She explains to him that said demons are chasing her, and he starts laughing stereotypically, complete with giant nostrils and lips. In Blood: The Last Vampire, the script seemingly goes out of its way to find a black character to kill first (some monsters had died, but he was the first human to have a graphic onscreen death.) We have an old white woman, running from demons when she runs into a giant black American military man on base.Much earlier, there was Donovan, the pedophile among Gambino's mercenary band who bought and raped the young Guts.Pippin is the first named member of the Hawks to die during the Eclipse, going out in a epic You Shall Not Pass! moment to buy Casca time to get to safety.Brawler, the only dark skinned character from Akudama Drive is the first of the Akudamas to die via grudge match against Master.Jackson? You can take your chances, but no promises. If it's no one you've actually heard of, they're probably fair game. In other words, if you're gonna go after the black man nowadays, you might want to check the credits to see who's playing him. Obviously this trope is a lot less common nowadays but it's been noted that in action and horror movies even today, the minority guy is shockingly unlikely to survive to the end and may still be the second or third. Studios had also finally accepted that white audiences are generally not as racist as was once assumed, and certainly do not need to have a white protagonist all the time in their favourite media. Over time and due to social push, access to higher-paying jobs and relative economical stability began to open up for black people, with more and more prominent black characters in films and other media, with more big-name black actors emerging to show off their talents. 80s horror shows were good at this, and film makers had growing backlash against all the exploitation films. In action or horror films, The Hero (typically a White Male Lead) might have a Token Black Friend Lancer that gets killed off or does a Heroic Sacrifice to show that this is no laughing matter. Films would take a Scary Black Man, turn him into The Big Guy, and kill him off to show how strong the monster is. Instead of the Token Minority being unimportant Cannon Fodder, they instead became the most important supporting character so their deaths would have most dramatic impact on the plot.
And if the writers throw in a Token Minority to give the cast a more believable real-world racial balance, who do you think is going to die first, the Token Minority, or the people who have a bigger role in the script?Īs minority actors became more common in significant roles, this trope found new ways to stay relevant.
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Historically, movie makers were generally writing to white audiences, so it was natural (in their opinion) for whites to get more screen time. In the past this perception was because black leads were kept away from any big-budget films outside of those that focused specifically on race or used it to make a point.
In a film which involves a lot of character deaths, it seems like the Token Minority will inevitably be the first person to go and kick the bucket.