Can White With Black Be Helpful and Artistic?

The article  titled White by Richard Dyer, was relieving to read. It was an article of whites on whites. There is a section of the article that really makes a very good point that it is more difficult to define what white is in terms of race. In other words, we are so used to seeing a white representation that its easier to see items that stand out from that norm; however, white is also able to be broken down into other sub cultures. The author uses the example of The Godfather film to make the point the characters in that film are not white, they are Italian Americans. I feel that I liked the section of where the author did an analysis of the film Night of the Living Dead. In this critique, Dyer made a very valid point about how the protagonist of the film was black but the  zombies all were white. This helped viewers see which character to cheer for to either live or die. In addition, Dyer does point out some very interesting points to having whites play zombies. For example, the fact that they need to have trauma to the head demonstrates that they are brain dependent. 

I find the topic of race very interesting. In addition, as a white man, I find it a difficult subject to discuss. Over the course of this month, I have read articles that focused on race and the things that the white culture has done to the races around them. This article brings up the good point of does the movie industry have to be color blind? I think not. I don’t, however, feel that is on the bases of what a particular race is able to achieve to fulfill certain role. For instance, I think it was wrong that director Spike Lee said that only a black person could direct a movie about black people. Also, I am discussing the face of actors not crew or other movie creators. For example, in the article, is mentioned that race was what one could use to be able to define who was or was not a zombie. To film directors, race could be viewed as aesthetically pleasing. For example, in the film “O”, even though was a terrible adaptation of Othello in my mind, still was beautiful love scenes with the African American skin color against the white skin of the woman. Now, the question to raise is that a form of racism? I don’t honestly know....

Images from http://videodetective.com/photos/522/021928_15.jpg

Shake Your Groove Thing, right?

I just read the article Selling Hot Pussy by Bell Hooks. The main focus of this article is how the black female body is portrayed in the media. She first mentions the very graphic example of how the body of Sara Bartmann was dissected and put on display for all to see for five years. The primary sense of wonder was the buttocks of the women that drew fascination. Hooks then continued to talk about how the butt of a black woman is often the focus of the media. For example, she mentions how artist would paint black nudes differently than whites. She then goes more in-depth on an individual level of sexuality with singer Tina Turner and Arthra Franklin. I found that how Hooks example of Turner was very well done for she was able examples from both Tina Turner’s career while she was married to Ike Turner and after she left him. The article then ended on movie and advertising portrayals of women. 

The body of a black women truly is  representative often as a sexual object. For example, I have placed the music video for the song “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix Alot. This song, very often played at high school dances, is actually very graphic. The video shows women moving their buttocks in very suggestive ways while the lyrics are about if on ones to be attractive, they must have “big buns”. This I feel walks hand in hand when Hooks talks about the song “Do the Butt”, which even is a big musical number in the film School Daze by director Spike Lee. In addition, in terms of music, I feel that the song by Destiny Child, “Bootylicious”, is a good example as well. It is about how the body is a sexual object and the measures that some women should take in order to be seen as attractive. Hooks mentions this also about how women, usually black, wear wigs to create a sexy persona. Lastly, notice a majority of the closer shots in general in films and television are on the mid sections of the singers. 

Laughing Through Truth :)

       I just finish reading the article Movin; On Up; Contemporary Television as a Site of Resistance  by Acham, and I felt that it was somewhat what I wished the second half of the coleman article would have been. The article discusses Blacks and television. I does goes a bit more in depth with a more narrow number of television shows that help lead the way for understanding African Americans in that media. I found that the study that Bill Cosby help funded called Enlightened Rasism: The Cosby Show, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream, was how people we responding to the Cosby show. I felt that in the Coleman article tended to show Bill Cosby on a a more of a power hungry role. The article continues with the power of made for T.V. movies and the recognition that they would have received. For example, in Roots and the outcome of the miniseries. I liked how the author also mentioned the fact that the majority of television shows were on minor stations after a very brief time being on the mainstream stations such as ABC. Lastly, The article then starts to have a focus on the black comedian Chris Rock. 

I found that the section about Chris Rock to be very interesting because it went into detail about the show that Rock had on HBO. First, he talked about the racial tension within the African American Community. The section actually opens with a segment that he does that talks about the issue. I feel that the point of risk that Rock shows his show in front of a live audience was risky because sometime his audience does not approve of his jokes. For instance,there is a skit when it is headache medicine for an African American male and one of the jokes it about alack female away. When the female members of the audience heard this, they showed that they disapproved with their groans. 

