`Chandler Isbell

4/10/2017

Film

White Patriarchal Capitalism since 2000 in the United States

Throughout the history of the United States of America white patriarchal capitalism has

been a major ideal that has entitled white males as the dominant people in the United States.

Making this people have priority in many ways within politics, society and the work force. This

idea has shaped the United States giving males and their agendas priority while leaving

Americans of other races and genders underrepresented. In America on Film, written by Harry

M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin the term white patriarchal capitalism is defined word by word

stating that white, refers to the ideology that people of Western and Northern European descent

are somehow better (America on Film, pg. 8) and that Patriarchal refers to a culture

predicated on the belief that (heterosexual) men are the most important members of society...and

reinforces womens role as the child-bearing and child raising property of men.(America on

Film, pg. 8-9) The author continues to define capitalism as, the belief that success and worth are

measured by ones material wealth. (America on Film, pg. 9)This ideology has greatly

influenced the history of the United States of America and with that has influenced American

society, media, and pop culture. Bias and inequality that this ideology enforces has effected how

people are represented socially in the United States and has effected how people are represented

in film.
 Film since its first big blockbuster, Birth of a Nation has always had the stain of white

patriarchal capitalism embedded in the industry. Infamously this film falsely represented African

Americans as lusting, inappropriate, and as the common enemy. They even used a white male in

black face to depict the racist story due to the harshness of segregation. Since the release of the

film and the successful response it had, it was evident that the beliefs and ideas of white

patriarchal capitalism were reflected in films of their time. Today it is common for people to

accept that modern day people think differently and that racism, sexism, and prejudice are

diminished. With the election of President Barack Obama and the success of equal rights

campaigns in this century it seems easy to say that white patriarchal capitalism is a social defect

of the past, but the effects of the ideology are still evident in society. Even since 2000 to date

media and pop culture are influenced by white supremacy. Proven through film this ideology is

still a powerful influence due to the ever popular film style Nostalgic Hollywood Block Buster,

the modern day use of tokenism and through misrepresentation, it is evident that this social

system is still in power.

A popular style of film, the nostalgic Hollywood blockbuster, is what is often considered

a classic film with a traditional plot. These movies feature strong leading males who are the

overall heroes of the story. Reinforcing the idea that white males hold dominance. Some

stereotypes of the nostalgic Hollywood blockbuster also include a damsel in distress that he finds

amongst his adventure and eventually heroically the man saves her, he defeats the enemy and

ultimately he lives happily ever after with his beautiful wife/girlfriend. Sound familiar? This

single story creates a mentality and acceptance of the dominance and control of the white male

supporting white patriarchal capitalism. In the 21st century as rights of people have become more

equal within the United States many people would think that this would no longer be the only
popular story and that many movies would be diversified, but analyzing the Top 40 grossing

movies of 2000 to 2009 there is a common trend amongst the majority of these movies. In the

top 40 found on (IMDb) only two of these films have leading roles with African-American

actors. That is only 5% of the films. Additionally out of the rest of these movies only two of

them have a story where the main character is a woman. That means that only 10% of the movies

that were top grossing of the 2000s had a lead character that was other than a white male. The

rest of the movies such as Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean, multiple Harry Potter movies, Lord

of the Rings, Star Trek, etc. All feature a white male as the hero of their story and are influenced

after the classic Hollywood blockbuster style. All of these film are of the most popular and

influential of the decade they pertain to. This common narrative affirms that white dominance is

still apparent in film making in this decade.

In the text America on Film Henshoff and Griffin explains why this common narrative is

so dominant:

Today, most of these Hollywood blockbusters are shrewdly calculated remakes and recyclings of what has

worked (that is, made money) in the past. They are designed according to marketplace research, and work

not to raise questions or explore social issues but to maintain the ideological status quo. (America on Film,

pg. 41)

The success of this style has been popular ever since the first blockbuster and is still common in

modern film, even in 2016.

One modern example of a film that follows this common narrative is Deadpool 2016.

Although unconventional in its humor and how it blatantly pokes fun at many other films of the

superhero genre this film is influenced by the nostalgic Hollywood blockbuster plot. The films

protagonist, Wade Wilson, as played by Ryan Reynolds, after getting cancer he undergoes

experimentation becoming indestructible and turns into mutant by the films foe, Francis. He
takes the alias Deadpool to seek revenge of his enemy, who has kidnapped his once girlfriend

Vanessa. With the aid of the X-men he takes on his enemies, but eventually it is all up to

Deadpool to save the day. At the conclusion he regains the love of his girlfriend and Deadpool is

the hero of the story. Parts of the film that follow the ideas of white patriarchal capitalism are

when Deadpool is the overall hero of the story and in the films representation of Vanessa.

Vanessa throughout the film is overly sexualized and is portrayed like the classic role for a

woman in the nostalgic Hollywood blockbuster as defined in America on Film the heroine is

defined chiefly by her beauty and sex appeal. (America on Film, pg. 25-26) The irreverence and

humor would distract the viewer to say that it was not a conventional film. Although these

moments matches that of a nostalgic Hollywood blockbuster film.

