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...
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