BLACK AND WHITE BUDDY FILM

      During the World War II era a new image of masculinity was beginning to be formed. Films that centered on male relationships or “bromances” were starting to make there way into Hollywood. These films known as, buddy films, centered on the adventurers of two white (heterosexual) men and the developing friendship between the two characters . Not long afterward a new formula was coming into play called the black and white buddy formula. These films are Hollywood comedy or action-adventure films, or TV comedies that pair an African American star with a white star. This strategy was first used by the film industry to attract both white/ black audiences and still continues to be used today

            One television show that immediately comes to mind when I think of this type of buddy system would be the hit comedy-drama show Psych.  The show ‘Psych’ is about a U.S detective named Shawn Spencer who pretends to be psychic in order to keep his job. Shawn’s father is a police officer and growing up he was always encouraged to be more watchful of his surroundings. “His father told him that he must take note even the smallest detail that is present in his surroundings”. As a result Shawn has developed exceptional observational skills and photographic memory that makes him a good detective, and helps him appear to be psychic. Burton ‘Gus’ Guster is an African American man and he plays Shawn’s best friend. He plays the role of the supporting character and is one of the only people that actually knows about Shawn’s secret. The series follows these two characters and different situations that come their way.

Rush Hour is another example of a buddy film, however it doesn’t follow the same format as Psych does. Instead of focusing on the relationship between a black and white man, the movie focuses on the ‘friendship’ between an Asian and black one. Rush Hour is an action-comedy film about two cops named Inspector Lee and detective James Carter, who team up to save a kidnapped daughter. This film has always been a favorite of mine because of its unlikely pairing. The characters couldn’t be any more different yet have such great chemistry together. This film is different than most traditional Hollywood films because instead of centering the story around two white male characters. It focuses two non-white characters that come from different minority groups.

One thing I realized that I’ve never given much thought to before was the absence of buddy-buddy relationship between women in film. The only film that really comes to mind would be Charlie’s Angles. Hopefully some changes will start being made soon so that friendships in women films could also be shown.

Work Cited :Benshoff, Harry M., and Sean Griffin. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. Malden, MA, USA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.