20 Black Movie Characters Hollywood Should Learn From

2. Sylvia Landry (Within Our Gates)

2_Sylvia Landry

Sylvia Landry is the protagonist of Oscar Micheaux€™s 1920 film Within Our Gates. A very kind woman with a traumatic past, she perseveres through many kinds of intense hardship to find happiness. She is a well-written character who journeys very organically between the many excellent points the movie makes. The journey is intelligent and actually still very relevant to the current situation of the United States in many ways. Sylvia makes several very strong emotional decisions on her own terms, and uses truly positive, open-minded, educated logic when dealing with racism€”overt or subvert€”from whites or blacks. She, like many of the characters in the movie, is the face through which problems that concern many people can be talked about in constructive ways while also being entertaining to watch. Sylvia conveys a wide range of emotions very well (and overall, the movie makes its range of ideas seem easy to implement with its steady pacing), and her role has plenty of layers, but she is interesting to watch even before the audience knows that she has a traumatic past. This movie seems to be very much ahead of its time, but maybe Hollywood has in fact been lagging over the last few decades. People always respond to characters like Sylvia. Before Hollywood runs out of 1980s properties to look to for inspiration, it should look to the 1920s.
Contributor
Contributor

Ian Boucher is many things when he is not writing for WhatCulture.com -- explorer, friend of nature, and librarian. He enjoys stories of many kinds and is fascinated with what different mediums can bring to them. He has developed particular affections for movies and comic books, especially the ones that need more attention, taking them absolutely seriously with a sense of humor. He constantly strives to build his understanding of the relationships between world cultures, messages, and audiences.