign nation’s plight is scarce. The ending sequence is the only point we are transported outside of the US, where we witness various countries celebrating the defeat of the evil aliens. Gregory Jay notes that this tries to displace any theories of racism; by the camera panning ‘an African savannah, where traditionally dressed tribesmen wave spears in jubilation at the sight of the downed alien craft. The actuality of the postcolonial condition... is erased by a visual narrative that returns the happy primitives to their place in the world’ (1997:63).
This over-looking of racial difference is central to the connection and camaraderie of the main characters and also promotes the image of a forward thinking, racially integrated America. It also furthers concepts of America as a hegemonic global capital. McCrisken & Pepper state that ‘Independence Day’s appeal to an imaginary universal is at once conceived as an American celebration and as the manifestation of a triumphant America bestriding a world – and a new world order, apparently formed in its own image’(2005: 33). Historically in SF, the role of the ‘structuring other’ has its roots in white middle-class fears, whether from communism or black militarism. In Independence Day however, this other is further removed and placed on an alien other, considered a threat to the whole globe, ‘therefore no American identity needs to be othered, or at least no ethnic identity’ (Davies & Smith: 1997: 149).
The film was a massive worldwide hit, grossing $306 Million (Maltby: 1995: 576). In India the film was dubbed into ‘Hindi, Telegu and Tamil. Release strategies for Independence Day and Eraser (Chuck Russell, 1996, USA) were based on regional linguistic preferences – focusing on the south, for example, where English-language features had been successful’ (Miller et al: 2005: 319). Independence Day ‘s international marketing appeal, provides a route for the appropriation of clear cut ideologies of how America wants to be viewed: as racially integrated, defenders of annihilation by the alien ‘other’ and of course by proxy of Hollywood, the one’s they want to attack first.
The three main protagonists are from different racial backgrounds (Black, White, Jewish) and they all club together, to play their part in defending a greater humanity. Unfortunately, like its representation of internationality, ‘the complexities of identity politics are reduced to ‘petty differences’’ (Davies & Smith: 1997: 149) and the film still purveys some clear hierarchical structures and racial stereotypes.
Although the main protagonists are ethnically diverse and each are designated a fairly equal chunk of screen time, stereotypical structures of representation are still overtly apparent.
White President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) is a young, enigmatic John F. Kennedy figure;
a family man who utilises his vast military and political power to orchestrate the physical attacks on the aliens. Jewish scientist, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) uses his superior intelligence and computing knowledge to gain technical advantages over the aliens, breaking down their shields and communications. Finally, the man on the front line, Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) harnesses his black masculinity to physically eliminate the threat, further ridiculing the aliens with witty banter: ‘now that’s what I call a close encounter’. The casting of Will Smith in this black masculine role is paramount, as it enables us to explore much more deeply; themes and representation of blackness in contemporary Hollywood, and more specifically the SF genre.
‘Black racial representation in American SF cinema in the 1990’s demonstrated a shift away from the type of simple tokenism found in the staunchly conservative 1980s’ (Nama: 2008: 38-39). Independence Day, one of Smith’s first lead roles, just after he had finished his final season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, was the springboard which entered him into an expansive career, frequently linked with SF blockbusters. Smith’s career sees him propelled into a small group of leading black actors in Hollywood, now commanding highly prolific roles and even being able to take the lead role in I, Robot (2004, Alex Proyas, USA & Germany) & I Am Legend. Breaking this trend in racial representation of the traditional Hollywood star, which has classically been immortalised by white masculinity, Will Smith ‘reinvigorated the status of blackness in SF cinema’ (Nama: 2008: 39) and no doubt appears to bring a very progressive and essential role in representing Blackness in film.
However, when we look at historical representation of how physical Black presence has been dealt with or more importantly, not dealt with in film (especially the SF genre), we can see how the SF genre is implicitly linked to discourses of race and representation, and how only recently, with the advent of a few key roles, we see representation of blackness entering into the fore-ground.
There is a notable trend of acceptable qualities and routes to stardom for contemporary Black actors that culminate in reinforcing what Manthia Diawara sees as ‘the dominant cinema situat[ing] Black characters primarily for the pleasure of white spectators’ (1993: 215).
This pleasure for the white spectator, Diawara argues; is derived by making black characters non-threatening and consistently only situating Blacks in a context compared to Whites. ‘One may note how Black male characters in contemporary Hollywood films are made less threatening to whites either by White domestication of Black customs and culture – a process of deracination and isolation – or by stories in which Blacks are depicted playing by the rules of White society and losing’ (1993: 215).
If we look at some of the common ways for contemporary black actors to gain notoriety within the industry, we can see that there are certain buffer-zones that serve a purpose to, in many ways emasculate and commodify such characters for the accessibility of white visual pleasure. Two of the predominant routes that we can see are comedy and hip-hop, which serve as major facilitators for black actors to make a transition to the big screen. Will Smith - who Adilifu Nama describes as ‘a seminal figure in American SF cinema. Blend[ing] the racially non-threatening posture of Sidney Poitier with the charismatic bravado of Eddie Murphy’ (2008: 39) - is an exemplary case of this ‘White domestication of Black customs and culture’ (Diawara: 1993: 215) as his rise to stardom incorporates both these aspects of mainstream Black culture, packaged in a non-threatening, desirably cool and often sexualised way.
