Annie Through Different Decades
Annie is an American musical comedy film that was originally a Broadway musical, but was developed into a film in 1982. Since the first Annie movie in 1982, there have been two remakes - one produced in 1999 and the other in 2014. Annie follows the story of a young, feisty orphan who is taken in by a wealthy man named Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks. Mr. Warbucks originally takes Annie to boost his public image; however, he ends up emotionally connecting with the young girl and adopts her. While all three film productions of Annie follow the same general storyline, the content of each film varies slightly due to the time period in which it was produced. Throughout the different versions of the film Annie, significant changes in racial representation have impacted stereotypes embodied in various characters.
The 1982 and 1999 versions of Annie were relatively similar in representation among the cast members. However, in the 2014 remake of the film, significant changes were made to the characters to be more representative of the American population. In the 2014 film, both Annie and Mr. Warbucks, now named Will Stacks, were both African American. The fact that the movie was written in the 21st century allowed these changes to occur. In the 1982 version, there were no African American characters at all, and in the 1999 version, the caretaker/assistant, named Grace, was the only African American character. In addition to Annie being an African American girl, she was no longer an orphan, but rather a child in the foster care system bouncing between homes- both of these changes made the film increasingly modern and representative of the 21st century. Moya Bailey, a feminist writer, describes the impact of representation in the media for issues on gender and race in Misogynoir Transformed (Bailey, 2021). Bailey states, "Black women are caught at a vexing crossroad: hypervisible in media through misogynoir and invisible when in need of lifesaving attention." (Bailey, 2021, p.6). Bailey is describing the issues around the representation of black women; they are either represented in the media in an inaccurate and racist manner, or simply not represented at all - both being harmful. However, in the 2014 film Annie, the character of Annie, played by an African American girl, resists this notion by normalizing the idea that a black girl can still be accepted by society even when going against the grain and being impolite. Bailey also writes, "Respectability is the idea that if marginalized groups comport themselves well, they may be able to be accepted into society" (Bailey, 2021, p.15). Annie is not concerned with respectability politics and does not change her behavior to fit the expectations of white women - she is unapologetically herself. In many media productions, African American women are relegated to playing side-kick characters, so casting an African American girl as the main character, who does not conform to traditional societal standards, is a step forward for African Americans everywhere. Despite this, Moya Bailey also stresses that representation is only one aspect of changing the narrative for black women. This representation can instead be seen as one step in a much larger process to change the lives and experiences of young black women.
The 1982 Annie has many racist undertones and remarks scattered throughout the production. One of the most pronounced examples is the character of Punjab. Punjab is the only actor of color represented throughout the entire film; however, he is heavily stereotyped. Stuart Hall describes why representation matters in the media and how stereotypes are formed. Hall states, "Stereotyped means' reduced to a few essentials, fixed in nature by a few, simplified characteristics" (Hall, 1997, p. 249). Hall is describing how people/objects can be stereotyped by becoming oversimplified by the media. He also argues that an appeal to evolution naturalizes many differences in an effort to essentialize things (Hall, 1977). Punjab's sole existence in the film is to portray a mysterious Indian man with magical powers. Throughout the film, he fixes a broken leg, makes objects levitate, and can calm Sandy (the dog) by waving his hands. It is very disappointing that the only person of color was portrayed in this stereotypical, wizardly way. Punjab was reduced to just a few essentials. Hall would argue that this is significant because people are not passive media consumers; they are actively creating interpretations of what they see, meaning the portrayal of different ethnicities in the media is very influential in peoples' opinions about others different from them (Hall, 1997). During the time of the production (1982), no one questioned the portrayal of this character in such a racist and stereotypical fashion. However, by the 1999 version of the movie, Punjab was completely removed from the film as his character was not necessary to the plot and did not represent Indian culture in a positive/accurate manner. In the 2014 version of Annie, the producers aimed to resist stereotypes rather than conform to stereotypes. One example of this is the character of Will Stacks, a very successful entrepreneur in the technology industry, running for Mayor of New York City. In both the 1982 and 1999 versions, Oliver Warbucks is played by an old white man, suggesting to audiences that the way to become successful and wealthy is by being a white male. The depiction of Will Stacks as a very wealthy and successful man of color supports Hall's assertion that as people are consuming the media in an active way, they can draw different conclusions about what a successful person traditionally looks like through this character (Hall, 1997).
While three different productions of Annie follow the same rough storyline, each film had slight differences in content due to the time period in which it was created. These differences are visible in terms of racial representation and the stereotypes displayed by different characters.
Works Cited
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. Newbery Park, CA
Bailey, M. (2021). Misogynoir transformed. New York, NY: NYU Press
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