Blaxploitation

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silent period of cinema introduced five basic archetypes for Black characters: the Tom, the Coon, the Tragic Mulatto, the Mammy, and finally, the Brutal Black Buck. America’s first Black character found manifestation as the aforementioned Uncle Tom in Edwin S. Porter’s, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was released in 1903. “The paradox was that in actuality Tom wasn’t Black at all. Instead he was portrayed by a nameless, slightly overweight actor made up in blackface.”(Boggle, 4) This was a common practice developed by the theater, and carried over, as were many of the acting techniques, to silent film. Tom’s presence, and the appearance of the four negro archetypes which were to follow, served the same purpose: “to entertain by stressing negro inferiority.”(Boggle, 4)
Although having no positive effect on the status of Black people in America socially, the tom character opened the door for Black actors in cinema. Sam Lucas became the first black man to be cast in a leading role as a tom, ...

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please metaphoric cousin to the tom. Quaint, and naïve, the Uncle Ramus character distinguished himself through his comic philosophizing.(Bogle,8)
In general, the cinematic coon was used to indicate the Black man’s contentment with his submissive position in society. Also emerging around this time period is the tragic mulatto: a negro light enough to pass for white, who must fight against the negro taint to either rise above his colour, or fall victim to it.
Mammy, a character closely related to the comic coon, was the next to emerge. Headstrong and abundantly female, Mammy debuted around 1914. The Mammy role would be perfected by Hattie McDaniel in the 1930’s. From the mammy roles ...

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