IN cinema, even before questions about racial bias and colourism in the industry and its narratives are raised, it is the racism inherent to film technology itself that alarms film historians. Scholars like Richard Dyer and Brian Winston critique the racial affinities of the film apparatus when it represents and images ‘black subjects’. They point out that the light sensitivity of film stocks were calibrated and tuned with light skin tones as the norm, rendering dark skin tones outside their ‘pur-view’. Dyer says motion picture lighting technology and approaches to illuminating human figures assume and thus impose a “special affinity between (whites) and light”. The ‘Shirley cards’ that photographers used as the standard for skin tones and light featured only Caucasian models. Obviously, non-white skins did not ‘figure’ in the colour palette of photography and cinema until recently. So, in the republic of cinema, shaped by such technological biases and ruled by racial prejudices, the only rightful subjects were the white.
Esta historia es de la edición August 24, 2020 de Outlook.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición August 24, 2020 de Outlook.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
DharmasthalaMantra of Development
Heggade's Path of Development towards Athmanirbharata Traced, How Temples can Transform Life, Economically and Socially
Forking Paths of Sanatana and Dravidian Thought
The evolution from devotional egalitarianism to social justice
Left, Hand Drive
Whether the Congress' Rahul Gandhi or CPI's Annie Raja wins, Wayanad has widened the chasm in the INDIA bloc
Coastal Turbulence
Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada-districts in coastal Karnataka, which witnessed increased instances of polarisation in the last few years-have been the BJP's stronghold
A Return to the Ballot?
Separatist politics may not influence the general elections in Kashmir this time
Miya, Axomia and Tea
The BJP hopes to sweep Assam in the Lok Sabha polls riding on PM Modi and CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's development and Hindutva agenda. The Opposition has constituency-specific strategies
The Stained Floodplains
In the calm foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, there is a storm brewing between the BJP and the TMC. The voters are divided
Minimum Support Life
Politicians visiting Madhya Pradesh are making big promises to the people, but for the Adivasis, it's still about Jal, Jungle, Jameen
Divine Dividend
Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram in the popular television series, Ramayan, flips the conventions of devotion on the campaign trail
Next Gen Bahujan
Nagina Lok Sabha constituency in Bijnor district has emerged as a key battleground for the future of Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh