The episode “Believe in the Stars” finds Jenna (Jane Krakowski) and Tracy (Tracy Morgan) in an argument over whether it’s worse to be a white woman or a Black man. Jones writes, “functioned simultaneously as a conduit of white assertion and as a buffer against Black protest.” This same dynamic bubbles beneath the surface of modern blackface performances of the sort that aired in a 2008 episode of “30 Rock” (one of four separate instances from the show that have since been infamously removed from the internet). has noted, blackface’s origins can be viewed as a reaction of sorts to the social upheaval of the 1820s and 1830s, which saw both a rise in Black resistance and increasing concerns about the position of the “common man.” Minstrelsy, Mr. Other examples of blackface-as-satire include several episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” one of which features Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) caked in dark makeup as Roger Murtaugh and Roger’s daughter while attempting to film their own sequel to “Lethal Weapon,” and an episode of “W/Bob & David,” in which David Cross’s character darkens his skin in order to bait a Black cop into harassing him. Of Hollywood’s progress by another, it’s a mark of where itsĮvolving understanding of blackface has fallen short.īy one measure, this winking self-awareness is a measure of Hollywood’s progress by another, it’s a mark of where its evolving understanding of blackface has fallen short. )īy one measure, this winking self-awareness is a measure “You know, you’re lucky,” Cantor says to his Black valet. (In the 1934 film “Kid Millions,” for instance, Eddie Cantor’s character laments the difficulty in putting on and taking off blackface makeup. Black actors who appeared in early Hollywood movies with white actors in blackface were often merely presented as onlookers, with no feelings about what they were witnessing. This pointed self-awareness feels post-modern. Jackson), frequently calls him out for deploying crass stereotypes. He spouts exaggerated Black vernacular in character throughout, while an actual Black person, the rapper Alpa Chino (Brandon T. plays Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor portraying a Black soldier while wearing blackface during a Vietnam War movie shoot. This is a brief taxonomy of blackface in a post-“Bamboozled” world. Ugly, but nonetheless not something that should be buried in the ground, six feet under.”Īnd so I’ve attempted with this project to do the opposite: to drag the modern manifestations of this very American tradition into the light, to try to understand them and unpack what they reveal about Hollywood’s relationship to racism. Lee said while promoting his movie: “I acknowledge that we’re dealing with a very ugly part of American history. Which is why it’s a disservice when creators and streaming services try to erase the evidence of their use of blackface from the internet, when what we should really be doing is trying to understand it: why it persists, and what, if anything, it’s trying to say. What a look back at these episodes shows us- and what “Bamboozled” teaches us - is that there are always layers to that burnt cork. There are always layers to that burnt cork. Shows us- and what “Bamboozled” teaches us- is that Considering the use of blackface within its distinct narrative context - and not just as a referential snippet or meme - reveals that the mere presence of it does not necessarily mean something offensive is taking place. It can do several of these things at once. It can tell us how we’re supposed to perceive a character or make us question the creators’ judgment. As Racquel Gates, an associate professor of cinema and media studies at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, puts it, “It’s important to back up and ask, ‘What do we think blackface is, and what do we think that it does?’” Sometimes it’s self-aware sometimes it can be a scathing critique other times, an unnecessary provocation. While the origins of blackface as an American tradition are built on insidious stereotypes of Black people, it is too complex a tradition to ever mean and represent a single thing or idea. Because what a look back at these episodes shows us - and what “Bamboozled” teaches us - is that there are always layers to that burnt cork. The instinct to scrub away the shame of past blackface is understandable - but it’s not productive. As a result, several have scrubbed the evidence of these burnt cork episodes from the internet. In response to the national reckoning over Black Lives Matter, the internet dug up a number of TV shows and movies - from “30 Rock” to “Tropic Thunder” - that, over the last two decades, have employed blackface. Lee’s charged, biting satire was released 20 years ago this fall this summer, we were reminded how right “Bamboozled” was.
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