“Claudine” (1974) is a Hollywood film starring Diahann Carroll about a single mother in Harlem trying bring up her six children right and keep them clothed and fed with what little she makes as a maid and gets from welfare. She has a love affair with James Earl Jones. Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs plays her oldest son. Curtis Mayfield wrote the music and Gladys Knight & the Pips sang it.
Diahann Carroll was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress, the fourth black woman ever – and the last till Whoopi Goldberg 11 years later for “The Color Purple”.
The Oscar Nerd, who seems to have little idea who Diahann Carroll is and only seems to know her from the television show “Grey’s Anatomy”, said she “gave a surprisingly layered performance” and that:
Carroll knows the emotions of this character very well and she handles them perfectly…. I never felt for a single moment that she was forced or not credible. I just saw Claudine living her life on screen.
She was not the director’s first choice. He cast Diana Sands, but then she became gravely ill and sent her friend Diahann Carroll in her place.
Even though Carroll grew up in Harlem just ten blocks from where the film was shot, the director thought she was too Hollywood jet set to be believable. Carroll informed him that that is what actors do: act as if they are someone else. Besides, she knew plenty of women like Claudine growing up.
It seems to have been shot completely on location: everything seems too true-to-life. The “suburbs”, though, where she worked as a maid was, in fact, Riverdale in the Bronx.
What I liked best was the love story. First, because I could imagine I was James Earl Jones dating Diahann Carroll. But even better than that they showed how love, marriage and family life, for the man, is built on money.
Maybe the white middle-class with near-full employment can take that stuff for granted, but not everyone can. I am glad they showed it – something that most love stories, family films and sitcoms rarely deal with.
The stereotypes: While there most certainly are black single mothers on welfare, and while they went to great pains to show that Claudine was a good mother doing the best she could under hard circumstances (quite unlike, say, the bad black mothers 35 years later in “Precious” or “The Blind Side”), the film lets white viewers suppose that most black women are single mothers on welfare.
It was the same with James Earl Jones’s character: he has children by two ex-wives, children he almost never sees. Again, there are certainly men like that, all too many, but not everyone is like that. As with Carroll’s character, they present the stereotype and then try to make it seem reasonable under the circumstances.
A white liberal approach, perhaps: the director and the producer, both white New Yorkers, fled America in the 1950s because of Hollywood’s blacklisting of suspected communists.
– Abagond, 2011.
See also:
- Crooklyn
- Curtis Mayfield: The Makings of You – the best song in the film
- Filming locations:
- Precious
- The Blind Side
- Monster’s Ball
- Love & Basketball
- The welfare queen stereotype
- Harlem
I’ve never heard of this film, but I like family dramas, so I might like it.
But even better than that they showed how love, marriage and family life, for the man, is built on money.
What does this mean?
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And it’s on netflix instant for anyone who has that.
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good post, my mother owns this, she tried to get me to watch it i only watched 2 minutes. I like “nothing but a man,” its a movie sorta from the same era. I like Diahann Caroll
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Greetings Abagond
May I ask what prompted you to post this?
You said: I was James Earl Jones dating Diahann Carroll. But even better than that they showed how love, marriage and family life, for the man, is built on money.
Maybe the white middle-class with near-full employment can take that stuff for granted, but not everyone can.
My Reply:
I believe I read in Professor Bell Hooks book on black male masculinity that even when black men were granted financial opportunities or created their own businesses their desire was NOT to protect and provide for black women and children—but to gain access to white women.
I’m not sure that employment is the problem. I believe a lack of self-love and value for human life—particularly black human life is the problem.
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Soul Woman:
I disagree with that. I do not doubt the self-love issues and so on, but to take the behaviour of a few very successful, status-conscious black men, most of whom have lost touch with ordinary black people, and to read that back into the hearts and souls of everyday men is a bit unfair. How would you like to be judged based on what a few rich, selfish jerks do?
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Mira:
What I mean by “love, marriage and family life, for the man, is built on money” is that when a man has no money it is hard for him to get a woman or, if he is married, it puts a huge strain on the marriage and puts the man into a terrible position.
