Contesting a Racialized Regime of Representation in "Two Distant Strangers"

Seminar paper from the year 2023 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, University of Koblenz-Landau (Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: America on Film, language: English, abstract: The first part of this paper provides a theoretical basis for Stuart Hall's idea of how meaning in media is created and interpreted. Subsequently, a brief overview of the cinematic history and representation of African Americans in the United States is presented before examining the concept of transcoding to lay the foundation of challenging possible blaxploitation allegations in Free and Roe's "Two Distant Strangers". The theoretical part of this paper is complemented by a cultural analysis of the portrayal of African Americans in "Two Distant Strangers", focusing on subverting stereotypical representation and the influence of the film in modern African American society. In that sense, Free and Roe bluntly raise awareness of the still ongoing racism and police brutality in the US. However, one could argue that the film's structure abandons the viewer with questions about its purpose, as "Two Distant Strangers" undeniably shows elements of blaxploitation while generating money for Netflix, one of the most extensive streaming services on the planet.