The opinions of African Americans changed dramatically from the 1930s to the 1980s, and the film industry was able to capture some of the most dramatic changes in cinema. Dating back to the 1930s, films have been produced that depicted African Americans as docile individuals who live to serve white families. As times changed and America made progress in integrating cultures, African Americans filled a new role on the big screen. Initially, African Americans were presented on screen as equivalent to their white counterparts. However, these films did not accurately portray African Americans as whites wrote the roles. America has made great strides towards equality in all industries, including the film industry which has allowed for the development of new roles for African Americans. This grittier, more intense approach was only achieved by African Americans taking the lead role behind the scenes. African Americans just needed to get more accurate representation on screen as America's perception of race was challenged over a 50-year period and African Americans took on roles behind the scenes. Early in the film in the 1930s, African Americans are portrayed in a more submissive role than their white counterparts. This is characterized in films of the early 1930s through the use of good-natured and kind African Americans along with a series of films about the Deep South. An example of this good-natured portrayal of African Americans on screen is Gone with the Wind. In Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel plays a happy go lucky but spitting housekeeper named Mammy for the O'Hara family. Gone with the Wind centers on the idea of ​​the good old days of the South and brings to mind ... middle of paper ... thoughts that were ingrained in the subconscious of many Americans and immigrants to America Although African-Americans brought a significant improvement to their position in society, they are not accurately portrayed in films until the late 1980s, when all remnants of the civil rights movement and Southern views were shut down and swept away from the conscious minds of citizens. Americans today. In the early 1930s, films like Gone with the Wind and Little Rebel showed a docile African American. As more and more political movements took root in society, films like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Shaft were able to make significant changes to the representation of African Americans. However, it is not until the late 1980s, with Do the Right Thing, that African Americans are able to give voice to their deeply rooted problems and the larger problem of racism in many contexts..