stomp the yard

In recent years, many dance movies have been produced such as Stomp the Yard and Honey. These movies follow a common formula and fall under the category of Black movies and they are always comedic and to do with contemporary popular culture. This is a positive image of African Americans but it also connotes that Black people do not have anything else to offer other than their "coolness". This can be exemplified in dance movies such as Stomp the Yard where underprivileged kids do not study well, live in a bad neighbour and have nothing but their dance skills and succeed in life through dancing. This type of categorisation is very one-dimensional and stereotypes Black people. This is called the burden of representation where the group of people shown in the film is used to represent the entire race. Such characters have also been described as politically overburdened. The "mark of the plural" can be applied in this instance implying that all black people are the same and that any negative behaviour of the group is recognised as typical and indicative of backsliding towards some presumed negative essence. These films essentialise black people by stating that they aren't mentally capable of studying well but they are all good at dancing.

Stereotypes play a big role in these movies as a form of social control, also known as prisons of image. An image that black people are stuck with for as long as these movies are continued to be produced.