I'm sure most of you are aware of Robert Downey Jr's performance in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder. In it, Downey plays an Australian actor who undergoes a controversial surgery to become black-skinned for a war movie. Of course in real life Downey didn't get that sort of procedure done. The makeup crew used "blackface", which is the term for a white actor who puts black makeup on and portrays a black character. Although I haven't personally seen Tropic Thunder, I've seen some clips of Downey's performance. My impression was that he did a good job with the role. He was even nominated for a 2008 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (losing out to Heath Ledger's terrifying Joker in The Dark Knight).
Blackface was more common before the Civil Rights movement, appearing in shows like Amos and Andy and a performance by Vernon and Ryan in 1950. However, I was scanning through the news recently and found several mentions of it within a week.
First instance: an Australian show, Hey Hey It's Saturday (which felt reminiscent of Saturday Night Live) showcased a group called the Jackson Jive. This group was of six white men. Five of them had painted black onto their faces, and the one guy portraying Michael Jackson painted his face with very white paint. An American actor/singer Harry Connick Jr, who was one of the judges, was very offended, giving the group a big fat zero for a score and expressing his disgust. The show later apologized to Connick Jr. and the American politely explained why he was offended as an American in general.
The other instance of blackface in recent media was an issue of Vogue, which featured a white model in blackface posing in typically black ethnic clothing. The magazine did not comment on the pictures.
Blackface is generally very offensive to Americans. The term is often associated with the older blackface movies, with white actors portraying black people as incompetent, or perhaps making fun of the way they spoke and/or some of their mannerisms.
My thoughts on blackface? The older clips I found (from the early to mid 1900's) on it were very offensive. It hurt me just to watch them.
As for the Jackson Jive...they are Australian. I know that is not an excuse for being tactless, but I am reading a book on Australian culture for another class, and Australians are very open, very liberal. It is a culture where basically "anything goes". Take a joke or get out. Racist jokes are a way of life there, which explains why the Australian judges at Hey Hey It's Saturday weren't as offended as Harry Connick Jr. was. I think that the skit was just trying to emphasize the fact that Michael Jackson was much whiter than the rest of his family and sort of show him as the black sheep (hmmm...poor choice of words). I personally thought it was a bit tasteless, but at least they weren't portraying the Jackson Five as blithering idiots like earlier blackface "comedy" routines did. Their dancing was actually quite good.
As for the pictures in Vogue, I don't understand what was going through Vogue's head. How did they not think that someone in the world wouldn't be offended by a white person putting on black makeup and posing in traditional African dress? Couldn't Vogue, rich as they are, have found a black model to pose for those pictures? Less makeup expenses, less controversy, all around better deal.
What are your thoughts on blackface? Do you find it completely offensive? Are people (of all ethnicities) overreacting to it? Is the whole thing being overblown? What do you think would happen if a black actor did "whiteface"?
I do not feel qualified to say whether blackface is offensive or not since I am not black. I think if it is offensive to someone who is black, then that is their right and it should not be done. But it gets to be a sticky issue (like the UND logo) if some are offended and some aren't.
ReplyDeleteKayley,
ReplyDeleteI found your post very interesting to read. First of all I thought Tropic Thunder was a terrible waste of a movie, my recommendation to you is to stay far away from it. Now onto the actual topic. I know that racism still exists, but I also think that people are far too quick to jump the gun these days. I get made fun of for being Canadian, but I don’t make a big deal out of it. I am also Ukrainian and Ukrainians were placed in internment camps in the past. Do I complain about it today? No, absolutely not. I am not saying that my hardships are the same as others, but my point is that EVERYONE has hardships; EVERYONE will experience discrimination of some sort at some point in their life. That doesn’t make it right and I personally don’t feel that “blackface” adds any value to movies at all. I might be wrong but I don’t really think that the Vogue pictures were meant to be a big knock to the African or African American communities. It’s make up and in fashion make up and costumes are used all the time to make statements. You either like them or hate them, but either way, we’re still talking about them.
Kayley -
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I have to say that I did see Tropic Thunder. I do agree with Alyssa in saying that is wasn't a good movie. It seems like one of those movies that takes zero amount of thought to understand. Anyways, I think that blackface can be offensive and I don't blame those who are offended by it. My first impression of blackface is that it tells people that Caucasian people are better and should be in more important positions than African Americans. I, personally, don't believe that at all. I think it's perfectly fine for people of other ethnicities to be offended. I disagree with media using blackface.