Through techniques of tokenism the film industry has made underrepresentation

acceptable to viewers. The purpose of tokenism is an attempt to make underrepresentation

hidden. Often actors of different races are placed in insignificant roles as to round out the racial

scheme. In King Kong 2005, amongst a cast of largely white actors the characters Hayes, as

played by Evan Parke, and Choy, as played by Lobo Chan, play tokenistic roles. In the film a

writer, a filmmaker, an actress and the crew of the ship they journey on face King Kong and the

dangers of Skull Island. Throughout the narrative little about the token characters is known and

the Asian token Choy takes on stereotypes of his race. Throughout the film these two characters

are brutally murdered on Skull Island leaving the white leads, Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien

Brody and other white characters to heroically survive the turmoil of Skull Island. This pattern

illustrates the idea that although people of minorities may be present in the film their overall

contribution is lesser than that of the white male counter-parts. The trick of this technique is to

disguise the trace of white patriarchal capitalism, some have noticed this trend but as America on
Film states, For many others however, the phenomenon goes unnoticed, and the dominance of

whiteness remains unquestioned. (America on Film, pg. 53)

A study from USC on examining diversity on screen shows the percentage of speaking

roles within 600 of the most popular films since 2009, Just over a quarter (25.9%) of the 3,932

speaking characters evaluated were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. A full 74.1%

were White, 14.1% Black, 4.9% Hispanic, 4.4% Asian, 1.1% Middle Eastern, (Dr. Smith) The

percentage of representation in film versus the actual percent of population of these races within

the United States is skewed. In actuality the United States is more diverse then it lets on as

displayed in media and film. Although even when minority stories are told sometimes they

themselves are a misrepresentation of the film.

The Blind Side 2009, as directed by John Lee Hancock tells the story of the now

successful professional football player Michael Oher. In the film Michael Oher as played by

Quinton Aaron is a homeless male and is taken into the home of a family in Tennessee. Although

based of a true inspiring story of defeating the odds Michael Ohers reaction of the portrayal of

his character in the movie was as follows. He said in an interview, it portrayed me as dumb

instead of as a kid who never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he

got it. (Sragow) He went on to say in his interview that What he really found annoying were

the scenes of his new family, the Tuohys, teaching him football the son, Sean Jr., acting out

plays with ketchup bottles, or the mother, Leigh Anne, instructing him in the art of blocking. He

didnt want [people] to think I was someone so clueless about something I had always taken

pride in being pretty smart about. (Sragow) This a more recent film focused in more on the

hero-like qualities of the family and didnt credit as much the ability of the resilient youth.

Sandra Bullock who played the mother even went on to win best actress of the year for her
inspiring role. Yet the African-American whom the story was about didnt even receive a

nomination. While a great story of going homeless to a professional football player the film is an

example of how African-Americans have been misrepresented in film and overall promotes the

concept of white supremacy.

Hollywood and independent films have been taking been taking different stories than that

of the classic Hollywood blockbuster format and they have gone on to do well within the United

States becoming popular challenging white patriarchal capitalism and a single narrative. Hidden

Figures and Moonlight are recently released films whose stories are centralized around people of

different races, gender, and orientations than a white patriarchal man. Although critically

acclaimed the gross-income of these films is dramatically lower than that of other films that

follow the white supremacy ideals. Even today many white viewers choose not to see films

starring non-white actors or films set in minority ethnic environments, allegedly because they

feel that they cannot identify with the characters. (America on Film, pg 52)This might explain

part of the reason why the film industry continues to be influenced by white patriarchal

capitalism. Due to its continual popularity in our days and because it sells.

Although generally accepted that the United States is becoming more desegregated and is

appropriately representing minorities the popularity of the classic white heterosexual hero

contradicts such statements. The most popular movies on screen are majorly led by white males

and when minorities and females are on screen they often take on stereotypes and are

misrepresented. Film studies of the amount of people with speaking roles vs the actual amount of

people in the population shows that the numbers dont match up and that there is a bias towards

whites. For these reasons it is apparent that the idea of white patriarchal capitalism is still at the

root of the film industry. Although strides have been made for equality in the United States it is
clear that so far in the 21st century it has not been achieved. Bell Hooks an American Author and

activist stated, You are not going to destroy this imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist

patriarchy by creating your own version of it, (Hooks)

 Works Cited

Benshoff, Harry M., and Sean Griffin. America on film: representing race, class, gender,

and sexuality at the movies. Malden, MA, USA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.

"Top-US-Grossing Feature Films Released 2000-01-01 to 2009-12-31." IMDb.

IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

"Baltimore Sun: Michael Oher expands on his reaction to The Blind Side." Greater

Talent Network Speakers Bureau. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

"Bell Hooks Beyonc is a Terrorist." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Marc Choueiti, & Dr. Katherine Pieper, Race/Ethnicity in 600

Popular Films