Pop culture icon and media mogul Oprah Winfrey has produced or starred in ten films and telefilms. In this collection, the contributors use film, music, masculinity, black feminist, and cultural studies to examine the role Winfrey has played as actress, and in some cases producer, of films that interpret works published by African American writers between 1937 and 1996. Their essays critically examine representations of African Americans and sexuality, blues, class, inter-racial and intra-racial prejudices, and their intersection with Winfrey"s influence as interpreter and mediator of African American literature and culture to diverse audiences.