Citation:

Bilwakesh, Nikhil. "Alias Jeremiah: Oscar Micheaux's pathetic preachers." West Virginia University Philiological Papers Vol.15 (2003) .

Content and Relevance of Work:

In Nikhil Bilwakesh's article, "Alias Jeremiah: Oscar Micheaux's Pathetic Preachers", he delves into the illustration of preachers in Micheaux's early novels as well as his two early films: Within Our Gates and Body and Soul. Bilwakesh also analyzes Micheaux's integrationist philosophy in terms of racial superiority. His argument in the article is to demonstrate two of Micheaux's goals in films such as Body and Soul: First, to portray preachers as beings who should be sympathized with because they have fallen to corruption due to unfortunate circumstances. Second, to show the merits of racial integration. He focuses on the Reverend Jenkins character in Body and Soul, claiming that the Reverend is presented in a negative light in order to elicit sympathy from the viewer because black preachers such as Jenkins are vulnerable to the "traps of corruption". Bilwakesh points to Jenkins' alcoholism and solitary drinking as ways in which Micheaux conveys the misery of the preacher. Although Bilwakesh is focusing on the religious connotations of Micheaux's film, in doing so he also addresses the question of why Micheaux presents negative images of blacks in the film. It could be that Micheaux presents these negative images of black characters such as the stereotypical black Reverend Jenkins in order to convey their pathetic and thus sympathetic sides. Bilwakesh's discussion of Micheaux's integrationist theory is also relevant to the investigation. He points to the superiority of "mulattoes" in Micheaux's films and how these characters are almost always the "healthiest and sanest" and most "positive characters". The negative characters, Bilwakesh claims, are usually presented as either dark black or starkly white, such as the preacher and the white racist mobs in Body and Soul. Bilwakesh sees this positive representation of people of mixed-race as Micheaux's attempt at destroying stereotypes from white films such as Birth of a Nation. This emphasis on Micheaux's integrationist philosophy is also very relevant to the posed question and almost leans toward the argument that Micheaux was somewhat racist against his own kind and saw superiority in a mixed race.