Blackfaced

Can “Blackface” ever be appropriate?

 

Blackface is a style of entertainment that is based on stereotypes about black people. Blackface continues to be a success even today, and every culture has been a victim. Blackface originated during the minstrel period, and was based on the white men’s characterizations of slaves and free black people. Audiences even expected black people to fit into the typical stereotypes that were portrayed by people in blackface. Many cultures have been characterized, but for some reason many of the black stereotypes still stick around in our society. If blackface can lead people to really believe in stereotypes, can blackface ever be appropriate?

There is heavy use of blackface in the media even in today’s society. In many cases blackface can be very funny, but it all depends on context, execution, and intent. In an episode of “The Mighty Boosh” the spirit of jazz is waken from the dead as one of the main characters plays the trumpet. The spirit of jazz is in blackface, and displays every known stereotype about black jazz musicians from the south. This episode was using the stereotype about black people and jazz, to be funny and ironic. Some people may regard this as being racist, but blackface can be an appropriate form of entertainment.

In a world that is being consumed by the media, it is becoming harder and harder to separate ourselves from what we see in the media. I think that the perception of blackface depends on our ability to separate entertainment and art, from our judgment of the world. The Sarah Silverman Program is a comedy on television, and there is always a risky subject being covered. In an episode of The Sarah Silverman Program, Sarah was in blackface. She believed that it was easier to be a black person than a Jewish person, and because she knows what it is like to be Jewish, she put on blackface makeup, thinking it would make her look like an actual black person and thinking other people would treat her like a black person. This episode is meant explore honest ideas and thoughts and stereotypes about race to be ironic and funny. The writers even made their message very clear because they knew people would only see the shocking blackface instead of the show as a whole with purpose. At the near end of the program, Sarah and her other supporters all in blackface say,

"What do we want?"

"The freedom to explore issues of race in American culture through the use of postmodern irony!"

The Movie "White Chicks" is different because two black males dress up in whiteface as white females. In this movie, two black male cops trade lives with two white, rich, twenty year old females. While conducting their investigation, they paint themselves to look white, dress in women’s clothing and imitate white valley girl stereotypes.  This movie pokes fun with stereotypes about all different types of people, and I think the movie strives to show how inaccurate and nonsensical stereotypes can be. For example, one of the characters fills the stereotype of being the black male who is infatuated with white females. This character then falls in love with one of the male cops, who is at the time dressed up as a white woman. This is funny and ironic because the stereotypical black man who loves white women, falls in love with a black man dressed as a white woman.

Race is a very slippery slope in our society today, and even exploring the issues may be offensive to some people. It all depends on the maturity of the viewer. Growing up, my parents really wanted me to understand that stereotypes and judgments based on them have no validity. As an adult, I have enough understanding of the media and the real world and I understand that what I see in the media isn’t always relevant to real life.

The Mighty Boosh

          

Sarah Silverman's Twitter

Feilding, Noel, perf. The Mighty Boosh. Perf. Julian Barratt, Dir. , and . Film. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEUQtwIwBA&url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNuUNHlsPgI&ei=82IeT-SIOcjZiAKLmPzBCw&usg=AFQjCNHrpc2tfQYbVApW8BURJNkfZ0sc-A.

Padget, Ken. "Blackface!." Blackface!. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan 2012. http://black-face.com/.