I think that it is very funny to thing that the past two articles, the leaders against race are comedians. It is actually quite intelligent how these men, both Cosby and Rock, are able to get their intended point across to their audiences. However, it is even brave and intelligent of what these men say when discussing racism. For example, when Rock talks about how he looks up to both black and white comedians and how he was able to be upfront with a college dean about how she “approve” of an affirmative action that is restricting children of different races to have lower odds of gooding to college. To being topics on an even more recent level, even though this media source is not always discussing race, the programs that people get a lot of their political news and other current events from is the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. The fact that these two men and their fellow reporters are able to make comedy while bring up sometimes valuable interesting is genius. I am wondering though who is the next comedian to step up and fight against racism. 

Image from: http://bizbox.slate.com/blog/microphone-with-stand.jpg

Lets Go On a Little Trip Right Here! (Part 2)

      I just finished reading the more of From African American Viewers by Means Colman and I must say that I am actually pretty disappointed. From the beginning to there to chapter four, I really enjoyed the way that Coleman wrote. I felt that they had a very firm grasp on the idea and history of the blacks in the black entertainment business. However, this section seemed to greatly lack. One of the main ways was that I felt that the chapter didn’t go into subjects as much as I felt was needed.
      The main focus of the chapter was television and the black culture. The chapter began with the accomplishment of the Cosby show. It mentioned how this show was able to make an upper middle class family of African Americans. It was oddly enough compared to Amos N Andy in term of success but that was about it. After this section of the chapter, I started to feel that it began to be very repetitive. The structure then became Coleman would mention a show, briefly explain it, and then say it was not as good as the Cosby show. For example, when the writers mention The Fresh Prince of Bell Air, they said that the say the character Carlton would scoot across the floor was similar to Black Minstrel shows. I disagree, I feel that it is just physical comedy and I would find it funny no matter the race. It was up lifting when they quoted Marlon Wayne when he said that it was acceptable for Jim Cary to do the same sort of physical comedy. This does bring up the point of where is physical humor can be funny and not offensive.

      A show that I am really wondering how the writers would view the television show is House of Pain. I honestly, don’t know how I feel about this show. It is about a family that lives and the father, son, and nephew are fire fighters. This show touches base on a lot of issues that family faces; for instance, the subject of divorce. Even though this show is often criticized, I do wonder if the writers would feel that this too is black because feed into stereotypes through dialogue and actions. For example, the father acts a lot like blackface actors because he make plays dumb and remarks every once in a while in not proper English.

Lets Go on a Little Trip Right here! (Part 1)

    There is a lot more to African American culture in the media. Recently I read the begining of From African American Viewers by Mean Colemen this article gives a very thorough overview how blacks were represented in the early entertainment industry.  Coleman first discuss how black face, which is when ashes of cork were applied to a white person’s face. This make-up would be as mask that gives a white actor permission to “plays black”. Later in this time, it oddly enough became African American’s in blackface with red lipstick. I personally find black face and the ideas behind it just insulting and unneeded. It really makes me wonder how ruthless our founding fathers were to find something like this humorous. This then make me think about if the blackface was just apart of the act and if so, would the minstrel show still be found humorous if it was removed and the actors still acted the same. However, I also felt that the break down of the different types of Blackface characters was intriguing because it shows that there was actually multiple layering to shows. 

The timeline of Amos and Andy was very helpful see how conscious the entertainment industry was slowly be coming aware. For example, when the radio show, Amos and Andy, was first presented on the radio, it was to white males portraying the African American voices. However, one the show went on television, CBS new that it was a very necessary precaution to have two African Americans play the roles. Lastly, the article talked about the different eras of the appearance of blacks in the entertainment field. I will discuss some of those later on in my next blog entry. 

I put some-thought of how black face is looked at in today’s culture. An extreme example is Bamboozled which is the concept of blacks wearing blackface for todays entertainment. I find this film very daring and indulging story that Spike Lee under went to direct it. Strangely enough, there is a scene in the film Be Kind Rewind where Jack Black puts on black face to try to play a character. It is part humorous, part offensive. The main character, who is African American, give the response that the audience is thinking, which is a look of surprise and the word, “no”. This does make me wonder if an actor does put black face on for a role, for instance Robert Downy Jr. in Tropical Thunder, would that actor receive praise or criticism. For example, some actors such as Tom Hanks and Christian Bale are recognized when they lose weight for a role or basically got to the extreme to “look” like the character. I just don’t know...