Will Smith’s pleasure for white spectators is in part, down to his black cultural accessibility. His incredibly successful hip-hop career with DJ Jazzy Jeff kicked off his moniker ‘The Fresh Prince’ and the duo revelled in the lighter side of mainstream 1980’s hip-hop, veering away from the more demonised and less culturally acceptable world of hardcore gangster rap. This propelled Smith into his own television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, where he is thrust away from the ghetto of West Philadelphia, into a distinctly white vision of a wealthy Black domestic sphere. It is in this environment where Will Smith’s on -screen persona is born; charming with the ladies, witty, ultra-cool, mischievous, slightly goofy and sassy, all traits that stay intertwined with his representation in Independence Day, and a majority of his roles to follow.
It’s this overarching essence of ‘cool’ that is inherently linked with his racial identity and accessibility for this ‘coolness’ to be coded into white visual pleasure and aspirations. Nama puts great emphasis on how ‘Will Smith’s cool-guy persona enabled him to explore strange new worlds and go places few black actors have ever gone before, such as being the headline star of a major SF motion picture’ (Nama: 2008: 39).
Geoff King reinforces this by saying that ‘the Will Smith persona is 'nice,' charming and unthreatening [and] has already been seen as a major factor in his ability to be seen as a performer appealing to white and/or middle class audiences. This has ideological-political undertones: only by appearing 'safe,' or by appearing to mask the existence of racial divisions, can a black performer become a major Hollywood star’ (2002: 168). Will Smith’s ability to appear to transcend racial difference, is a concurrent theme in popular discourse around the star, and is problematic as it addresses issues of how contemporary black actors have to be seen to be de-racialised or have an element of their ‘cool’ blackness made accessible, in order to become successful.
Lorrie Palmer also notes this problem by saying ‘the implication is that transcending race is the cultural and economic cushion for both an industry and an entertainment network that has not yet figured out how to address Smith's actual blackness’ (2011: 34).
Independence Day highlights a point in contemporary SF where the black body comes out of metaphorical and into the physical. The white masculine SF hero of the past, repelling and protecting against the threat of the other, is now shifted to Will Smith. Through his racial ambiguity and appeal, Smith embodies a universally inclusive futuristic vision of SF, showcasing through the skimming over of racial tensions; that the militarism and racism of the past are over.
Nama notes in her introduction in Black Space that ‘in spite of the overt omission of black representation and racial issues in SF cinema, I have found that both are present in numerous films. Albeit implicit – as structured absence, repressed or symbolic – blackness and race are often present in SF films as narrative subtext or implicit allegorical subject’ (2008: 2).
Charlton Heston, once embodied everything it was to be a white, masculine, all-American SF hero and many of his more famous roles – Planet of the Apes (1968, Franklin Schaffner, USA), Soylent Green (1973, Richard Fleischer, USA) and The Omega Man explore dystopian futures where racial allegories are closely linked to the socio-political status and unrest of America at the time. The Omega Man is significant as its context and subject matter directly relate to the perils of interracial mixing and eugenics and also the unrest and fear of black militarism. In the film Heston plays Robert Neville, a scientist who manages to invent a vaccine to stop him getting infected and turning into one of ‘the family’. He also saves a young black character by transfusing his white blood into him, effectively making him mixed race, the white blood, mixing with the black, cancelling out the ‘evil’ within. Heston also gets involved in an interracial relationship himself, which ultimately ‘gives way to grave consequences’ (Nama: 2008: 50) and ultimately causes both of Neville’s black allies to desert him in favour of the dark side.
What’s significant is that over 30 years later, Smith stars in the remake, which has none of the obvious racial allegories of the former, painting a new, progressive and seemingly less racially specific last man on earth. Smith’s racial representation invites a complex discourse of why and how he has become such a massive global star, ultimately down to his ability to embody positive and negative stereotypes of black masculinity and at the same time denounce them. Reaching a widespread fan-base and able to reap massive box office success, Smith is Hollywood gold, and for many reasons (many of them problematic) his appropriation as the black face of contemporary SF highlights many key debates of how representation of race - in a wider social and political context, functions.
Independence Day serves as a very important platform for Smith to reinvent the status of black representation in contemporary Hollywood SF cinema and in turn sees him permeate the whole industry, radically shifting the dominant racial paradigms of the past.
It also projects a view of a dominant America, one which is seen to incorporate a progressive multi-ethnic diversity, but also one that, like Will Smith’s persona, skims over any notions of racial difference.
Bibliography
Davies, Jude & Smith, Carol (1997) Gender, Ethnicity and Sexuality in Contemporary American Film. Edinburgh: Keele University Press.
Diawara, Manthia (1993) Black American Cinema. New York: Routledge.
Dyer, Richard (1986) Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society. London: Macmillian Education Ltd.
Jay, Gregory (1997) ‘American Literature and the Culture Wars’ in: Palmer, Lorrie (2011) ‘Black Man/White Machine: Will Smith Crosses Over’ The Velvet Light Trap; 67, pp. 28-40.
King, Geoff (2002) Star Power “New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction”. New York: Columbia University Press.
Kuhn, Anette (ed) (1999) Alien Zone II: The Spaces of Science Fiction Cinema. London: Verso.
Maltby, Richard (1995) Hollywood Cinema 2nd Edition. London: Blackwell.
McCrisken, Trevor & Pepper, Andrew (2005) American History and Contemporary Hollywood Film. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Miller, Toby et al. (2005) Global Hollywood 2. London: BFI.
Nama, Adilifu (2008) Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film. Texas: University of Texas Press.
Puwar, Nirmal (2004) Space Invaders: Race, Gender and Bodies Out of Place. New York: Berg.
Willis, Sharon (1997) High Contrast: Race and Gender in Contemporary Hollywood Film. USA: Duke University Press.
Journals
Palmer, Lorrie (2011) ‘Black Man/White Machine: Will Smith Crosses Over’ The Velvet Light Trap; 67, pp. 28-40. Available at: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_velvet_light_trap/v067/67.palmer.html#b5
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