RACIAL INJUSTICE ON SCREEN: A CRITICAL RACE THEORY ANALYSIS OF RESISTANCE IN AMERICAN SKIN

Abstract

This study examines racial injustice and forms of resistance represented in the film American Skin (2021). Using Critical Race Theory, a post-nationalist perspective, and Douglas Kellner’s Popular Culture framework, the research addresses systemic racism within U.S. policing and legal institutions. Employing a descriptive qualitative method, key scenes, dialogues, and narrative strategies are analyzed to reveal representations of institutional racism, legal inequality, racial profiling, and media framing. The findings show that American Skin constructs a counter-narrative of resistance through counter-storytelling that amplifies marginalized Black voices and exposes structural oppression. Analysis of audience responses on Rotten Tomatoes indicates polarized reception, demonstrating how popular culture operates as a contested ideological space. Overall, the film functions as both media representation and cultural resistance, contributing to public discourse on racial justice