Task 6 - Introduction and First Paragraph

In Film, a token character is one who is only present to attain minimum conformity with the assumed normality for the environment described in the story. Token Black characters are usually added in films in order to make them seem anti racist the producers’ way to avoid racial issues regarding their Token Minority. These token characters usually aren’t important to the plot but are there for show. The main texts that I have chosen to look at in this investigation are, Friday the 13^th (2009) and Doghouse (2009).

In an attempt to be anti racist, two token minorities have been casted in Friday the 13^th. A black character called (Lawrence) and an Asian character called Chewie.

The character of Lawrence is a ‘Token Black Guy’. He has little importance in the plot but seems to make an attempt to break free from the stereotypes associated with black people, he doesn’t dress like a typical black person and often uses the phrase ‘it it because I’m black’. The phrase connotes that he doesn’t want to be stereotyped because of his skin colour and suggest that his character wants be treated like everyone else. However, later on in the film we find that even though he may want to break free from the stereotypes he is to some extent a stereotypical character. 

Task 3

HISTORICAL TEXT ANALYSIS & RESEARCH

The two main Historical texts that I studied as part of my research were, the Scream franchise (1992-2000), I still know what you did last summer (1998). All these texts feature a ‘Token Black Character in one form or another.

The Scream franchise was almost like a parody of horror films in general. With the most predictable events. Quotes such as, ‘Never say "who's there?" Don't you watch scary movies? It's a death wish. You might as well come out to investigate a strange noise or something’. It mimics and parodies the horror genre. In the past the blacks leads in big-budget films were scarce, unless they were specifically using race to make a point. In the beginning of the franchise there were no black characters.

However, as society progressed we began to see black characters introduced into these films as ‘token’ characters. This meant that they didn’t have much importance but were merely there to show that the film was ‘anti-racist’. In the sequel to scream two token characters where used, Maureen who was a black woman who fit all the racial stereotypes (who actually recognized the lack of ethnic characters in American cinema) and her boyfriend who is also a stereotypical character in many ways. Both these characters are the first to killed off, showing them as the ‘token’ minority.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu00Nu_5_CM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBCAD_LbKBE&feature=related

In ‘I still know what you did last summer’ a ‘token black guy’ is used called phil. Unlike the token black character in Scream he isn’t the first to die but survives longer into the film which gives him more significance. This then shows the black minority may have more status in society than they did it the past as there weren’t even any black people in older films like ‘Friday the 13^th’ or ‘Texas chainsaw massacre’.

Unlike scream Phil’s girlfriend (Karla) who is also black is given more significance. She doesn’t get killed off in the film but survives till the end. She is a positive representation of black people (especially) females as she is not stereotypical in anyway. This suggests a predominance of ‘Token’ black males than ‘Token’ Black females. In past horror film black males have been used more than females and the males are shown as more stereotypical. Compared to modern horror films this is still the cast, with films such as Friday the 13^th (remake), Dawn if the Dead which only feature ‘Token’ black males and not females.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyQ5wgpaXJ0&feature=related

Task 1

Analysis of Friday the 13th (2009)

In an attempt to be anti racist, two token minorities have been added to the cast of Friday the 13^th. A black character called (Lawrence) and an Asian character called Chewie.

The character of Lawrence seems to make an attempt to break free from the stereotypes associated with black people, he doesn’t dress like a typical black person and often uses the phrase ‘it it because I’m black’. The phrase connotes that he doesn’t want to be stereotyped because of his skin colour and suggest that his character wants be treated like everyone else. However, later on in the film we find that even though he may want to break free from the stereotypes he is to some extent a stereotypical character. 

Furthermore unlike ‘Token Black Guys’ from the past Lawrence isn’t one of the first characters to be killed off and he dies later on in the film. this shows that black people have more status in society now that they did decades ago.

When asked if the record label he wanted to start would be rap, Lawrence becomes very defensive and accuses the character Bree of assuming that he likes rap just because he is black. Ironically Lawrence admits that his record label will be rap which reinforces the idea that he is a very stereotypical character as rap music is typically associated with black people. The character of Lawrence is therefore shown as a stereotypical, though he tries to break free from stereotypes he still happens to fall back into his racial ‘norms’.

The character of Chewie on the other hand is not shown as a stereotypical character; in fact he is the total opposite. Common stereotypes of Asians are that they are; good in school, sensible and obedient. However the character of Chewie is none of these, he is rebellious, he drinks a lot and he is very unintelligent. Support for this is his simple vocabulary and that fact that in one point of the film he drank alcohol from a shoe. Even though his character isn’t stereotypical it portrays Asians in a negative light. Chewie isn’t shown as very important, he dies early on in the film even before Lawrence; the other characters don’t even seem to notice that he is even gone.  

The dominant race in Friday the 13^th is white. The main characters are white and the majority of all the other characters are also. They are shown as rich and powerful. (they spend the weekend at Trent’s big holiday home). The character of Trent is a negative representation of white people. He is bossy, disrespectful, arrogant and promiscuous. Whereas Clay is the hero, he looks out for others and confronts the villain (Jason).