"Black face" skit on Australian variety show

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Well, the PC Police at Bill O'Reilly's absolutely trashed the show and all of Australia. Damned Liberals.

 

[gtc]

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.

Your problem is that you assume that American cultural context is the same as the Australian cultural context. This is ignorant and exceedingly arrogant.

I have already told you that I understand why it is seen as racist in the American cultural context but what you don't understand is that it is not nearly as offensive in the Australian cultural context and does not necessarily imply racist intentions. That is not to say that the show was acceptable or viewed as inoffensive - it was seen as being in bad taste and not appropriate. The show was revived for a short series of specials years after it was canned for no longer being seen as funny or particularly acceptable.

Your ignorance about the Australian cultural context is demonstrated by your use of (and misspelling of) the word 'Abo'. It is generally considered to be a very offensive term when used by a non-Aborigine and certainly not something that a thinking person would ever use in front of an Aborigine. It is very similar to using the word that starts with n and refers to a black person.

Unlike you though, I realise that you were simply being ignorant and not intentionally racist because I understand that someone from the American cultural context would not necessarily understand the meaning and history of usage of that word.

 

[Juniversal]

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

Google 'Ernie Dingo' for elucidation. A fine ambassador for our Country. (I'm sincere)

Harry was justified, and explained why he felt as he did, very eloquently, I thought.

I think everyone came out of the whole thing quite well, and lessons were are being learned, even as we type.

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

Neither Aborigines or Indians are black. Simply because some are as dark as blacks has no bearing.

Just imagine you're a Japanese person living in Korea and historically there was an unflatering and offensive potrayal of the Japanese (i.e. comparable to minstrel shows, "darky iconography" or the actual anti-Japanese propaganda during WWII). Naturally You'd have an aversion to the portrayal because the images were traditionally used to attack "your" national character.

When it comes down to it, their performance possibly had no real ill intent but it was ill advised regardless. I'm not aware of Australians knowledge or lack thereof, of black face or minstrel shows though.

 

[GreyICE]

Silly oldhat, there's no racism or sexism in Utopia. Just let them explain it to you.

 

[gtc]

Uh, Harry is not wearing blackface there. He has a fake moustache on. Is that how he's "done up to look like a black man?"

He looks like he is done up with a fake tan as well. He seems to be impersonating a black preacher. Is he not impersonating a black preacher?

 

[oldhat]

Wow!

I'm lacking the proper "cultural context"? This isn't blatant racism because of cultural relativism? LMAO, look at the conservatives suddenly turn into dippy hippy 70s-era social critics when they're caught out digging on crude, racist minstel shows on live TV, complete with Sambo cartoons. Hilarious.

 

[Juniversal]

He looks like he is done up with a fake tan as well. He seems to be impersonating a black preacher. Is he not impersonating a black preacher?

Parody does not=black face. Billy Crystal doing an impression of Sammy Davis Jr. isn't black face. Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder isn't black face.

 

[gtc]

Wow!

I'm lacking the proper "cultural context"? This isn't blatant racism because of cultural relativism? LMAO, look at the conservatives suddenly turn into dippy hippy 70s-era social critics when they're caught out digging on crude, racist minstel shows on live TV, complete with Sambo cartoons. Hilarious.

I am not 'digging' on it. How often do I have to tell you that I understand why it is seen as racist and offensive in the US but merely crude and offensive in Australia?

I understand why you see it as racist. That does not mean that their intention was to be racist. Why is this so difficult for you to understand?

I also notice that you haven't addressed your own use of an offensive term for Aborigines. If you understand that you used a racist term without intending to be racist then you would understand my whole point.

Here is another example of cross cultural misunderstanding around race. In the new videogame Scribblenauts players write words and the program summons images. Typing sambo brings forth what looks like a watermelon. This appears to be racist given the stereotype of blacks and watermelons. However, the image got into the program because in Ecuador sambo is the local name for a type of gourd and the makers (who were unaware that sambo was also a racial epitath) linked the word to a generic looking gourd. Do you think the videogame makers were being racist?

Parody does not=black face. Billy Crystal doing an impression of Sammy Davis Jr. isn't black face. Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder isn't black face.

That is true in America. The distinction between parody and black face is less clear in Australia.

 

[godofpie]

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.

