SPIKE LEE'S 'BAMBOOZLED'
Racism in U.S. culture,
past & present
By
Monica Moorehead
"Amos
and Andy." "Delilah." "Sambo." "Buckwheat." These are just a few of the more
familiar racist stereotypes that have been woven into the very fabric of U.S.
culture.
Seeing,
hearing and absorbing these horrendous images has psychologically scarred and
stolen the dignity of millions of Black people, from childhood to adulthood, for
generations.
Spike
Lee's latest film, "Bamboozled," addresses this particular form of cultural
genocide. Due to its social content, the movie caused a firestorm of debate. The
film was so controversial that 11 studios refused to release it before New Line
Cinema agreed to do
so.
The
film's title comes from a word used by Malcolm X to warn Black people against
being fooled by false government
promises.
"Bamboozled"
is a powerful satire of the role that television, the stage and films have
played in attempting to undermine the struggle for justice and equality by
portraying Black people as less than
human.
The
movie is very painful to watch because every degrading image that appears
onscreen is tantamount to being punched in the
stomach.
Lee
gets his message across by showing how a modern-day minstrel show gains national
popularity on a major TV network comparable to CNN.
Comedian
Damon Wayans stars as a Harvard graduate and African American producer who sells
his idea for a minstrel show to the racist head of a failing network, played by
Michael
Rapaport.
Rapaport's
character reflects how many whites, as well as other youths of color who
identify with Black culture, have been conditioned to use racial epithets in
their everyday language. The writers of the minstrel show are overwhelmingly
young and
white.
Black
comedian Tommy Davidson and the great tap dancer Savion Glover portray the stars
of the minstrel show. Davidson and Glover play two homeless men who are forced
to perform on street corners just to survive--until they agree to do the
minstrel
show.
Jada
Pinkett Smith plays Wayans' assistant, who is against the premise of the
minstrel show but eventually accepts it. In one memorable scene, she explains
the sexist, demeaning way women are treated if they attempt to climb the
corporate
ladder.
Reconstruction's
demise
Minstrel
shows originated in the Deep South following the demise of Reconstruction in the
late 1870s and the U.S. Supreme Court's sanctioning of Jim Crow laws. At first
they starred white performers who wore blackface and red lipstick beyond the
outline of their lips to create racist caricatures of Black people. Mostly they
sang and danced.
Many
Hollywood stars--including Mickey Rooney, Al Jolson, Judy Garland and even Bugs
Bunny--appeared in blackface. Some of these films are regarded as classics and
are still shown, reinforcing those racist
images.
Eventually
a number of Black entertainers, the most prominent being Bert Williams,
performed in minstrel shows. They wore blackface in order to portray white
people doing the same. For many Black entertainers, this was the only kind of
work that allowed them to perform onstage and be paid handsomely. Other Black
actors who didn't wear blackface encountered similar
restrictions.
During
the "golden age" of Hollywood, actors such as Stepin Fetchit, Hattie McDaniel,
Butterfly McQueen, Mantan Moreland and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson were locked
into playing racist stereotypes such as maids, slaves, butlers, stable hands,
etc. They were some of the most talented actors of the 1930s and 1940s, but they
were denied the opportunity of playing a full range of diverse roles because of
Hollywood's institutionalized racism.
McDaniel
was the first Black person to win an Academy Award, but she was awarded the
Oscar for playing Scarlett O'Hara's slave maid in "Gone With the Wind" in
1939.
Some
of the most subtle but powerful images of "Bamboozled" focus on Glover and
Davidson preparing for their performance each night. In their dressing rooms,
they go through a tormented regimen of putting on their "Black" face. It is an
education to see how the charcoal must be burned, mixed and cooled before being
applied on the face. If only they could exhibit their talents without hiding
behind a degrading mask, they come to
realize.
As
the movie progresses, the studio audience, which initially abhorred the show, is
drawn into its racist web. Outside the TV station, the Rev. Al Sharpton and
attorney Johnnie Cochran lead protests against the show. Gary Byrd from New
York's WLIB Radio, playing himself in a cameo role, lambastes the show for being
racist.
Progressive
hip-hop artist Mos Def plays a leader of an underground, Mau Mau-inspired group
that vows to stop the show at all cost. The film ends in a shocking, violent
way. If the mass struggle were stronger and more influential, as it was during
the 1960s, Lee might have ended the movie
differently.
As
the final credits appear, many racist Hollywood images are shown, including
scenes from the notorious film "Birth of a Nation," which glorified slavery and
the Ku Klux Klan.
A
number of film critics have asked why Lee made this movie. Are not minstrel
shows in the past? Have not race relations progressed? they
asked.
Viewers
may have varying opinions on the artistic merits of "Bamboozled." But Lee's
political reasons for making the film are not up for debate. He wants the world
to know that there are new forms of minstrel shows, including "The Jerry
Springer Show" and "The PJs," showing that racism is alive and well in U.S.
culture.
"Bamboozled"
is but one avenue for exposing this reality and continuing this important
debate.
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