Dr.

Todd Boyd
CTCS 192 RACE CLASS AND GENDER IN AMERICAN FILM
Thursdays 2:00-5:50 pm Norris Theater (Spring 2015)
Discussion section with Assigned TA immediately after lecture
Dr. Boyds Office Hours are Wednesday 12:00-12:45pm/Thursday 12:45-1:30pm.
[Appointments for Dr. Boyds Office Hours must be made in advance through the Critical
Studies office, SCA 320, email: critstudies@cinema.usc.edu Phone: 213.740.3334]
Teaching Assistants
Lead TA:
R.J. Ashmore

rashmore@usc.edu

TAs:
Ariana Andrade
Eleanor Huntington
Emily Perez
Allison Ross
Michael Turcios
Ashley Young

aaandrad@usc.edu
ehunting@usc.edu
emilyper@usc.edu
allison.r.ross@usc.edu
maturcio@usc.edu
ashleysy@usc.edu
Course Description

This course is designed as an introduction to the issues of race, class, and gender, as well
as other relevant social issues such as sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, etc., and their
function within Hollywood cinema. Phrases such as diversity and multiculturalism
have become extremely topical and volatile issues in recent years. With the prominence
of media in our daily lives, it becomes imperative to determine the relationship between
media representations and American culture. What do the films in question have to say
about diversity and multiculturalism? How does Hollywood as an industry tend to
exploit these issues? How do Hollywood films contribute to our understanding and view
of cultural norms and history? What is at stake in these representations?
This course will examine how issues of race, class, gender and sexuality are represented
in contemporary films. One of the main purposes for this class is to inspire and encourage
you to examine and talk about these issues in film and American culture. While the films
we screen represent various positions on the relevant issues, the course readings are
structured around contemporary social and cultural criticism, which may not solely deal
with cinematic issues. Our job will be to measure the ideas and issues articulated in the

readings against the films themselves so as to reach some understanding of the ways in
which Hollywood either furthers these causes or progressively makes them worse.
While the instruction of this course definitely assumes a political position on these issues,
it is important to point out that this is a university classroom. Our interest is in cultivating
an intelligent exchange of ideas. The class will function much better for all involved if
you engage the material intellectually, instead of emotionally. Please use this class as an
opportunity for your own enlightenment and growth.
Required Texts
Am I Black Enough For You? Todd Boyd, Indiana University Press, 1997.
The New H.N.I.C Todd Boyd, New York University Press, 2002.
Young, Black, Rich, and Famous Todd Boyd, University of Nebraska
Press/Doubleday, 2003.
Course Reader (CR) Available at Magic Machine: University Graphics Copies and
Printings located in the Shopping Center Olympic Park Plaza, 2820 S. Vermont Avenue,
No. 12 between 29th and 28th St., 3 blocks north of USC.
Course Requirements
1) Midterm Exam March 12, 2015 (100 points)
2) Critical Research Paper Proposal March 26, 2015 (25 points)
3) Critical Research Paper Due April 23, 2015 (100 points)
4) Final Exam May 7, 2015 (100 points)
5) Three Reading Responses (25 points each)
6) Discussion Participation/Attendance (100 points)
Total: 500 points
*NOTE: You MUST complete all exams and the paper in order to pass the class;
failure to complete any one of them will result in an automatic F. There are no
make-up reading responses unless you notify your TA in advance. More than two
unexcused absences in discussion section will result in lowering your final grade by
2/3 of a grade (ex. A- to B).

Course Requirement Description and Policies

1) Midterm and Final Exams: will consist of identifications and essay questions. Your
answers are expected to incorporate the readings, lectures, and films into well-thought
arguments.
2) Critical Research Paper (8-10 pages): A detailed paper assignment will be handed
out in class. This critical research paper is on a film NOT seen in class, addressing one of
the main topics (race, class, or gender). You are required to turn in a paper proposal
(worth 25 points) to your TA. (Note: Failure to turn in a proposal will result in a
deduction of five points from the final paper grade). Your final papers are due in our
second-to-last class and are to be handed in to your TA before the beginning of lecture.
Once lecture has started, the papers will be considered late. Papers will not be accepted
during lecture or the film screening. Since the assignment is handed out more than two
months before the due date, papers are expected to be turned in on time; conflict with
assignments outside of this class will not be a valid reason for lateness. Late papers will
result in a deduction of 3 points each day (including weekends). Papers will not be
accepted after May 7, 2015.
3) Three Take-Home Reading Responses (25 points each): will be assigned in
discussion section. These pop reading responses are intended to ensure that the
readings are being understood (and read) and will allow you to make connections to the
films and lectures. There are no make-ups for missed reading responses. You must be
present in discussion section the day the reading response is handed out; otherwise the
assignment will not be accepted by your TA (unless you notify your TA in advance).
4) Attendance/Participation (100 points): You are expected to attend your discussion
section and actively and intelligently participate in the weekly discussions. Please inform
your TA in advance if you know you will be unable to attend discussion. More than two
unexcused absences will result in lowering your final grade by two-thirds of a grade (an
A- to a B, for instance).
Course Schedule

Week 1 - 1.15.15
Screening: Rocky (John Avildsen, 1976)
Reading:
Rocky Leger Grindon (CR)
King of the Hill and Further Ranging Bulls Kasia Boddy (CR)
Fighting for Manhood Clay Motely (CR)
Introduction and Chapter 1: Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism & Media Culture
Douglas Kellner (CR)
Oscar Voters, Overwhelmingly White, Male John Horn, Nicole Sperling, and Doug
Smith (CR)

