{"product_id":"the-black-pack-comedy-race-and-resistance-paperback-softback-9781978838130","title":"The Black Pack; Comedy, Race, and Resistance (Paperback \/ softback) 9781978838130","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Black Pack\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eComedy, Race, and Resistance\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eArtel Great (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781978838130\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 17 June 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e248 pages, 30 B-W images\u003cbr\u003e23.5 x 15.6 x 1.8 cm, 0.367 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"Through the strong analysis and details of production, financing, social, and cultural contexts, \u003ci\u003eThe Black Pack \u003c\/i\u003eeffectively brings together production studies, political economy, and cultural analysis of film and television. Artel Great provides readers an in-depth analysis and explores practices that produced revolutionary laughter, a Black gaze, and Black resistance cinema.\" - Herman Gray (coeditor of Racism Postrace) \"Steeped in a deep understanding of history, Black culture, and media industries, \u003ci\u003eThe Black Pack\u003c\/i\u003e is a critical intervention that contextualizes, recuperates, and rearticulates the significance of the work of this collective of Black multi-hyphenates for a new generation of viewers.\" - Christine Acham (author of Revolution Televised: Prime Time and the Struggle for Black Power)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Black Pack: Comedy, Race \u0026amp; Resistance\u003c\/i\u003e is the first book to chronicle the untold history behind the iconic collaborations between a legendary group of comedians-Eddie Murphy, Paul Mooney, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Robert Townsend, and Arsenio Hall-who joined forces as the “Black Pack” in the late 1980s to create a series of socially-charged comedies that revolutionized popular culture and transformed American comedy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Working together as writers, directors, producers, actors, and consultants, the Black Pack created some of the most provocative and enduring Black films and television shows of the twentieth century, including classic productions like \u003ci\u003eIn Living Color, Coming to America, Hollywood Shuffle\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Arsenio Hall Show\u003c\/i\u003e. The Black Pack collective was armed with a signature comedic style which combined politically-Black satire with edgy social humor that entertained millions, shattered box-office records, and slyly critiqued America’s racial condition. Amid escalating social tensions in the 1980s, the Black Pack’s comedic output transformed anger into art, wielding the cloak of humor as a rebellious tool to confront unjust business practices in Hollywood and challenge racial narratives embedded in American culture. Their work empowered unapologetically Black voices and expanded creative possibilities for Black artists in the entertainment industry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Black Pack\u003c\/i\u003e, Artel Great delivers the most comprehensive analysis of this groundbreaking comedy collective, uncovering how the group’s socially and politically-charged humor defied systemic barriers to achieve unprecedented commercial success and establish a cultural legacy that continues to inspire media creators today and across new generations.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eContents\u003cbr\u003e Introduction: Black-American Humor and Rituals of Resistance\u003cbr\u003e 1 Planet Provocative: Paul Mooney, \u003ci\u003eThe Richard Pryor Show\u003c\/i\u003e \u0026amp;\u003cbr\u003e Revolutionary Laughter\u003cbr\u003e 2 Black Star Power: The Economics of Eddie Murphy \u0026amp;\u003cbr\u003e the Rise of the Black Pack\u003cbr\u003e 3 The Mothership: \u003ci\u003eHollywood Shuffle\u003c\/i\u003e \u0026amp;\u003cbr\u003e the Arrival of Robert Townsend\u003cbr\u003e 4 The Hipness Litmus: \u003ci\u003eThe Arsenio Hall Show\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eIn Living Color \u003c\/i\u003e\u0026amp;\u003cbr\u003e Black Pack TV\u003cbr\u003e Coda: Black Resistance Humor into the Afro-Future\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Appendix\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Introduction: Black American Humor and Rituals of Resistance 1\u003cbr\u003e 1 Planet Provocative: Paul Mooney, The Richard Pryor Show, and\u003cbr\u003e Revolutionary Laughter 31\u003cbr\u003e 2 Black Star Power: The Economics of Eddie Murphy and the\u003cbr\u003e Rise of the Black Pack 69\u003cbr\u003e 3 The Mothership: Hollywood Shuffle and the Arrival of Robert\u003cbr\u003e Townsend 109\u003cbr\u003e 4 The Hipness Litmus: The Arsenio Hall Show, In Living Color,\u003cbr\u003e and Black Pack TV 145\u003cbr\u003e Coda: Black Resistance Humor into the Afro-Future\u003cbr\u003e 183\u003cbr\u003e Appendix: The Complete List of Black Pack Productions 207\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments 211\u003cbr\u003e Notes 215\u003cbr\u003e Index 229\u003cbr\u003e  \u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Rutgers University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52640483541272,"sku":"9781978838130","price":21.56,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-black-pack-comedy-race-and-resistance-paperback-softback-9781978838130","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}