Carterwrites

52,230 days since slavery was abolished in the United States. 18,262 days since public high schools were integrated in Little Rock, Arkansas. 4,748 days since the film “Friday” was released, reestablishing innumerable black stereotypes in popular culture. It has been 3 days since I first viewed the movie, and I am still processing the blatant propagation of racist clichés.

Our final assignment in Mass Media and Society was to explore the media’s portrayal of individuals of a specific identity. I have chosen to assess the movie “Friday,” a 1995 flick that follows a day in the lives of two black men in the heart of Compton.

To qualify my analysis I am following Bonnie Dow’s (1996) model of qualification as seen in the book “Prime-Time Feminism: Television, Media Culture, and the Women’s Movement Since 1970.” I am in no way establishing my interpretation of the text as the only perspective, and further, I do not wish to present my view as the most correct. I am asserting independent claims not intended to predict or sway how others may frame their evaluations. My sole aim is to encourage readers to reexamine previous assumptions and to take into consideration the position of another.

“Friday” induced me to laugh on many occasions, but it was foundationally flawed as it exploited black culture as a comic device. Of course it can be argued that it is all in jest with no ulterior message, but that does not address the possible results it may have upon uninformed viewers, or negate the film’s inappropriate response to issues of race.

The producers played into some of America’s skewed misconceptions about the central and peripheral elements of black life. It was given form by drug dealers, addicts, and objectified women. Unemployment was prevalent, drive-bys threatened to rob the movie of its main characters, and all of this to the constant pounding of raucous rap. The movie showed no shame: from stereotyped references to fried chicken by the main character’s father, clad in a denim mechanic’s suit, exaggeration of cultural nuances, to the cavalier use of the undeniably detrimental word “nigger.” If an understanding of black culture was derived from “Friday,” dysfunction would serve as its singular definition.

Race as a construct of television and media is, in my opinion, influential in shaping public perception of race as a reality. To create a culturally independent faction out of racial minority and twist its historical struggle into a commercial package is a dangerous venture. In selling this comedy, Hollywood not only glamorized a lifestyle of drugs and terminal lethargy, but it trivialized many serious issues not only within the black community, but apparent in all strata of American society. Poverty becomes a laughable condition, marijuana an instrument of relational bonding, and crime an effort to pass a lazy afternoon.

At times it was undeniably hilarious. Yet I would not go so far as to fully agree with Phil Villarreal, a reviewer on celebritywonder.com, who says, “the comedy that synthesizes blaxploitation and pot-comedy genres and melds them into a colossus of unending laughs. The film pulses with heart and wisdom as it romps through its plotless terrain.” The term blaxploitation perfectly represents my problem with the film, yet for those who see it as a respectable genre, the term only adds status to “Friday.” Personally, I am unwilling to embrace the use of race as a path to the punch line.

Despite any redeeming qualities, “Friday” undermines the efforts of thousands throughout history who have worked to build understanding and erase structural inequalities. The movie promotes outdated stereotypes that contradict the potential progress the film may have made toward mainstreaming urban black culture. Funny, yes. Inappropriate? Absolutely.

References:

Dow, B. (1996). Prime0time feminism: Television, media culture, and the women’s movement since 1970. Philadelphia: University Press.

Ice Cube (Producer), & Gray, G.F. (Director). (1995). Friday [Motion picture]. United States: New Line Cinema.

Villarreal, Phil. “”Friday”.” Celebrity Wonder. UGO. 4 Dec 2008. <http://www.celebritywonder.com/movie/1995_Friday.html>.