HR movie: Brother to Brother

  Harlem is a section in New York where in the 1920’s and 1930’s 175,000 Black Americans migrated to in order to take advantage of economic opportunities that cities provided, as well as to move to more racially tolerant places. During this time Black artists flourished, and the art that emerged is part of period of history called the Harlem Renaissance. In Harlem, a densely-populated community, many black intellectuals produced beautiful and famous works of art. Literary figures like, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B DuBois, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, and Countee Cullen are just some of the many artists that added their great works to Western Literature.  Their poems and books are still widely read today. Jazz music also blossomed during the Harlem Renaissance.  Artists like Duke Ellington, a pianist, revolutionized Jazz. In the film, “Brother to Brother,” a book publisher wants Wallace Thurman, a gay writer during the Harlem Renaissance, and Zora Neale Hurston, another female novelist to change their writing styles. Clearly, the publisher is uncomfortable with these writers’ activism and desire to reconstruct the image of black people. The publisher would rather Hurston and Thurman keep the stereotypical African American alive. Hurston and Thurman are insulted and refuse to make the changes. I am not surprised that the book publisher would make this request of Thurman and Hurston.  And I applaud their strength to say no.

The publisher is white and says Hurston and Thurman have some “really good insights on Negro life that white authors don’t have access to.” Then he adds “but I want to change it a little.” He asks for more emphasis on the stereotypical “dangerous Negro” who is affected by sex, drugs, and alcohol, in order to make the piece more interesting. The publisher states, “Its what the audience wants, it’s more exciting.” Both authors, Thurman and Hurston are angered by this request and deny his suggestions. They say it defeats the purpose of their intentions. Before leaving they tell him “you’re asking the wrong people.” African Americans like Thurman and Hurston felt moved to transform the negative perceptions white people had of them.  By agreeing to write about a stereotypical black man, they would keep the cycle of racism and separation intact. 

It isn’t surprising to me that this type of request was asked by a white man. On the surface, he is saying that whites want to read about an exciting story that has black people, drugs, sex, and violence. But on a deeper level, whites don’t want to be told they are complicit in the struggles of blacks; whites don’t want to read about the complexities of African American lives. The publisher wants to perpetuate the stereotype of the Negro as an addict by manipulating Thurman and Hurston into writing about a ‘dangerous Negro.’ This stereotypical image is used to separate whites from blacks, and to make whites feel superior. Negros are seen as wild people to stay away from.

This film contrasts African American identity in the present with the Harlem Renaissance. There are many similarities. The main character Perry is an artist who is black and gay. He has an exhibit that displays some of his work. Perry’s friend introduces Perry to a white man who tells Perry that he has potential. Perry realizes what he is about and understands what the man is going to ask from him. Therefore, Perry leaves, later on the same man comes up to him again and says “you have some really nice work I would love to use your work and use the same themes but more approachable ways” Perry isn’t surprised by this and tells him he isn’t interested. This is similar to what Thurman and Hurston went through, but it was a century later. This says something significant about what African Americans still have to go through to this day. It shows what superior white men feel about using black art and not excepting change. They want to continue to hold Africans Americans down with common stereotypes instead of allowing them to have new and positive identities. Therefore, this is how racist legends are passed down to children and that is why it continues to this day.