Films as Rhetorical Texts

Janice D. Hamlet is associate professor in the Department of Communication and director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Northern Illinois University.

Films as Rhetorical Texts: Cultivating Discussion about Race, Racism, and Race Relations presents critical essays focusing on select commercial films and what they can teach us about race, racism, and race relations in America. The films in this volume are critically assessed as rhetorical texts using various aspects and components of critical race theory, recognizing that race and racism are intricately ingrained in American society. Contributors argue that by viewing and evaluating culture-centered films-often centered around race-and critically analyzing them, faculty and students can promote the opportunity for genuine open discussions about race, racism, and race relations in the United States, specifically in the higher education classroom. Scholars of film studies, media studies, race studies, and education will find this book particularly useful.

Introduction: There's an Elephant in the Room and it's Not Leaving: Engaging Discussions about Race, Racism and Race RelationsChapter One: The Story of Right Hand, Left Hand: The Rhetoric of Racial Angst in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing Chapter Two: The Spice of Life: Discussing Diversity and Disparity in Mississippi MasalaChapter Three: The Ties that (UN) bind: Whiteness and the Racialization of Jewish Bodies in the film School TiesChapter Four: Smoke Signals: Opening the Conversation to Untold Stories from the First AmericansChapter Five: "White-Side, Strong Side": A Critical Examination of Race and Leadership in Remember the Titans Chapter Six: The Difficult Dialog of Critical Race Theory through the Lens of CrashChapter Seven: No Filter: Counter-Storytelling and The HelpChapter Eight: Fruitvale Station: A Humanistic and Vulnerable Glimpse into Black MasculinitiesChapter Nine: Zootopia: Using a Utopia to Facilitate Conversations about a Dystopia in SocietyChapter Ten: Gook and the Conversation WithinChapter Eleven: Theft and White Supremacy: Cultural Implications of MudboundChapter Twelve: De-essentializing Race through Dialectic Analysis of The Big SickChapter Thirteen: Wakanda's Prodigal Son: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of the Relationship between Africans and African Americans as Represented in Black Panther