Bamboozled

Hello world,

I recently watched Spike Lee's movie Bamboozled.  I was going to wait a couple of days before I posted about it, but I cannot wait any longer.  This movie made me so angry and uncomfortable, in a way that no other movie has before.  Briefly, for those of you are unfamiliar with the movie or haven't seen it, it is a satire (*this is important to remember*) stars Damon Wayans as Pierre Delacroix (real name: Peerless Dothan), an uptight, well-educated black man.  He works for a TV station as a creative writer but is unsuccessful because, as Delacroix's white boss tells him, no one is interested in watching a show about the suburban black experience, because it's uninteresting and the blacks are just trying to be white.  And the boss (Dunwitty) is not racist, he insists, because he has a black wife; this also gives him permission to use the n-word and the word "cracker" rampantly.  Delacroix decides to expose the racism by writing a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors wearing blackface makeup and using extremely racist jokes and puns; Delacroix believes that it will be unsuccessful.  Additionally, the show is staged live with audiences (while they're filming)--it's one of those setups, like Friends and Seinfeld, in which the laughter is produced by the audience and included in the filming.  So, Delacroix pitches the TV show to his boss, who loves the idea; then the audience sees the show, and the predominately white audience is mostly horror-struck.  But then, some blacks in the audience start laughing and supporting the show; the white audience members are still uncertain about how to respond.  Before the show is aired, Delacroix and Dunwitty meet with a PR representative, who says, and I quote, "I have a PhD in African-American studies from Harvard, so I know all about black people"--more about that later.  as a result--and to Delacroix's horror--the show becomes a massive success.  The movie (and the show) goes on, and it follows the story arc of Delacroix forgetting his original intent in making the TV show; he succumbs to the success of his show, his fame, and his wealth; and he takes advantage of the two black stars of his show--basically, he forgets his roots and morals.  There's some violence in the end and there's a little bit of (melo)drama, but the most uncomfortable moment in the movie for me was when the success of the show instigates a massive fandom, or fan following, for the show, causing everyone to start wearing blackface.  EVERYONE!!! (minus Jada Pinkett Smith, who was great in this movie)  There is also a large presence of minstrelsy paraphernalia that sits in Delacroix's office and the images also circulate during the credits.

In case, people don't know, there is a long, painful history tied to minstrelsy and blackface.  I could go on and on about the two and how INCREDIBLY offensive they are, but I will try to be succinct and say that both minstrelsy and blackface humiliate blacks, portraying the idea/stereotype that they are animals, lazy, superstitious, buffoonish, unintelligent, and subservient.  It also features generally as a burlesque or variety show, including singing and dancing.  There are also different stock characters that embody the negative stereotypes of black people: Aunt Jemima, Mammy, mulatto wench, old darky, pickaninny...the list goes on.

Now that I've laid the groundwork, I will rant: WHAT ON EARTH?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!  I understood clearly the point of this movie: white people (in the movie, though Spike Lee uses them to refer to general society) are afraid to admit their (latent) prejudices, because those prejudices are racist, and they know that racism is not acceptable; they are also afraid to talk about race.  Furthermore, they think that any personal association with black people gives them the ability and privilege to identify with and as, speak of and for, and make commentary about black people.  Dunwitty thinks that he's "more black" than Delacroix; this suggests that there's only one kind of black.  The PR rep thinks that studying black society and culture like an anthropologist makes her an expert about them.  Some people (in real life) say that because blacks use the n-word, they are allowed to as well.  Personally, I don't think anyone should be saying the n-word to refer to one another (including blacks), but I find it more problematic for a white person to use the n-word to refer to or to address a black person.  The history of the word and the tangled and violent history between whites and blacks disallows ANY permission for whites to use the n-word.  Also, the prevalent use of blackface was overwhelming and sickening; I had to pause the movie halfway through to walk around outside and breath.  The widespread disregard for black history and its relevant pain and suffering was disgusting.  All the racism that was beneath the surface emerged strongly and clearly in the movie through the blackface, through the minstrelsy paraphernalia, and through the offensive language.  The movie's physical violence, for me, also stood for the "metaphorical" violence that is inherent in the perpetuation of offensive language, images, and stereotypes (I was about to qualify stereotype with the word negative, but then I realized, all stereotypes are negative, because they are perpetuating false and highly generalized ideas about a group of people).


Also, in thinking about cross-racial identification (whites identifying as blacks), I thought back to the Anna Deveare Smith piece that I mentioned previously.  I also thought specifically in the movie of a white guy (One-Sixteenth), a member of a black nationalist group (called Mau Mau), who believed strongly that he was black.  At the end of the movie, the police come and shoot all of the Mau Maus, but only One-Sixteenth is left alive (he's arrested though), presumably because he is white, which addresses the stereotype that police officers shoot black people but give favorable, or "lighter," consequences to white suspects.  Anyway, these ideas led me to wonder, what does it mean to be black?  What does it mean to be any race?  I know the obvious train of thought here is, well duh, race is construct, so there's no one right answer, but I feel that these are questions worth asking.  What are the behaviors and images that we associate with each race?

I could go on endlessly, and my mind feels like there are still many unanswered questions or questions/issues that I have not yet discovered; however, I will stop here, because...just because.  And this is very after the fact, but I hope you all are aware that none of my research or personal statements are directed toward you.  I love you all and think that you're wonderful; and trust me, if I think that you're doing something problematic, you will know. :)

I saw this musical (Starlight Express) in Germany last summer when I visited Pascal (German brother) in Duisburg.  It was an amazing experience, and now this song is stuck in my head.  You'll see in the lyrics, it's a beautiful love song--both in the English lyrics and in the German voices.

German words: "Nur du allein gibst mir kraft zu leben. Nimm mich, halt mich, führ mich, spür mich und versteh mich, und wir werden's schaffen, wir allein."
English translation: "Only you alone give me the strength to live.  Take me, hold me, guide me, feel me, and understand me, and we will manage it, we alone."
-"Du allein," Starlight Express