Kimberly Hart writes in with a brief dispatch on Spike Lee's Bamboozled:
Date: Tue, 01 May 2007 14:17:38 -0700
From: "Kimberly R. Hart" khart@
To: bnericci@mail.sdsu.edu
Subject: Engl 725 Blog potential
Hi Professor Nericcio,
So many things seem to pertain to this class and I don't know why I didn't think of this until now. I saw this film in a black studies course in undergrad and thought it was very interesting and provacative--it's the Spike Lee film, "Bamboozled," that came out in 2000. It's based around an ivy-league educated black writer for a major TV network. He becomes frustrated in being unable to pitch a "Cosby-esque" show and so as a sort of backlash, he creates a blackface minstrel show. The irony is that it becomes a huge hit. What is interesting within this movie is that instead of white actors in blackface, there are black actors in blackface. I thought that this went along quite well with the theme of mannequins and the notion of how we see the black body in media. Although disturbing, I thought the movie was well done, definately making a bold statement. People should see it! Kimberly Hart
After writing my essay on interracial relationships and the interaction of blacks and white this video is truly amazing. This simple video explores why it is we have different types of speech and why when a person of a different skin color crosses over it sounds ridiculous. Think about when a person hears a "black" clothing line commercial; you most likely accept it and don't think anything of it. Why? Because of our preconceived notions of that type of behavior we expect it. I think Spike Lee's message in this parody is to make the black community hear themselves in a different context and realize it sounds different to others outside the community they are from.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Fishman