Week 2 - 1.22.15

Screening: 42 (Brian Helgeland, 2013)

Week 3 - 1.29.15
Screening: Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
Reading:
The Holy Grail of Basketball Shoes Todd Boyd (CR)
The New Jim Crow: How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent American
Undercaste Michelle Alexander (CR)
10 Ways Racism Killed Michael Brown and Eric Garner Chauncey DeVega (CR)
Am I Black Enough For You? (Introduction, Chap. 1-2 & 5) Todd Boyd
Young, Black, Rich and Famous (Chap. 1-5) Todd Boyd

Week 4 - 2.05.15
Screening: A Better Life (Chris Weitz, 2011)
Reading:
The Possessive Investment of Whiteness George Lipsitz (CR)
Chapter 7: Towards a New Consciousness from Borderlands/La Frontera: The New
Mestiza Gloria Anzalda (CR)
Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric is Anti-Latino Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto (CR)
MFA vs. POC Junot Diaz (CR)

Week 5 - 2.12.15
Screening: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
Reading:
The Gangster as Tragic Hero Robert Warshow (CR)
Who Is an American? Eric Foner (CR)
Is This a White Country, or What? Lillian Rubin (CR)
Chapter 1 Jon Lewis (CR)

CRITICAL RESEARCH PAPER HANDOUT

Screening: The Godfather Part 2 (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

Week 7 - 2.26.15
Screening: Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen, 2013)
Reading:
Class Matters: Shadowy Lines That Still Divide Janay Scott and David Leohardt (CR)
Where the Joneses Wear Jeans Jennifer Steinhauer (CR)
Watching Her Drown Francine Prose (CR)
What Does It Mean For Feminism If Feminism Becomes Trendy? Callie Beuseman
(CR)

Week 8 - 3.05.15
Screening: Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
Reading:
Disturbing and Misleading: Zero Dark Thirty Steve Coll (CR)
'Zero Dark Thirty' Is Osama bin Laden's Last Victory Over America Matt Taibbi (CR)
Zero Conscience in Zero Dark Thirty Jane Mayer (CR)
Zero Dark Thirty: CIA Hagiography, Pernicious Propaganda Glenn Greenwall (CR)

Week 9 - 3.12.15
MIDTERM EXAM
Screening: Zero Dark Thirty, cont. (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)

Week 10 - 3.19.15
SPRING BREAK

Week 11 - 3.26.15
Screening: Arbitrage (Nicholas Jarecki, 2012)

Reading:
Unpacking White Privilege Peggy McIntosh (CR)
Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1% Joseph E. Stiglitz (CR)
Why Isnt Wall Street in Jail? Matt Taibbi (CR)

CRITICAL RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL DUE

Week 13 - 4.09.15
Screening: Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
Reading:
Spring Breakers Alex Godfrey (CR)
White Wigs, Black Masks Joshua Clover (CR)
The Life Lessons of Spring Breakers Richard Brody (CR)
The Curious Case of Riff-Raff vs. Spring Breakers Amos Barshad (CR)
Eating the Other Bell Hooks (CR)
The White Negro Norman Mailer (CR)
The New H.N.I.C. (Introduction, Chapter 4 and Epilogue) Todd Boyd

Week 14 - 4.16.15
Screening: 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)
Reading:
Liberal Echo Chamber Frank Rich (CR)
Why Didnt An American Make 12 Years a Slave? David Thomson (CR)
12 Years a Slave and the Obama Era Jonathan Chait (CR)
Silenced Christopher Benfey (CR)
12 Years a Slave and Black Oscar Bait Roxane Gay (CR)
The Song of Solomon Wesley Morris (CR)

Week 15 - 4.23.15
Screening: Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012)

Reading:
God Forgives, I Dont Todd Boyd (CR)
One in Ten Thousand (The Extraordinary Nigga) Todd Boyd (CR)
Interracial Relationships Remain Taboo to Some Todd Boyd (CR)
Birth to Blaxploitation Ed Guerrero (CR)
Why Django Unchained is a Better Film About Slavery Than Lincoln Stephen
Marche (CR)
The Case For Reparations - Ta-Nehisi Coates (CR)

- CRITICAL RESEARCH PAPER DUE

FINAL EXAM 5.07.15

TA Assignments, Office Hours, and Discussion Section

Student Last Names

TA

Discussion

R.J. Ashmore
VKC 257
rashmore@usc.edu
Office Hours: Thurs, 12:00-1:00pm in SCA 210

Cantrell > Gold

Ashley Young
VKC 155
ashleysy@usc.edu
Office Hours: Mon, 4:15-5:15pm in SCA 220

Gordon > Kessler

Emily Perez
VKC 160
emilyper@usc.edu
Office Hours: Tues, 1:00-2:00pm and Thurs, 12:001:00pm in Literatea (caf behind Doheny Library)

Kimball > Mendlow

Eleanor Huntington
VKC 161
ehunting@usc.edu
Office Hours: Mon, 8:30-9:30am in SCA 218

Menes > Pollard

Ariana Andrade
THH 121
aaandrad@usc.edu
Office Hours: Thurs, 12:00-1:00pm in SCA 221

Poritzky > Simon

Allison Ross
THH 215
allison.r.ross@usc.edu
Office Hours: Wed, 2:00-3:00pm in SCA 221

Singer > Zheng

Michael Turcios
THH 217
maturcio@usc.edu
Office Hours: Wed, 2:00-3:00pm in SCA 218