Emotional segregation: A content analysis of institutional racism in US films, 1980–2001

‘Reel love’ across ethnic boundaries? The extent and significance of inter-ethnic intimacy in Australian cinema

“…These cinematic representations of intimacy matter because they operate as an 'agent of cultural orthodoxy' (Smaill 2010, no page). Under-representation and misrepresentation of interracial 4 intimate relationships have been uncovered in studies of Hollywood productions (Marchetti 1993;hooks 1995;Evans 2002;Beeman 2007;Perry and Sutton 2008), but inter-ethnic intimacy in the Australian film industry has received scant attention (Robinson 1996;Khoo 2006Khoo , 2008Smaill 2010Smaill , 2011. Existing studies have found that inter-ethnic/racial relationships are infrequently portrayed in films and are rarely central to the plot when they do appear (hooks 1995;Evans 2002;Beeman 2007).…”

“…Under-representation and misrepresentation of interracial 4 intimate relationships have been uncovered in studies of Hollywood productions (Marchetti 1993;hooks 1995;Evans 2002;Beeman 2007;Perry and Sutton 2008), but inter-ethnic intimacy in the Australian film industry has received scant attention (Robinson 1996;Khoo 2006Khoo , 2008Smaill 2010Smaill , 2011. Existing studies have found that inter-ethnic/racial relationships are infrequently portrayed in films and are rarely central to the plot when they do appear (hooks 1995;Evans 2002;Beeman 2007). Furthermore, they are seldom 'successful' or long-lasting, rarely involve marriage and tend to be short-term, fraught, dysfunctional and tragic (Marchetti 1993;hooks 1995;Robinson 1996;Evans 2002;Beeman 2007).…”

“…Existing studies have found that inter-ethnic/racial relationships are infrequently portrayed in films and are rarely central to the plot when they do appear (hooks 1995;Evans 2002;Beeman 2007). Furthermore, they are seldom 'successful' or long-lasting, rarely involve marriage and tend to be short-term, fraught, dysfunctional and tragic (Marchetti 1993;hooks 1995;Robinson 1996;Evans 2002;Beeman 2007). Ethnic out-group males (particularly black males) are regularly portrayed as a sexual threat to white women (Perry and Sutton 2006), and physical intimacy is often curtailed in order to avoid depicting sex across ethnic/racial boundaries Á particularly when white females are involved (Evans 2002;Beeman 2007).…”

“…Furthermore, they are seldom 'successful' or long-lasting, rarely involve marriage and tend to be short-term, fraught, dysfunctional and tragic (Marchetti 1993;hooks 1995;Robinson 1996;Evans 2002;Beeman 2007). Ethnic out-group males (particularly black males) are regularly portrayed as a sexual threat to white women (Perry and Sutton 2006), and physical intimacy is often curtailed in order to avoid depicting sex across ethnic/racial boundaries Á particularly when white females are involved (Evans 2002;Beeman 2007). bell hooks (1995, p. 113) concluded that 'true love' in 2040 Natascha Klocker and Elyse Stanes films almost always occurs between characters who 'share the same race' and when 'love happens across boundaries' it usually has 'tragic consequences'.…”

“…For instance, Smaill (2011) explored Asian/Anglo-Australian intimate relationships through a detailed analysis of two films, Aya and The Home Song Stories, while Small (2010) based her analysis (also of Asian/Anglo-Australian relationships) on The Home Song Stories and Mao's Last Dancer. An exception to this selective and descriptive style of analysis is Beeman's (2007) study, which examined forty Hollywood films released between 1980 and 2001 to establish how (African-American/white) interracial relationships were portrayed compared to mono-racial relationships. Beeman's (2007) study highlighted the importance of systematic analyses exploring the consistency of media portrayals across films and ethnic groups (Eschholz, Bufkin and Long 2002).…”