What is the Difference Between Racism and Tradition?

Today I read Arguing Over Images: Native American Mascots and Race by C. Richard King. This article was an in-depth look at Native American Mascots and different views about the mascots. The article used the research from the USA Magazine survey about whether the mascots should remain or stay. One of the points that stood out to me is the large number of people who felt that the mascot should still remain mascots. The views on this subject was able to be broken down into 3 different categories: Retired (eliminate the mascot), revise (make changes to the mascot) or no compete against schools that have the Native American Mascot. The article and then continued to look at the two different kinds of Native American Mascots that there have been. They are the warrior and the clown. The warrior form is the brave and strong, while the clown is a mockery of the race for instance Cheif Wohoo of the Cleveland Redskins. To go even farther into the study, the writers looked at the reasons why certain individuals would feel a certain way. For instance, the pro side of the subject said that it should be viewed as an honor for it is a symbol of bravery, completion, and strength. However, the con side felt that it was just insulting and was an unwanted honor. 

This article touched me on a personal bases because this issue came up at my high school with our mascot of the Radnor Raider. Similar to the article was that the are two sides to this issue, the situation at my school was different because the article didn’t mention how fans may have felt very attached to the mascot because of tradition. For instance, the alumni said it should not change because they grew up with it. Looking back on the football games it really did feed into the stereotype with tribal dance music playing and having strips painted under our eyes. In the end the mascot did change and it became just a football looking mascot. I personal feel that this is a double edge sword because it does make things politically correct, which is right and just, but it also took away a sort of bond between all the fans. For example, cheering for the Raider was something that all the fans both new and old were able to do together. 

Source:Native American Mascots and Race by C. Richard King
Image: http://www.leaguelineup.com/radnorboyssoccer/radnorboyssoccer_logo.gif

A Bit of Culture with a Hint of Hip Hop (Very Rough Draft)

    What exactly is hip hop? Recently, I read the article Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop by Kitwana that proposed a very interesting question of what is exactly is hip hop? Is it the music or a lifestyle? Even though I felt that points of this article mainly focused on the history of hip hop than the racial issue that the title offer, some very valuable points were made. Some may feel that it is the actual music that brings in the crowd. However, the live style associated with the music may seem appealing or drawling audiences. The article mentions about the violent and fight for equal rights during the 80s when rap and hip hop was mainly underground. The hip hop culture then took a turn for either better or worst in the 90s with Tupac and Biggy Smalls feud. But with this lifestyle and enjoyment of the genre of music, does race have a role with in it?

One of the very compelling arguments that was made during the article was if someone is of a white skin color, is it acceptable for them to enjoy the music? A very excellent point was brought up when the writer mentioned a young white man, Matthew, who thoroughly enjoyed hip hop that had only white friends as well as lived in a central America. Since the culture of hip hop tends to be urban, does this mean that it is not “right” for this individual to enjoy this type of music? I feel that this over arcing argument is just a silly thought. For example, would it be wrong for an African American who lives in the city to like country music? I would most certainly hope not. I think that race should not have an impact on people’s entertainment. 

I went through a very interesting phase in my life where I liked rap music. What I think was most appealing to me about the music was that it was a form of hearing stories whether they be made up or about what the artist was undergoing. I will be honest, it was also a way of rebelling because most of the CDs that I owned had a Parental Advisory on it. I do agree with the article when it discussed the impact that the artist Eminem had on the rap culture because I felt that his CD was the stepping stone to other artist. In other words, I guess subconsciously, I felt that he was a rapper that intrigued me because he stood out from the rest of the rap community. This is where I agree with the article when it says, “Part of Eminem is selling is whiteness”. He is the second most famous white rapping artist outside of vanilla Ice. Emininem was actually very smart with the way that he came into the rap culture because of his very distasteful lyrics, he was able to get publicity for his second album as well as be backed by a very famous record producer Dr. Dre. Those elements are what helped him stand out from other artist at that time. It also allowed and made it socially acceptable for a white audience to like this sort of music. I am not saying however, that he is the sole reason why the white community is becoming more and more apart of the hip-hop culture, but what I am saying is that he opening the door.   After listing to his CD “the Marshal Mathers LP”, I went out and bought a Dr. Dre CD and then Snoop Dog. I then went into more of the classic artist of Natorous B.I.G and Tupac.