A great number of movies have been made about race relations, or with a strong racial theme over the last century, from D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) to Marvel Studios' Black Panther (2018).
[4] Other films such as the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races and Hellzapoppin' showcased early black performers including Whitey's Lindy Hoppers and Slim and Slam.
[5] With Carmen Jones (1954) and Porgy and Bess (1959), Hollywood put George Gershwin's and Oscar Hammerstein II's Broadway shows – that reworked Jazz performances for white audiences – on screen with stars Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge.
However, the new genre was an opportunity for director Melvin van Peebles and actors including Richard Rountree, Pam Grier and also for musician Curtis Mayfield whose sound track accompanied the 1972 hit Superfly.
[10] Though Blaxploitation genre is in the past, filmmakers have excited black and white audiences with stories of gangs and crime that tread a fine line between glorifying and vilifying gangsters, such as New Jack City (1991), South Central (1992) and Juice (1992).