My father used to tell me about the symbols and imagery in films like King Kong and we would watch the movies. I took much of what he said with a grain of salt but there was something very true about his analysis of Kong.

"so, i went to a test screening of "King Kong" last
night, and i want everyone i know to boycott this
film. Simply put, it is the most irresponsible and
corrosive misrepresentation of aboriginal/indigenous/
phenotypically non-European people i have ever
witnessed in contemporary cinema.*

a short description: The un - assuming Caucasian stars
arrive on a remote tropical island in POLYNESIA -
their first encounter is with a "savage" played by a
small white girl - painted head to toe charcoal black
- complete with small bones through her nose and ears
- her uncivilized nature is further punctuated when
she violently bites one of the benevolent white people
when he offers her chocolate

of course, Mayhem ensues as hundreds of "savages"
erupt onto the screen, violently assaulting and
murdering the civilized white travelers.** a few
important points - the actors chosen to fill the roles
of the principal savages: an old woman chanting some
curse. the aforementioned young girl, and a violent
young male warrior type, are all white actors painted
TAR black - BUT - the hundreds of extras who fill the
roles of the rest of the savages are clearly black -
if i had to guess - of west African extraction." - something a friend sent me

When it comes to these issues I am pretty vigilant because I teach media literacy and I need to practice what I preach when it comes to critically thinking about media (text, images, and movies). All the flash & flare in the world does not change the symbology of the story.