Do you remember the first kiss you ever saw in a movie? It was likely a disney movie telling the story of a princess being saved. It might’ve been a comedic Micky Mouse cartoon bit. If you come from a family that watches It’s a Wonderful Life every Christmas, George Bailey might’ve set the bar really high for your romantic expectations. 2009 probably wasn’t long enough ago for Princess Tiana kissing a frog to have been the first kiss you saw on screen. Even if it was, the first black Disney Princess was bribed into a kiss, disgusted by it, and then turned into a frog.
The most iconic kisses cinema have told the story of two white people falling in love: The Princess Bride, Titanic, The Notework, Spider-Man… the list goes on. Even when we get a bit risque in Wild Things or Brokeback Mountain, we’re still watching two white people. The love, passion, and connection in the storytelling has not been extended with the same sensitivity when there are black people on the screen.
There were no explicit laws forbidding black love on screen, but several industry regulations and societal norms effectively erased or restricted depictions of black romance in Hollywood. The Hays Code was put into effect in 1930, and while it didn’t explicitly ban black romance, it had strict rules against interracial relationships - or miscegenation. Even when black actors were major stars, their roles were often structured to avoid depicting them in romantic or sexual contexts.
For instance, let’s look at the interracial intimacy in Island in the Sun (1957). The film features two cis, hetero, interracial pairs. In one, the woman is white, and in the other, the woman is black. While the setting and content of this film is political, I do think it’s important to state that both leading black actors have light skin. This is important because of the taboo that has historically ensued around black people with dark skin in leading roles with romantic storylines. In Island in the Sun, the couple played by James Mason and Dorothy Dandridge do share a kiss onscreen. It’s acceptable for the white man in the story to find the exotic, light skinned ethnic woman desirable. It’s even acceptable for him to act on that desire and for that action to be captured on camera for a white audience. This idea is reinforced with the white savior trope which is seen time and again in films like Monster’s Ball or The Body Guard.
The couple played by Joan Fontaine and Harry Belafonte do not kiss on screen, but their chemistry intensified throughout the film. Allegedly, critics were not happy with Joan Fontaine for this onscreen interracial romance. Probably because all women have historically been the property of white men, so any woman could be seen in these intimate moments, but outrage would ensue if a black man could have what belonged to a white man. Even on camera.
Bigotted practices did not end with The Hays Code. Jim Crow laws were also enforced into the 1960s which meant there were theaters that refused to screen films depicting black intimacy. This limited marketing and distribution opportunities which led to studios abstaining from financial investing in films with black-led romance. The film Paris Blues (1961) originally had an interracial romance between Diahann Carroll’s and Paul Newman’s characters, but it was rewritten with both black actors coupled instead.
The end of the Hays Code brought the rise of Blaxploitation films like Foxy Brown and Black Caesar. While black stories were still limited by their white storytelling, they did slowly begin opening the door for black film makers to tell black love stories without focusing on struggle, hypersexualization, and tragedy. That said, good storytelling must still include conflict.
Black love is tender, complex, and deeply emotional, and this is captured and celebrated today more than ever in films like If Beale Street Could Talk and shows like Insecure. Black romance has expanded to include comedy and queer stories. Black people can see the joy, depth, and authenticity of their experiences reflected back to them - free from burden, distortion, or pain.
A kiss should just be a kiss - with no colors. Love should just be love - with no labels. As we celebrate Black History Month, CINTIMA continues to push for a future where cinema can show the story of black love simply being felt.
