Mammy in Civil War Films

From the topics we have discussed this week, I am most interested in ideological hegemony and mass media. According to Lull, ruling elites use mass media to "perpetuate their power, wealth, and status their own philosophy, culture, and morality" since the mass media is integrated in our daily lives greatly.

The portrayal of the Mammy in Civil War Films in post war era, was used to set 'false consciousness' that southerners treated slaves nicely and the owners and their slaves had a good relationship by ruling class of the south. (Most civil war films in this era were in the favorable light of South.)

Film was a perfect medium to set paradigms since by 1910, most Americans saw at least one film a week and by the 1930, they saw two a week; the power of film to influence people was enormous (The Reel Civil War).

Mammy was just as protective of the owner and his family. In Gone with the Wind, Mammy sticks with the family through the war, spurning freedom, just to help them get through hard times. In Old Mammy’s Secret Code (1913), a Mammy working for a family in Petersburg, Virginia uses pieces of wash she hangs out to dry as a secret code to alert local Confederate forces to the movements of Union troops. The Union troops finally figure this out and execute Mammy, who gladly dies for the Southern cause. However, the reality the role of Mammy was far less influential than portrayed in films.