In this film the whole money thing made it hard for James Earl Jones’s character to commit to Claudine (in addition to the ordinary male reasons). He had to make child support payments to his ex-wives with what little money he did make as a garbage man. Also, if he married Claudine she would most likely lose her welfare payments. So moneywise marriage was a step backwards for both of them: he would have seven more mouths to feed while the two of them would have less income overall.
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I see. But still, it’s a crappy excuse (for his lack of commitment, if that indeed was the case).
when a man has no money it is hard for him to get a woman or, if he is married, it puts a huge strains on the marriage and puts the man into a terrible position.
Ok. It does seem a bit (a lot?) sexist to me, but I guess there are some (many?) women who require that a man supports them financially.
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Love this movie! The main reason I love it is because I can relate to it. I grew up in the inner city and the struggle of the single mother is “real life” for myself and many people I know. I also enjoyed how the love story played out.
I don’t agree that it “showed how love, marriage and family life, for the man, is built on money.” I think this movie was a movie of its time. I can set aside the “black single mother on welfare” stereotype because I don’t feel that this movie was written to depict that nor do I feel that James Earl Jones’ charcter was meant to be stereotypical. I
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@Mira-
Ok. It does seem a bit (a lot?) sexist to me, but I guess there are some (many?) women who require that a man supports them financially.
Whether or not something is sexist, is one of those privileges/powers white people have the luxury of debating.
If Claudine is struggling to feed, house, and emotionally comfort 6 children and her efforts alone are barely sufficient, that can be quite stressful. Add a grown man (with all his male baggage) into the mix, with no money too… She might as well lose her mind.
The black man understood, the black woman needed a man who could help her thrive within the system of racism white supremacy. He knew his life choices would add to her hardship, as well as increase his own. The very least she needed was financial relief. An equity option would have been a bonus! He was incapable of either.
If given a choice, which do you think Claudine would choose: sexism with financial support, or poverty level survival without financial support?
MinneB
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Whether or not something is sexist, is one of those privileges/powers white people have the luxury of debating.
Actually, no. Anybody can, and do, debate whether something is sexist. Mostly females (since males have the privilege of not caring about it). Being a non-white male doesn’t prevent most males from being sexist. (That being said, I must say many women can be sexist, too).
And for the record, I was referring to Abagond being sexist in this case, not Claudine or other characters in the film.
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@Mira
And for the record, I was referring to Abagond being sexist in this case, not Claudine or other characters in the film.
For the record: I thought this thread was about the film Claudine and the characters. I thought Abagond’s answer to your question was on point.
My mistake is thinking your question was sincere. I didn’t realize you were taking a personal swipe at Abagond.
Buckets, and buckets of words.
MinneB.
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Black Girl Thinking said:
“I can set aside the “black single mother on welfare” stereotype because I don’t feel that this movie was written to depict that nor do I feel that James Earl Jones’ charcter was meant to be stereotypical. “
Since the stereotypes in the film are not used to belittle the characters or destroy their dignity, I doubt most blacks would find them offensive. Their danger comes more from how SOME (most?) whites process stuff like this, as if it were some kind of National Geographic documentary.
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Mira:
I was not talking about the world as it should be but the world as it is, at least in my circles.
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Well yes, exactly. I did sense you meant the comment to be universal, which I didn’t like. I haven’t seen the film, but it seems weird to mention male problem to get women if they’re poor, while, as far as I understand, the film focuses on one woman’s struggles to provide for her family. If it doesn’t, I apologize, but that’s how you described it.
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Abagond,
Very good and timely post! I enjoyed reading it very much, and you must’ve been a fly on the wall earlier this morning, when I posted the following:
Discourses Upon The Game, Vol. 2: Why Sistas Gotsta Have “That Thuggin’ Love”
http://obsidianraw.bravejournal.com/entry/62479
I think you and your readers will find that it addresses your current topic quite nicely…
Holla back
O.
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Soul Woman said…
“I believe I read in Professor Bell Hooks book on black male masculinity that even when black men were granted financial opportunities or created their own businesses their desire was NOT to protect and provide for black women and children—but to gain access to white women.
