Blaxploitation and Sounder

"["Sounder"] would be difficult to experience and any free person will automatically snap back at injustice, but the film portrays a time where black women had no voice at all. Many black people nowadays always utter the phrase ´if that was me´, but we never think about the people from the past who couldn't even utter that phrase." -- Bryanna Ray "Sounder, Ritt attested, was an accurate representation of the 1930s when organised resistance or protest were not an option for black people, but beneath the exterior of passive compliance there was a growing awareness of the philosophical writings of black thinkers such as W. E. B. Dubois." -- Tom Symmons, "Birth of Black Consciousness" "‘Sounder’ was made for whites who want to believe that blacks are full of love and trust and patience. It avoids dealing with things like rage and bitterness and the need for some kind of release. Those kind of people don’t survive here on the streets of New York." (qtd. in Symmons 293) Discuss your impression of the portrayal of black women in the film, "Sounder." In what way(s) do you see this portrayal correcting or affirming your own perceptions of black women's experiences in America. Feel free to frame your comments any way you'd like - you can respond to one of the quotes above, or discuss your reaction to the film, or discuss how the women in "Sounder" compare to blaxploitation characters like Cleopatra Jones and Claudine.