In early Hollywood, black women were rarely portrayed as fully human individuals with emotional depth. Characters such as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939) existed to serve white protagonists, offering strength and loyalty but little inner life. By contrast, contemporary portrayals like Annalise Keating in How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020) centre black women as complex, flawed, and autonomous. This shift marks a broader cultural movement from invisibility and stereotype toward agency and authenticity.
The “Mammy” archetype was one of the most enduring and damaging portrayals of black womanhood. As Patricia Hill Collins notes, the mammy functioned as “a faithful, obedient domestic servant” whose identity was defined by her devotion to white families rather than her own desires or selfhood¹. Her physicality- heavy, dark-skinned, and maternal- was designed to neutralize sexuality and affirm servitude.
In Gone with the Wind, Mammy’s authority derives from her maternal wisdom, but her humanity is constrained within the white household; she has no story beyond it. This construction reassured audiences of white superiority while framing black women as naturally self-sacrificing.
Bell Hooks observed that such portrayals were not accidental but ideological, meant to make the Black female body “safe” for white consumption. By removing eroticism, vulnerability, and individuality, Hollywood presented black women as symbols of labour and endurance rather than as feeling subjects. In this sense, early film denied black women an “interior life”- a portrayal of their thoughts, dreams, or private struggles. The narrative lens stayed fixed on white protagonists, with black characters serving only as emotional scaffolding.
In contrast, Annalise Keating (played by Viola Davis) embodies a decisive departure from this model. She is a powerful law professor, bisexual, ambitious, and deeply flawed- drinking, grieving, and struggling with guilt. Tyra Wooten’s analysis of television trends notes that modern black female leads are “intellectually dominant and emotionally layered,” breaking free from the narrow moral binaries of past media. Annalise’s storylines include vulnerability, intimacy, and professional conflict, emphasizing her psychological depth and sexual agency. Her emotional and professional life is explored on its own terms, not through service to others.
This transformation reflects wider social and cultural changes. Shows like How to Get Away with Murder or Insecure have redefined what audiences expect from black female protagonists- authenticity, complexity, and interiority. These portrayals invite empathy and identification, allowing viewers (especially young black women) to see themselves as multidimensional beings. As Vanessa C. documents, positive and diverse representations of black women can improve viewers’ self-esteem and sense of belonging. In contrast, earlier media, dominated by stereotypical depictions, reinforced marginalization and internalized inferiority.
Still, this progress comes with challenges. New visibility sometimes triggers backlash when empowered portrayals of Black women threaten established racial and gender norms. Critics of Annalise Keating, for example, sometimes label her “too angry” or “too emotional,” reflecting persistent discomfort with assertive Black femininity. The evolution from Mammy to Annalise thus remains unfinished- a site of negotiation between empowerment and stereotype.
Ultimately, the shift from Gone with the Wind’s Mammy to How to Get Away with Murder’s Annalise Keating represents more than just new storytelling. It signals a reimagining of who is allowed emotional complexity on screen. Modern portrayals centre Black women as full human beings with their own desires, intellect, and contradictions. That change fosters more inclusive expectations in real life, challenging viewers to see black womanhood not as service or stereotype, but as strength, nuance, and self-definition.
Bibliography
1. Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2009.
2. Hooks, bell. Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press, 1992.
3. Vanessa, C. Black Women in Contemporary Media: Representations, Effects, and Social Commentary. PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2020. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/155056
4. Wooten, Tyra. “Portrayals of Black Women on Television and the Shift in Their Representation.” Master’s thesis, Southern Illinois University, 2017. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/gs_rp/892
5. Response to “Look for sources about black women representation and summarize them” ChatGPT-5, OpenAI, October 2025, edited for styled and accuracy.
Provide Feedback