Lee Daniels’ The Butler Lee Daniels’ The Butler is a historical drama focused on the American civil rights movement, told through the perspective of a White House butler, Cecil Gaines. Cecil is the son of a cotton farmer who eventually works his way to butler to the White House. Serving eight presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan, Cecil actively witnesses the turbulent social and political changes the occurred in America during the Civil Rights Movement. This unique film spans eight decades
costumes, while practicing the movements, speech, and thoughts of the character they attempt to portray. After much repetition and practice, the actors fully convince audiences of their newly created personas, only to revert back to their individual selves once the performance concludes. Judith Butler, an American philosopher and gender theorist, analyzes performances beyond the theater’s curtains. In her book, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Butler focuses on the portrayal of
The Civil Rights movement was a period in American history starting in the 1950’s and extending through the 1960’s. More than that, it was an important phase in the lives of African Americans at the time, in that it saw an outbreak of sorts in favor of racial equality. While the majority still had a separate but equal mentality, especially in the deep south, the tide slowly turned toward equality for African Americans. While this wave of activism was a slow one, it was accomplished effectively
discrimination, and discrimination in voting, education and equal rights. Music became an escape for most Americans in those trying times and some artists saw the opportunity to utilize music to speak out against the issues in the nation. James Brown being one of those artists, influenced American culture in terms of social awareness, black empowerment and the evolution of black contemporary music. “Music, like other art forms from the civil rights era, reflected both the turmoil and the hopes of African
Hairspray, the musical, is based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The American musical includes music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. The story begins with Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with an even bigger heart, who is on a mission to follow her dreams. She works hard to dance her way onto national television with the nice and rich kids in town. Tracy’s audition is a success, and she uses her fame to fight for equality during