African Americans in cinema Chapter 1: Theoretical Aspect of Cultural Materialism. 1.1 Historical background of Cultural Materialism 1.2 The effect of racial characteristics on changes in the society happened that led to another perception of African Amer

INTRODUCTION
In the first half of the twentieth century, racial segregation persisted in many American states. Black jazz gradually overcame racial prejudice, but the cinema remained in the hands of whites. The images of blacks in the first decades of cinema were, as a rule, modest and superficial: servants, slaves, musicians. But it all started with a scandal.
Filmed in 1915 by David Wark Griffith, The Birth of a Nation, a three-hour silent epic, today seems blatantly politically incorrect. Recently, several streaming platforms (HBO Max, Netflix and others) removed Gone with the Wind from their catalogs as a racist work. Following this logic, Griffith's film should at least be burned at the stake. Negroes in it are shown as rude villains, lustful rapists and intriguers, eager to subjugate white America. Moreover, all the main roles of dark-skinned characters are played by white actors in make-up – not because blacks refused, but because at that time it was the norm.
The tradition of blackface (black face) has been familiar to America since the end of the 18th century, it is associated with the so-called minstrel theater – troupes of itinerant actors who entertained the public with comic scenes from the life of blacks. Moreover, there were blacks among the minstrels – they also applied dark makeup to their faces in order to achieve the desired grotesque effect.
But The Birth of a Nation is no comedy. The film tells the story of the friendship of two American families, southerners and northerners, separated by the Civil War and reunited at the end. At the same time, Griffith sings of the Ku Klux Klan – it is this organization, founded by one of the heroes of the picture, that prevents the capture and ruin of America by the insidious mulatto politician Silas Lynch.
It's impossible to imagine such a film these days, unless it's quietly made exclusively for private screenings by white supremacists. And in 1915 it was a real blockbuster with the participation of Lillian Gish and other stars, an incredible box office and a special screening at the White House (before, no tape had ever received such an honor).
Thus, the topical issue is to consider the role of African Americans in cinema, which is the purpose of this thesis.
In accordance with the purpose of the course work, the following tasks were defined:
1) show the historical background of Cultural Materialism;
2) analyze the effect of racial characteristics on changes in the society happened that led to another perception of African Americans;
3) present the example of low vilification of the Negroid race in «The Birth of a Nation», 1915;
4) analyze the formation of the leadership position of African Americans in «Black panther», 2018.
 
CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL ASPECT OF CULTURAL MATERIALISM
1.1 Historical background of Cultural Materialism
Cultural materialism refers to a particular way of directing anthropological studies, characterized by placing emphasis on precisely the material matters of society and thus being able to determine on their basis the degree of development that this human group will have acquired.
A concept created by author Marvin Harris, an American anthropologist who built his career in the second half of the last century and whose ideas are still in vogue.
His approach to this system was first shown in The Development of Anthropological Theory, which he published in 1968 (Harris M., 1968). Later, he continued to deepen this concept and developed it extensively in the volume «Cultural Materialism», published in 1979 (Harris M., 1979).