Hybridity is defined by seminal postcolonial theorist Homi K. Bhabha as a ‘Third Space’ where cultures converge,combine, and are continuously changing. In postcolonial theory, hybridity is considered a radical re-imagining ofracial politics wherein cultures have moved beyond reductive binaristic categories, thus lessening the powerstruggles inherent in those polarities. Therefore, hybrid racial representations are seen as liberal and progressive,with the capacity to empower marginalized ethnicities as opposed to Hollywood traditions that perpetuate existing racial hierarchies, such as Orientalism and tokenism. In this film analysis of the Disney animation feature Big Hero 6 (Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014), I argue that San Fransokyo, the fictional Japanese-American fusion setting,and Hiro, the film’s mixed-race protagonist, are examples of hybrid representation that attempt to break away from these traditions. This paper further examines how, while the film posits itself as a celebratory form of the Bhabhian ‘Third Space’ through its blended Japanese-American aesthetic, hyper-real mise en scène, and the liminality of itsmain characters, Big Hero 6’s agenda to promote hybridity is undermined by latent hierarchies suggested by theprocess of its world-construction and binary oppositions constraining the development of its secondary characters.The effect of this representation is the creation of a highly realistic yet imaginary world at once both familiar and alien, and neither American nor Japanese, but far from the hybrid utopia San Fransokyo was lauded as in articles following the film’s release. This conclusion has implications for evaluating racial representations in cinema,reminding film scholars that dominant ideologies regarding race are often as naturalized and entrenched in media asthey are in society; even within texts that appear on the surface to be progressive or subversive.
2016 AP Research Sample Paper I
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