I’m not sure that employment is the problem. I believe a lack of self-love and value for human life—particularly black human life is the problem.”
bell hooks is on quite a few bloggers/commenters minds lately. bell should be the “starter reader” that all black moms present to their daughters at the right time (as soon as they begin menstruation).
Abagond responds…
“I disagree with that. I do not doubt the self-love issues and so on, but to take the behaviour of a few very successful, status-conscious black men, most of whom have lost touch with ordinary black people, and to read that back into the hearts and souls of everyday men is a bit unfair. How would you like to be judged based on what a few rich, selfish jerks do?”
Abagond don’t be quick to disagree. These men are not, strictly speaking, “selfish jerks.” They are, like all of us, deeply indoctrinated. The men Soul Woman speaks about are influenced by supremacy indoctrination. We all are to some degree. It may be unfair, but it’s fact.
***********
back to “Claudine”:
It was so long ago that I first saw this movie. I was young & focused only on the romance & wonder of an all black cast (people who looked & spoke like me & my family).
“the director and the producer, both white New Yorkers, fled America in the 1950s because of Hollywood’s blacklisting of suspected communists.”
Wow. Now I want to know the story behind the making of the movie.
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Mira said…
“Actually, no. Anybody can, and do, debate whether something is sexist. Mostly females (since males have the privilege of not caring about it). Being a non-white male doesn’t prevent most males from being sexist. (That being said, I must say many women can be sexist, too).”
Agree. Although, just like with racial privilege, women (the gender “inferiors”) have no to little power to reduce male privilege.
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Temple said:
“I was young & focused only on the romance & wonder of an all black cast (people who looked & spoke like me & my family).”
From what I know, it was the only serious Hollywood film of the time about a current-day black family, though maybe there were a few others.
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Agree. Although, just like with racial privilege, women (the gender “inferiors”) have no to little power to reduce male privilege.
Indeed. Female sexism is often directed to other females, and even when it’s about males, they usually don’t have as much power over males to do harm on a larger scale.
However, and this is just my opinion (that is more of anecdotal side than any “real” conclusion), women do have more power than it is sometimes believed. It sure seems to me they have more power over male privilege than non-whites have power over white privilege. But none of this excuses male sexism.
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Mira:
Right, the film is about Claudine – thus the title – and she is the best-acted, most unforgettable character in it, but as a man I tended to identify with Roop, the James Earl Jones character.
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Abagond,
Once again, I haven’t seen the film. I was just going by what you wrote: “Claudine” (1974) is a Hollywood film starring Diahann Carroll about a single mother in Harlem trying bring up her six children right and keep them clothed and fed with what little she makes as a maid and gets from welfare.”
… and yet, as one of the main points you mentioned James Earl Jones’ character, along with a stereotype of a poor man who can’t get a woman because we all know women want rich guys only.
I guess I overreacted I bit, so I apologize. But stuff like this press my berserk button.
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Soul Woman:
I disagree with that. I do not doubt the self-love issues and so on, but to take the behavior of a few very successful, status-conscious black men, most of whom have lost touch with ordinary black people, and to read that back into the hearts and souls of everyday men is a bit unfair. How would you like to be judged based on what a few rich, selfish jerks do?
My reply:
Thank you for your response. I’m going half to disagree to disagree. Working class and Middle class black men in our ethnic group and race are marrying out more often these days. African American men have the highest inter-racial marriage stats then other groups of men. Because working class black men are doing this at rapid rates, I disagree that only wealthy or elite black men are the only ones doing so.
Also, if black men who love and value black women felt so strongly about being wrongly judged they could have responded by creating public information to convey that message. No one is stopping the black love crowd from elevating black women on the world stage.
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@Temple
bell hooks is on quite a few bloggers/commenters minds lately. bell should be the “starter reader” that all black moms present to their daughters at the right time (as soon as they begin menstruation).
I 100% co-sign!
Lately, I find my self re-reading her work. When I look at the mess between black men and women her work clearly speaks truth to power–at least to me.
Thank you
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