{"id":{"repo_id":"buffalo","oai_identifier":"oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/84003"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/buffalo/oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/84003","repository":{"repo_id":"buffalo","name":"Buffalo","base_url":"https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Black Masculinity in Early 21st Century Hollywood Cinema","abstract":"Ph.D.","abstract_html":"Ph.D.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gault, Ntare"],"institution":"State University of New York at Buffalo","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Winter, Kari","Transnational Studies - American Studies","Africana and American Studies"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-06-21T15:46:56Z","date_published":"2022-06-21T15:46:56Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:28Z","subjects":["African American studies","American history","Black studies"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10477/84003","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Winter, Kari","Transnational Studies - American Studies","Africana and American Studies"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gault, Ntare"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2022-06-21T15:46:56Z","2020"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["State University of New York at Buffalo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["African American studies","American history","Black studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/84003"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ph.D.","Black Masculinity in Early Twenty-first-Century Cinema examines the correlation between the portrayal of black male characters in film and directors' vision for such works in the Hollywood film industry. This dissertation reveals the progression of black masculinity in film through a comparison of movies of the same genre produced in the 20th century and 21st century. I use the theories of scholars like bell hooks and Simone Drake to define black masculinity both historically and within performance presentations. These scholars question whether what we call black masculinity is really just the patriarchal view of white slave masters on nineteenth- century Antebellum plantations. With this thought in mind, this dissertation addresses how film character’s both reflect and impact how the public views black men in society. In a journey that begins with W.D. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1917), and included King Kong films and Tarzan films; this dissertation concludes with Ryan Coogler's Black Panther (2018 The Director’s Cut, helps to bring a fuller understanding to why black men’s film appearances, with few exceptions, were historical one-dimensional. This dissertation details many iconic characters in black film while providing a history of how these movies were developed. Chapters are separated by different genres black men have portrayed in cinema. These characters are viewed through sexuality, fatherhood/family, black fraternities, biopics, and the varying aspects of African royalty in film. This brings into focus the diversity of black films, yet the monolith of characters in over one hundred years of cinema. I conclude that with many black artist being educated in filmmaking, unlike the actors turned directors in the past, there should be many well written, produced, and directed black themed films in the future. What could make this bright future dim is the fact that there’s no black representation at film studios with the ability to green light movies. With no change in leadership films intended for black audiences will face major challenges to be made. This will ensure studio films with a black subject matter will continue to be seen through a white gaze as in the early twentieth century. The reason is the studio heads are charged with hiring the creative teams to produce all movies so they must be trusted to hire filmmakers of color."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Black Masculinity in Early 21st Century Hollywood Cinema"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Winter, Kari","Transnational Studies - American Studies","Africana and American Studies"],"dc:creator":["Gault, Ntare"],"dc:date":["2022-06-21T15:46:56Z","2020"],"dc:description":["Ph.D.","Black Masculinity in Early Twenty-first-Century Cinema examines the correlation between the portrayal of black male characters in film and directors' vision for such works in the Hollywood film industry. This dissertation reveals the progression of black masculinity in film through a comparison of movies of the same genre produced in the 20th century and 21st century. I use the theories of scholars like bell hooks and Simone Drake to define black masculinity both historically and within performance presentations. These scholars question whether what we call black masculinity is really just the patriarchal view of white slave masters on nineteenth- century Antebellum plantations. With this thought in mind, this dissertation addresses how film character’s both reflect and impact how the public views black men in society. In a journey that begins with W.D. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1917), and included King Kong films and Tarzan films; this dissertation concludes with Ryan Coogler's Black Panther (2018 The Director’s Cut, helps to bring a fuller understanding to why black men’s film appearances, with few exceptions, were historical one-dimensional. This dissertation details many iconic characters in black film while providing a history of how these movies were developed. Chapters are separated by different genres black men have portrayed in cinema. These characters are viewed through sexuality, fatherhood/family, black fraternities, biopics, and the varying aspects of African royalty in film. This brings into focus the diversity of black films, yet the monolith of characters in over one hundred years of cinema. I conclude that with many black artist being educated in filmmaking, unlike the actors turned directors in the past, there should be many well written, produced, and directed black themed films in the future. What could make this bright future dim is the fact that there’s no black representation at film studios with the ability to green light movies. With no change in leadership films intended for black audiences will face major challenges to be made. This will ensure studio films with a black subject matter will continue to be seen through a white gaze as in the early twentieth century. The reason is the studio heads are charged with hiring the creative teams to produce all movies so they must be trusted to hire filmmakers of color."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/84003"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["State University of New York at Buffalo"],"dc:rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"dc:subject":["African American studies","American history","Black studies"],"dc:title":["Black Masculinity in Early 21st Century Hollywood Cinema"],"dc:type":["Text","Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:28Z"}