"Black face" skit on Australian variety show

[Dorian Gray]

Then how do you explain Tropic Thunder, where not only does a white actor black it up physically, but act and talk like a stereotypical black person?

Apparently, 'thou canst touch if done well and is funny'.

First of all, there was some backlash.

Second of all, and this isn't necessarily a good thing, RDJ was only the second most potentially offensive stereotype to blacks. The actual black guy turned out to also be gay. And finally, RDJ was determined to be delusional from deep method acting at the end.

 

[Dorian Gray]

This is the difference: Blacks weren't allowed in clubs and halls in the early and middle part of the 20th century, so white actors used blackface to portray them - however, they nearly always used the most exaggerated racist Step n Fetchit slave speech when portraying them. People doing that now remind us of that racist time - probably similar to if a white person here put on beads and a huge afro, carried around a didgeridoo and had a stupid dance routine.

In a nutshell, it's like the difference between Prince Harry wearing a Nazi costume, and Chris Kattan wearing a pink Gay Hitler. It's like the difference between a KKK member wearing blackface and acting like an idiot, and a white guy in Vegas impersonating Michael Jackson for a living.

If those same exact guys did the same exact routine but were wearing, say, hairstyles and clothes from the Victory tour of 1984-85, then no one would have had a problem with it.

 

[gtc]

Does it make a difference that at least one of the performers was Indian?

 

[oldhat]

What would one of the performers being Indian have to do with mocking black people?

Or is having one dark enough to pass make it somehow OK?

 

[shuize]

As noted above, I think this post is spot on:

Yet what he, Somers and the Hey Hey team failed to consider was that in their Australian audience was indeed an American. Worse, that American was from New Orleans, in the American south, and he was now sitting right in front of them as a judge of the Red Faces segment. What on earth did they imagine Harry Connick Jr would think? And even if Connick were inclined to laugh it all off as a culture clash, what else could he do but protest? YouTube clips of him sitting there unprotesting in front of a black-face skit would have killed him back home.

 

[gtc]

What would one of the performers being Indian have to do with mocking black people?

Firstly, they didn't believe they were mocking black people. That is your interpretation based on your cultural context. A context not shared by these people.

Secondly, I expressed the thought as a question because I am interested in hearing what other people think. I honestly don't know whether it does or it doesn't make a difference.

 

[applecorped]

Wasn't Harry Connick in White Chicks? No? Never mind.

 

[oldhat]

Firstly, they didn't believe they were mocking black people.

No, they did, mocking black people by dancing in 'fro wigs and blackface is the entire point of dancing in 'fro wigs and blackface. That's why this crude racist humor is so offensive and piggish. This wasn't some innocent gaffe.

Are you honestly having trouble understanding why this would get people beaten up in the US? This stuff is part and parcel to lynchings and the KKK. It's a toxic thing.

America moved beyond minstrel shows 90 years ago. Why hasn't Australian pop culture? Honestly, how is it possible that this crap can still be shown on TV and laughed at in 2009? Is Australian society really this backwards? You did have race riots on the beaches a few years ago and I hear the racism against "Abbos" is everywhere but I don't know personally.

 

[WildCat]

I don't think my Aboriginal friends would have minded at all, since they pull the urine as well as anyone, including from themselves.

Why would their opinions be relevant? Does Australia have a history of minstrel shows where whites made themselves up like Aborigines and acted out unflattering racial stereotypes?

 

[The Painter]

Aussies don't like *****'s. How many Aborigines does it take to do Michael Jackson?

 

[BTMO]

When travelling to another country, it is polite to do what the locals do.

I wonder if, for example, Harry were to go to one of those places where they eat eyeballs, if he would eat or storm off? I wonder if he paid back his appearance money?

What the hell - it is tv. Tv has an off button.

If offended, don't watch. It is what grown ups do.

 

[BTMO]

Why would their opinions be relevant? Does Australia have a history of minstrel shows where whites made themselves up like Aborigines and acted out unflattering racial stereotypes?

Damn right!

Can't have them uppity Ozzies doing what they like in their own backyard, can we?

(For the record, yes, Australia did have a home-grown minstrel show many years ago)

 

[WildCat]

Damn right!

Can't have them uppity Ozzies doing what they like in their own backyard, can we?

(For the record, yes, Australia did have a home-grown minstrel show many years ago)

And if non-Aborigines in 2009 put on blackface and started acting out racist stereotypes against Aborigines how would that go over on Australian TV?

 

[WildCat]

Then how do you explain Tropic Thunder, where not only does a white actor black it up physically, but act and talk like a stereotypical black person?

Apparently, 'thou canst touch if done well and is funny'.

That movie was making fun of bad Hollywood action movies, and bad casting in this particular case. It wasn't making fun of blacks by using racial stereotypes.

 

[BTMO]

And if non-Aborigines in 2009 put on blackface and started acting out racist stereotypes against Aborigines how would that go over on Australian TV?

Isn't that *exactly* what we are talking about???

That IS what happened last week on Aussie tv. HC Jr. walked out.

As I said further upstream - if it offends, turn it off. Or complain officially - there are avenues to do so.

Personally, it doesn't bother me - but I watch old Al Jolson movies when the mood takes me...

 

[The Fool]

Hmmm, blackface without the talent.

Al Jolson they are not.

 

[Epok]

I can understand Harry Connick Jr being a little bothered by this because he was afraid of a backlash back in the States. I'm from Birmingham and we got a much worse reputation than New Orleans does and I don't appreciate racism either. I don't even like people who fly the Confederate flag with slogans like "the South will rise again" but I think people are being a little too sensitive here. Where are the people complaining about Dave Chappelle dressing up as an absurdly racist impression of a white guy or the the way Def Comedy Jam comedians talk mad racial about white people?

Its friggin' comedy and times have changed. I've only seen one black guy post that it offended him and thats ok. You don't have to watch it. The Civil Rights era in America was turbulent but its over. There is still some racism from both sides of the spectrum but its nothing like it was in those days. The biggest threat of prejudice between whites and blacks is the Aryan Nation and they have just as many white people who hate them as blacks do. In my opinion it wasn't making fun of black people they just weren't thinking of how people would react to it.

 

[BTMO]

I'm from Birmingham and we got a much worse reputation than New Orleans

Hee hee hee....

I initially assumed you meant Birmingham in the UK.

Oddly enough, it works that way, too...

 

[Epok]

Hee hee hee....

I initially assumed you meant Birmingham in the UK.

Oddly enough, it works that way, too...

Really, did Birmingham in the UK ever have a reputation for being hateful?

I should have clarified then, I sometimes forget that we in the States didn't invent the English language also

 

[BTMO]

Really, did Birmingham in the UK ever have a reputation for being hateful?

I should have clarified then, I sometimes forget that we in the States didn't invent the English language also

I believe it did. And still does. According to Wikipedia, it was the one-time gun-crime capital of the UK... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham#Crime_and_policing

It also has a bit of a reputation for racial (especially against muslims) violence.

However, when I looked at your avatar, it occurred to me that "Al" probably meant "Alabama".