Why!? What's the huge deal? Billy Crystal was AWESOME at the OSCARS and he was fantastic as Sammy Davis Jr. He's always played Sammy Davis Jr. When he was on Saturday Night Live, he played Sammy Davis Jr. When he left SNL? He played Sammy Davis Jr. during his stand-up routines. But he does it during the OSCARS and suddenly everyone gets upset? Blackface is no longer what it once was. It is not a caricature of black people meant to perpetuate a stereotype of an incompetent sambo. Instead it's meant to make the actors and actresses look like the characters they're trying to play. Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" poked fun at blackface. Billy Crystal was doing a freaking impression. He needed to look like Sammy Davis Jr. He wasn't mocking the African American race, he wasn't being racist, he wasn't shooting down Sammy's accomplishments, he was impersonating him. That. Is. It.
What about "White Chicks" with the Wayans brothers? Same thing. Double standard. Not fair.
Jordan,
ReplyDeleteWhat is the post in reference to? Can you connect it to the readings? I would point out that it is important to keep in mind that representations always have a history and that we must take that history into account. Given the historically problematic nature of blackface performance it is perhaps not a shock that such representations are met with strong reactions.