Great article from a very perceptive writer.
http://www.toqonline.com/2009/11/clint-eastwood-righteous-white/
Clint Eastwood, Righteous White
Edmund Connelly
America is still a majority white nation. Whites still hold most of the nation's wealth and power. Thus the process of white dispossession cannot continue without the cooperation of white Americans. Because of this, Hollywood cannot portray all white Americans as evil racists. That can wait until after we are extinct. In the meantime, Hollywood must also offer images of decent, moral whites: the kind of white people with whom white audiences would like to identify. It should come as no surprise, however, that the measure of these white characters' virtue is their willingness to cooperate in their own people's dispossession. Thus, although the viewer is given an image of the evils of white majority society, he is also allowed to identify with a member of the white majority who steps forward to defend the rights of non-whites. I call this character the "righteous white."Â (snip)
http://www.toqonline.com/2009/11/clint-eastwood-righteous-white/
Clint Eastwood, Righteous White
Edmund Connelly
America is still a majority white nation. Whites still hold most of the nation's wealth and power. Thus the process of white dispossession cannot continue without the cooperation of white Americans. Because of this, Hollywood cannot portray all white Americans as evil racists. That can wait until after we are extinct. In the meantime, Hollywood must also offer images of decent, moral whites: the kind of white people with whom white audiences would like to identify. It should come as no surprise, however, that the measure of these white characters' virtue is their willingness to cooperate in their own people's dispossession. Thus, although the viewer is given an image of the evils of white majority society, he is also allowed to identify with a member of the white majority who steps forward to defend the rights of non-whites. I call this character the "righteous white."Â (snip)
