Our theme week for January 2015 will be Black Families.
Though not as prolific as white families, Black families are a popular subject for television and filmmaking. Black family comedy makes up a large portion of that representation, from classic sitcoms like The Cosby Show and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to slapstick films like Are We There Yet? and Dr. Dolittle. Many films like Dr. Dolittle are remakes of older films that originally featured white people but now star a predominantly Black cast (Annie, The Nutty Professor, etc.). There’s even an entire sub-genre of Black comedy that involves men cross-dressing as a matron or the family matriarch (Big Momma’s House, Madea’s Family Reunion, etc.).
On the other hand, there’s a host of critically acclaimed dramas that involves Black families with at least an element of the tragedy (The Pursuit of Happyness, Roots, 12 Years a Slave, The Color Purple, etc.). Many of these celebrated stories deal with serious issues like slavery, dysfunction, poverty, gang violence, and/or abuse.
Some questions to consider: What constitutes a Black family in film or on television? Are representations of these families realistic or true to life? What are audiences who consume this media intended to understand about Blackness or the Black experience? What kinds of narratives are allowed to be told and which are still suppressed?
Feel free to use the examples below to inspire your writing on this subject, or choose your own source material.
We’d like to avoid as much overlap as possible for this theme, so get your proposals in early if you know which film you’d like to write about. We accept both original pieces and cross-posts, and we respond to queries within a week.
Most of our pieces are between 1,000 and 2,000 words, and include links and images. Please send your piece as a Microsoft Word document to btchflcks[at]gmail[dot]com, including links to all images, and include a 2- to 3-sentence bio.
If you have written for us before, please indicate that in your proposal, and if not, send a writing sample if possible.
Please be familiar with our publication and look over recent and popular posts to get an idea of Bitch Flicks’ style and purpose. We encourage writers to use our search function to see if your topic has been written about before, and link when appropriate (hyperlinks to sources are welcome, as well).
The final due date for these submissions is Friday, Jan. 23 by midnight.
Roots
The Pursuit of Happyness
Boyz in the Hood
The Cosbys
12 Years a Slave
Annie
Baby Boy
Beloved
Grey’s Anatomy
Barbershop
The Nutty Professor
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Black-ish
Madea’s Family Reunion
Love & Basketball
Sister, Sister
Big Momma’s House
The Color Purple
Family Matters
Akeelah and the Bee
This Christmas
Moesha
Sparkle
Diff’rent Strokes
Dr. Dolittle
The Secret Life of Bees
American Gangster
Sanford and Son
In the Hive
Eve’s Bayou
Bebe’s Kids
Everybody Hates Chris
Soul Food
Seventeen Again
Are We There Yet?
The Boondocks
Red Hook Summer
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Crooklyn
The Perfect Holiday