Oh dear Epok-where do I begin. I lived in B'ham, specifically Midtown and Hueytown. I owned a business in Midtown and most if not all of my employees were black. The first thing white people in that part of the country want to talk about when the black guy leaves the room is the black guy. ****** this and ****** that and...it was just awful. And I'm from NC. It's not like I hadn't seen racism before but in B'ham it is so overt. I even had customers talk about my black employees, using that word, in FRONT OF MY BLACK EMPLOYEES! In my dealings with the police in that area, they refer to black people as *******. I imagine you live in Vestavia Hills, or Hoover. You need to go check out Fairfield or Dolomite. I'm telling ya, Alabama is the most backwards hate filled place I have ever lived. You know what Alabama's state motto is?

At least we're not Mississippi!

The difference between Chappelle and people performing in "black face" is tone and tenor of the portrayal. The funniest Chappelle bit is the one where he plays a blind leader of the Aryans and he doesn't know that he is black.



This one with Eddie Murphy was ahead of it's time-
http://www.jokeroo.com/video/funny/white-eddie-murphy.html

How did he know we drank champagne on public transportation and we didn't have to pay for stuff as long there was no black people around?!? Damn you MURPHY!!!

My daughter used the word "niglet" in my presence the other day. She is being raised in a house where that kind of word is not used or tolerated. The idea that racism and discrimination based on race are part of our past is just not true.

 

[psychictv]

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

Indian...black...hey, they all look the same right?

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?

Human eyeballs? I sure hope he would storm off.

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

Yes, because clearly the people complaining are the ones being childish in this case. Not, you know, the grown men in blackface with afro wigs.

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

If you watch the video you'll notice that he didn't actually walk off.

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.

OMG, so much wrong with this post, where to even start? Oh well, I give up.

Unlike you though, I realise that you were simply being ignorant and not intentionally racist

So racism is about intentions? I thought "simply being ignorant" was pretty much the definition of racism.

He looks like he is done up with a fake tan as well. He seems to be impersonating a black preacher. Is he not impersonating a black preacher?

No. He's just playing a preacher. His skin doesn't appear to be blackened at all. He has a moustache and a fake wig though.

I understand why you see it as racist. That does not mean that their intention was to be racist. Why is this so difficult for you to understand?

They did something incredibly racist out of ignorance and now they are being told that it was racist so that they know not to do it in the future. Why is this so hard for Australians to understand?

 

[gtc]

Indian...black...hey, they all look the same right?

If you knew me, you would know that this was a laughably stupid thing to say. I understand you weren't being deliberately offensive you are just ignorant about the person you are making the remark to.

So racism is about intentions? I thought "simply being ignorant" was pretty much the definition of racism.

There is a difference between unintentionally offending someone and intentionally offending someone.

No. He's just playing a preacher. His skin doesn't appear to be blackened at all. He has a moustache and a fake wig though.

I take your word for it but he does look he has a fake tan in the video I saw. I apologise for misinterpreting it.

They did something incredibly racist out of ignorance and now they are being told that it was racist so that they know not to do it in the future. Why is this so hard for Australians to understand?

They were told on the night and they did apologise. The sentiment you express here is not what I am complaining about.

I am complaining about people assuming that they were being deliberately racist and I am complaining about people assuming that this implies that Australians in general are deliberately racist. The people who are making these claims are acting out ignorance.

 

[Wowbagger]

I don't have anything to contribute on the "black face" angle. I just thought the act sucked, in general.

 

[lionking]

Silly oldhat, there's no racism or sexism in Utopia. Just let them explain it to you.

Yeah a bunch of fruitcakes, aren't we?

 

[godofpie]

Those of you that have a multi-ethnic circle of friends, country of origin not with standing, would you be comfortable watching and enjoying this performance (Wowbagger's comment duly noted) with those friends or would you be squirming/looking over your shoulder to see what their reaction was? I would not feel comfortable, even if I thought it was funny.

 

[Legend]

To Everyone,

I am not sitting here as an Australian defending Australia. I'm going to sit here as an Australian defending sanity.

There is one thing that really p!sses me off: self-righteous idiots.

If there was one thing that made me want to punch someone more than anything has in this entire year's global news, it was Harry Connick Jnr.'s insinuations on this show.

"[Americans] have taken so much time trying not to make black people look like buffoons." Americans, he is saying, are too "proper" to ever let something as outrageous as this EVER go to air in his almighty and politically correct country.

Tell me that racism is not about the acceptance of other people's culture? Australia's culture is inclusive of jokes that may be offensive to people who's sensitivities are turned up to the highest volume, like Harry Connick's. What he needs to realise, is that what is racist to his stupid head, may not be racist to the majority of Australians, and he needs to respect that if he's to maintain any form of dignity in the storm he's brewing in a teacup.

That paragraph was mostly theoretical. The skit was not racist.

