Cross-Cultural Spectators: Examining the Representation and Development of Black Female Protagonists on the Big Screen

Historically, the representation of Black women in film has been non-existent at worst and highly questionable at best. As cross-cultural spectators—a Black woman and a White man—we used an oppositional gaze to critically “look” at the representation and adult development of Black female protagonist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAdult education quarterly (American Association for Adult and Continuing Education) Vol. 75; no. 2; pp. 113 - 131
Main Authors Andrews, Josie L., McClain, Adam L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2025
Subjects
adult development
protagonists
U.S. films
representation
Black women
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ISSN0741-7136
1552-3047
DOI10.1177/07417136241287507

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Summary:Historically, the representation of Black women in film has been non-existent at worst and highly questionable at best. As cross-cultural spectators—a Black woman and a White man—we used an oppositional gaze to critically “look” at the representation and adult development of Black female protagonists across U.S. films. Based on a critical visual methodology of 12 U.S. films, four themes emerged - #noBlackgirlmagic, transition from object-to-subject, the lies (you) tell, and hair it is. The implications for adult and higher education are discussed based on the findings.
ISSN:0741-7136
1552-3047
DOI:10.1177/07417136241287507