The Myth of Colorblindness

This book explores representations of race and ethnicity in contemporary cinema and the ways in which these depictions all too often promulgate an important racial ideology: the myth of colorblindness. Colorblindness is a discursive framework employed by mainstream, neoliberal media to celebrate a multicultural society while simultaneously disregarding its systemic and institutionalized racism. This collection is unique in its examination of such films as Ex Machina, The Lone Ranger, The Blind Side, Zootopia, The Fast and the Furious franchise, and Dope, which celebrate the myth of colorblindness, yet perpetuate and entrench the racism and racial inequities that persist in contemporary society. While the #OscarsSoWhite movement has been essential to bringing about structural changes to media industries and offers the opportunity for a wide diversity of voices to alter and transform the dominant, colorblind narratives continue to proliferate. As this book demonstrates, Hollywood still has a long way to go.

Auteur
Sarah E. Turner is a Senior Lecturer of English at the University of Vermont, USA. She is the co-editor of The Colorblind Screen: Television in Post-Racial America (2014). Her work has appeared in a variety of critical texts including MELUS, Diversity in Disney Films, The Films of Stephen King, and Networking Knowledge: Girls in Popular Culture.
Sarah Nilsen is an Associate Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Vermont, USA. She is the author of Projecting America: Film and Cultural Diplomacy at the Brussels World's Fair of 1958 (2011) and co-editor of The Colorblind Screen: Television in Post-Racial America (2014). Other publications include essays on critical race theory, Disney studies, and Cold War culture.

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