African consciousness and the responses of African American college students to 'House Party', 'House Party 2', 'New Jack City', and 'Malcolm X'

This study examines the relationship between the African consciousness of African American college students at a Southeastern college and the opinions they express in response to questioning about how Black people are represented in the four Hollywood movies: House Party, House Party 2, New Jack City, and Malcolm X. This study was conducted by (a) measuring the African Self-Consciousness of the subjects and (b) subjecting their interview responses regarding how the four movies represent Black people to content analysis. Twenty subjects divided evenly according to high and low African Self-Consciousness Personality scores and gender, were interviewed about the movies.;The study found that there is a relationship between African Self-Consciousness and the types of responses that subjects express. Differences in the responses of subjects with a high and low African consciousness were seen when comparing the depth and substance of their responses and the frequency of their responses in certain coding categories. While subjects with a high and low African Self-Consciousness rated the didactic and entertainment value of the movies in a similar manner, they differed in their explanations of exactly what they found entertaining or educational. There were few gender differences in the responses to the movies, but there were differences in that males rated the movies favorably overall and females were more critical of the way that women were represented.;Theoretically, the study provides a critical test for the theory of selective perception in operationalizing African consciousness as a personality element that influences film perception. Results reinforce arguments that the world view of spectators, not just their race, gender, and so forth, should be considered when examining their responses to movies.;The study also adds to empirical film audience literature which is lacking in media studies. It adds to literature focusing on African American film audiences. Further, it adds to literature addressing the qualitative evaluation of film audiences.