The Bluest Eye And The American Gangster
Richardson, R. (2007). Black masculinity and the U.S. South: from Uncle Tom to
gangster. University of Georgia Press
According to Richardson (2007), the novel, the bluest eye has in the recent past has been found on controversy as opposed to the movie the American gangster. The viewpoints also differ with the bluest eye being told from a viewpoint (omniscient) of the third person. However, the bluest eye mainly deals with racism and as stated above; this has been one of the reasons why it has attracted so much controversy in the past with a number of schools attempting to ban it. The bluest eye concerns itself with three things which contrast with those addressed by the American gangster. These three include child molestation, incest as well as racism. It is important to note herein that these topics are some of the main reasons behind the controversial nature of the book. On the other hand, the movie, the American gangster has not received any hostility as the book has fro a wide variety of quarters (Richardson 2007).
Byerman, K.E. (2005). Remembering the past in contemporary African American fiction. UNC Press Books, 2005
According to Byerman (2005), both the bluest eye and the American gangster have a bulk of their attention fixated on African Americans where the bluest eye talks of an African American family in Ohio while the American gangster is mainly concerned with Harlem, a gangster who succeeds in smuggling into the U.S. substantial amounts of Heroin. Byerman (2005) also notes that the American gangster addresses three main themes as opposed to the bluest eye which include corruption in the police force as well as legitimacy. The American gangster is primarily centered on two individuals, that is, Lucas and Roberts where Lucas is a gangster who succeeds wildly in his drug smuggling exploits while Roberts concentrates hard on tackling Lucas as well as tries to collapse the drug empire Lucas has established over time.
Prahlad, A. (2006). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore: A-F. Greenwood Press
As opposed to the bluest eye, the movie has received widespread acclaim from a wide variety of quarters including an academy award nomination. However, just like the bluest eye, the American gangster has had its share of criticism. Prahlad (2006) notes that the characters in the movie are not developed well enough and that there seems to be a mismatch between ‘good guy’ qualities and ‘bad guy’ qualities.
Flory, D. (2008). Philosophy, Black film, film noir. Penn State Press
However, both the bluest eye and the American gangster have been acclaimed as classical achievements. In addition, Flory (2008) notes that both the bluest eye and the American gangster have a captivating subject matter. However, Prahlad (2006) seems to disagree with Flory (2008) on both having a captivating subject mater and instead notes that the bluest eye’s subject matter can be taken to be largely repulsive.
Moore, G.E. (1999). Black literature criticism: excerpts from criticism of the most significant works of Black authors over the past 200 years. Gale
However, according to Moore (1999), both the American gangster and the bluest eye have a subject of racism that is not entirely motivating. According to Moore (1999), the movie does not present enough evidence to support its assertion that the Harlem gangster from North Carolina was in a big way pushed into gangster life by his being black. In seemingly support of Moore, Flory (2008) raises questions as to why a majority of Lucas victims had to be black.
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