Film / TV / Stage

Eddie Murphy: The Blueprint

How one comedian from Roosevelt, Long Island rewrote the rules of Hollywood and changed what was possible for Black entertainers forever. A Los Angeles Film School Project by William Q. Campbell

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Published: Apr 21, 2026
Pages: 8

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EDDIE MURPHYCOMEDIAN. ACTOR. CULTURAL FORCE. 3.4 Influential Cultural Figures
Page 2BORN IN BROOKLYN, RAISED IN ROOSEVELT, LONG ISLAND, MURPHY GREW UP IN MODEST CIRCUMSTANCES AND FOUND COMEDY AS BOTH AN ESCAPE AND A CRAFT. INSPIRED BY RICHARD PRYOR, HE WAS SNEAKING INTO LATE-NIGHT STAND-UP GIGS AS A TEENAGER, SECRETLY SKIPPING SCHOOL TO PERFORM.
THE INFLUENCER'S IMPACTPOSITIVE IMPACTS: • MURPHY BROKE RACIAL BARRIERS IN HOLLYWOOD, PROVING A BLACK COMEDIAN COULD ANCHOR MAJOR STUDIO FILMS SOLO. HE ALSO REVIVED SNL FROM NEAR-CANCELLATION IN THE EARLY 1980S, CARRYING THE SHOW THROUGH ONE OF ITS WEAKEST CASTS.
PUBLIC IMAGE / BRANDING INFLUENCEDELIRIOUS THE SUIT THAT STARTED IT ALL
PUBLIC IMAGE / BRANDING INFLUENCEDONKEY OPENED A NEW DOOR MURPHY'S VOICE WORK AS DONKEY INTRODUCED HIM TO A NEW GENERATION OF FANS ENTIRELY. THE SHREK FRANCHISE HAS GROSSED OVER $3.5 BILLION GLOBALLY AND CHANGED HOW STUDIOS CAST ANIMATED CHARACTERS, PRIORITIZING PERSONALITY AND IMPROVISATION OVER FLAT DELIVERY.
MEDIA ANALYSISPRIMARY MEANS OF DELIVERING HIS MESSAGE: MURPHY'S PRIMARY MEDIUM HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIVE PERFORMANCE AND FILM. HIS 1983 HBO SPECIAL DELIRIOUS AND 1987 THEATRICAL RELEASE RAW REACHED MILLIONS BEFORE STREAMING EXISTED. EVEN WHEN CRITICS CHALLENGED HIS MATERIAL, AUDIENCES SHOWED UP. BEVERLY HILLS COP GROSSED OVER $316 MILLION WORLDWIDE ON A $14 MILLION BUDGET, MAKING FILM HIS MOST POWERFUL VEHICLE FOR CULTURAL REACH.
REFLECTIONΧιόνη. WHAT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES CAN BE SEEN WHEN COMPARING CULTURAL NORMS BEFORE AND AFTER HIS RISE TO FAME? BEFORE MURPHY, BLACK COMEDIANS RARELY LED MAINSTREAM HOLLYWOOD FILMS OR ANCHORED PRIME-TIME TELEVISION ON THEIR OWN TERMS. THE DOMINANT MODEL KEPT BLACK PERFORMERS IN SUPPORTING ROLES OR NICHE MARKETS.
REFERENCESBET NEWS. "EDDIE MURPHY REMORSEFUL OVER HOMOPHOBIC CONTENT IN OLD STAND-UP SPECIALS." BET, SEPTEMBER 28, 2019. HTTPS://WWW.BET.COM/ARTICLE/N637LA/EDDIE-MURPHY-REMORSEFUL-OVER-CONTENT-IN-OLD-STAND-UP HUMOR IN AMERICA. "TOO 'RAW' FOR THE 2000S: EDDIE MURPHY AND CULTURAL CHANGE." JANUARY 26, 2016. HTTPS://HUMORINAMERICA.WORDPRESS.COM/2016/01/26/TOO-RAW-FOR-THE-2000S-EDDIE-MURPHY-AND-CULTURAL-CHANGE/

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MEDIA ANALYSIS

PRIMARY MEANS OF DELIVERING HIS MESSAGE:

MURPHY'S PRIMARY MEDIUM HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIVE PERFORMANCE AND FILM. HIS 1983 HBO SPECIAL DELIRIOUS AND 1987 THEATRICAL RELEASE RAW REACHED MILLIONS BEFORE STREAMING EXISTED. EVEN WHEN CRITICS CHALLENGED HIS MATERIAL, AUDIENCES SHOWED UP. BEVERLY HILLS COP GROSSED OVER $316 MILLION WORLDWIDE ON A $14 MILLION BUDGET, MAKING FILM HIS MOST POWERFUL VEHICLE FOR CULTURAL REACH.

HOW TECHNOLOGY EXPANDED HIS INFLUENCE:

VHS COPIES OF DELIRIOUS AND RAW BECAME HOUSEHOLD FIXTURES LONG AFTER THEIR ORIGINAL RELEASE. YOUTUBE, NETFLIX, AND STREAMING PLATFORMS KEPT THOSE SPECIALS DISCOVERABLE FOR NEW GENERATIONS. HIS 2019 SNL RETURN DREW THE SHOW'S HIGHEST RATINGS IN YEARS, AMPLIFIED BY SOCIAL MEDIA CLIPS THAT SPREAD GLOBALLY WITHIN HOURS. THE COMING TO AMERICA SEQUEL (2021) REACHED AMAZON PRIME SUBSCRIBERS IN 240 COUNTRIES SIMULTANEOUSLY.

HOW MEDIA AMPLIFIED HIS INFLUENCE:

ROLLING STONE RANKED MURPHY SECOND AMONG ALL 141 SNL CAST MEMBERS IN HISTORY. COMEDY CENTRAL PLACED HIM 10TH ON ITS LIST OF THE 100 GREATEST STAND-UPS OF ALL TIME. HIS 2019 SNL RETURN WAS TREATED AS A MAJOR CULTURAL EVENT BY OUTLETS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES TO ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT. SOCIAL MEDIA HAS SINCE TURNED HIS CLASSIC CLIPS AND CHARACTERS INTO RECURRING VIRAL MOMENTS, KEEPING HIS WORK ALIVE WELL PAST ITS ORIGINAL RUN.