Who in the audience or at home was laughing at the fact that these men had black faces on and black people are fun to laugh at? I'd almost certainly bet every last cent I owned to the fact that no one was.

The joke, what made the skit (hardly) funny, was their impersonation of Michael Jackson, who's brothers happen to be black. They're impersonating black people, how else do you do it? How can you do it non-offensively? Do you do what Captain Righteousness Connick himself did and go without the black face paint?

What if they wore masks? What if they wore (strangely enough) black faced masks of these men? Would it be racist then? Would he even have considered speaking out "on behalf of his country"?

Don't think so. You can't tell me you do.

The skit was only racist because of the fact that Harry himself put the "race" factor into it. He took an entity of a very unfunny performance, and decided to turn it into a racial slur or inconsiderate offense, then use some lovely rhetoric at the end as a proud American, to get his "countrymen" on his side and suddenly he has headed into battle with an army (albeit full of morons).

I respected that man on that show; having never heard him sing previously, I was very impressed. Then to come out and make a mountain out of a mosquito bite really, truly made me get so angry. I may have even yelled "WHAT?!" aloud to a sleeping family at around 10:00 at night because of how annoyed I was at the whole "situation".

In summary: a skit that was unfunny, was called racist by someone who took something so unimportant, so miniscule and blamed it on making the act "funny". He furthered this undeniably implying that the black faces were being laughed at and it therefore degraded black people. The black faces were merely a progeny, however, of the fact that the people being impersonated, happened to be men of colour.

If anything is outrageous, if anything here was worth international news, it was the fact that Harry Connick came to this country, that he "loves", on a national show, and implied that the US is simply much too proper, too politically correct, to ever let something like this go to air. When in fact it was not outrageous at all.

Please, someone please respond to this: agree or disagree, I don't care. I will passionately defend this post.

Alex.

 

[lionking]

Those of you that have a multi-ethnic circle of friends, country of origin not with standing, would you be comfortable watching and enjoying this performance (Wowbagger's comment duly noted) with those friends or would you be squirming/looking over your shoulder to see what their reaction was? I would not feel comfortable, even if I thought it was funny.

Yes I was cringing, but to talk about this skit in the same sentence as the KKK (as some here have done) is a real joke.

Yes, I asked the question in the OP, but my response is that the reaction is way over the top. It was a joke which went wrong, not a racist attack.

 

[gtc]

The international over reaction is bizarre. This week in Australia we had two comedians joking about running over cyclists with their cars. One of the two comedians involved has been on a diet recently and had been the butt of a joke by a radio host who suggested that she would have lost more weight in a concentration camp. Neither of these events led to howls of outrage and international condemnation for Austrlia despite the fact that joking about killing people and trivialising the suffering of holocaust victims is clearly much worse than anything that happened in the skit.

 

[Riayn]

I thought the act was in poor taste and would have thought so if Harry was there to protest about it or not.

I know Red Faces and Hey Hey in general isn't the most intelligent stuff on the box (some would rightly point out it is amongst the stupidest) but I find it hard to believe that no one thought that this act might offend some people. Then again, maybe they did and did not care.

I'm not saying that everything on TV must be so incredibly PC as not to have the remotest possibility of offending anyone, but having an act where people have their faces painted black is really dancing very close to the line of something that is going to be incredibly offensive to large sections of the community.

 

[Riayn]

The international over reaction is bizarre. This week in Australia we had two comedians joking about running over cyclists with their cars. One of the two comedians involved has been on a diet recently and had been the butt of a joke by a radio host who suggested that she would have lost more weight in a concentration camp. Neither of these events led to howls of outrage and international condemnation for Austrlia despite the fact that joking about killing people and trivialising the suffering of holocaust victims is clearly much worse than anything that happened in the skit.

Compared to Kyle's last "performance" where he asked a 14 year old about her sexual experiences and when she admitted she had been raped asked her if that was her only sexual experience, saying that Magda would have lost more weight in a concentration camp is really not that shock worthy.

As for the other comedians, there was a lot of outrage in certain circles but unfortunately there are a lot of motorist who think it is perfectly acceptable to make comments about running over cyclists.

 

[gtc]

I know Red Faces and Hey Hey in general isn't the most intelligent stuff on the box (some would rightly point out it is amongst the stupidest) but I find it hard to believe that no one thought that this act might offend some people. Then again, maybe they did and did not care.

The show was cancelled years ago for being a terribly tired format long past its use by date. They didn't seem to understand at the time why it was no longer watched and they don't seem to have learnt anything since. I think it was a case of everyone involved being more than 20 years out of date and having no idea about what was either funny or appropriate.