From Ritual to Stereotype: Voodoo as a Filmic Discourse of Colonialism. A Systematic Analysis of its Representation

Abstract

Cinematic representations of Voodoo and other Afro-descendant syncretisms have historically operated as a device of alterity, constructing a distorted colonial imaginary removed from its anthropological reality. This research examines the evolution of such stereotypes through a mixed-sequential methodological design, integrating a systematic mapping of 294 feature films with an in-depth qualitative analysis of 20 strategic works. The results evidence an overwhelming US hegemony that standardizes its representation linked to horror, yet reveal a growing tension between commercial trivialization and certain narratives of cultural reappropriation. A structural shift is identified wherein Voodoo transitions from exotic context to narrative motor, geographically shifting toward Hoodoo as an ambivalent vector of historical memory. It is concluded that, despite the emergence of resistance discourses, cinema primarily instrumentalizes Afro-descendant spirituality to channel racial anxieties, transforming the ritual into a monstrous spectacle that reaffirms, by contrast, Western cultural supremacy.