Poitier Revisited: Reconsidering a Black Icon in the Obama Age

Description

Sidney Poitier remains one of the most recognizable black men in the world. Widely celebrated but at times criticized for the roles he played during a career that spanned 60 years, there can be no comprehensive discussion of black men in American film, and no serious analysis of 20th century American film history that excludes him. Poitier Revisited offers a fresh interrogation of the social, cultural and political significance of the Poitier oeuvre. The contributions explore the broad spectrum of critical issues summoned up by Poitier's iconic work as actor, director and filmmaker. Despite his stature, Poitier has actually been under-examined in film criticism generally. This work reconsiders his pivotal role in film and American race relations, by arguing persuasively, that even in this supposedly 'post-racial' moment of Barack Obama, the struggles, aspirations, anxieties, and tensions Poitier's films explored are every bit as relevant today as when they were first made.

Ian Gregory Strachan is Associate Professor of English at the College of The Bahamas. He is the author of Paradise and Plantation: Tourism and Culture in the Anglophone Caribbean (2002), and recently co-edited an issue of the University of Miami's journal of Caribbean studies, Anthurium dedicated to Bahamian literature. He has also recently contributed a chapter to Routledge's forthcoming anthology Black Cinema Reconsidered entitled "The Measure of Men: Legacies of Sidney Poitier's A Piece of the Action." Mia Mask is Associate Professor of Film at Vassar College, USA, where she teaches courses on African American cinema, documentary film history, celebrity and power, and seminars on special topics. She also teaches feminist film theory, African national cinemas, and genre courses. She is the author of Divas on Screen: Black Women in American Film and the editor of Contemporary Black American Cinema. She has written film reviews and covered festivals for IndieWire.com, The Village Voice, Film Quarterly, Time Out New York, and The Poughkeepsie Journal. Her criticism was anthologized in Best American Movie Writing, 1999. Her scholarly essays are published in the African American National Biography, Screen Stars of the 1990s, Film and Literature, and American Cinema of the 1970s. She is on the editorial board of The Black Scholar. Her cultural commentary has been heard on National Public Radio.

Unlike much work on Poitier ... this volume [puts] the star in international context. Given Poitier's own international, cosmopolitan identity, such consideration is crucial, and Poitier Revisited does useful work in providing it. * Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television * With Poitier Revisited Ian Gregory Stachan and Mia Mask present a well-curated collection of essays about Hollywood's first Black leading man. Each separate contribution provides an original interpretation of a complex man, performer, and political icon, while the collection as a whole comes together in thoughtful harmony. In all, Poitier Revisited is an important addition to a woefully under-represented figure in film studies. * Paula J. Massood, Professor of Film Studies, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, USA * This is a comprehensive, sophisticated anthology, exploring every nuance of Poitier's incredible 'star' trajectory: from Hollywood's 'social problem' films through his Oscar wins and directorial triumphs... and well beyond. One must read it as one of the ur-texts of 'Poitier star studies' as well as black cinema studies and much more. * Ed Guerrero, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies, New York University, USA * Strachan (College of the Bahamas) and Mask (Vassar College) have gathered work by North American, Caribbean, and European scholars representing a variety of disciplines-including history, sociology, and cinema studies. The contributors provide a range of perspectives on an iconic actor who, in terms of scholarship, is 'frozen somewhere between 1963 and 1967' (according to the introduction). In resurrecting Poitier and repositioning him in contemporary film studies, the essays cover a range of topics. As a political icon, Poitier is examined in relation to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama; other essays explore Poitier's singular roles in films such as No Way Out, The Defiant Ones, In the Heat of the Night, Porgy and Bess, To Sir with Love; the implications of interracial marriage presented in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner; the actor's contributions to the Western genre; his directorial legacy (e.g., Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again); and his construction, through the characterization of the protagonist (played by Will Smith), in Six Degrees of Separation. Long overdue, this volume critiques Poitier in all of his complexity, addressing how Poitier laid the foundation for later representations of black masculinity. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. -- C. B. Regester, Univ. of North Carolina--Chapel Hill, USA * CHOICE *