Analyzing Cultural Presentations: Bamboozled by Spike - Essay Example

Analyzing Cultural Presentations In the American film industry, racial stereotyping has been utilized in two ways. The first way is through the discouragement or challenge of racial stereotypes. The second way is through the capitalization on racial stereotypes to make a film sell like hot cake. Bamboozled by Spike Lee is a mix of these two uses in an intricate pattern (Gubar 30). The film criticizes the ways through which African Americans forcefully become false versions of themselves to survive in the society. African Americans are forced to measure their value in the society dominated by white culture. Such a move depends on the degree to which the African Americans in question have been assimilated (32). The assimilation pushes Africans to formulate a public persona different from their real identities. Bamboozled exposes the historical portrayal of African-Americans in the American cinema. The images at the end of the film are a documentary to the satire therein (Black 20). Understanding the film in a better way calls for putting it in its context before the cinema emerged. Race is a social construction because the stereotypes of blacks reflect the perceptions of American whites (Epp 17). The stereotypes relate to the white dominion over Africans as opposed to the realities of the time. The abolition of slavery never put the stereotypes to an end. There emerged a new form of imperialism replacing the “noble savage” with the “ignoble savage” (20). Whether savages or children, Africans were in no instance perceived as being on the same level as whites. Despite not being slaves, Africans were still not given statuses similar to the whites. Certain groups such as the Irish and the Jews had to become whites with resultant stereotyping in the 20th century (Laski 1095). These stereotypes were so widespread that the entertainment industry felt it prudent to embrace them. Bamboozled followed this path. Bamboozled has a unique storyline written in a clever way (Ebert 1). Pierre Delacroix (De La) is an African-American television writer. He navigates a minstrel show complete with three-dimensional characters such as Aunt Jemima, Man Tan, and Sleep ‘n’ Eat. The writer’s intention in the beginning was to invoke popular outrage to facilitate his sacking from the television station (Ebert 1). This would relieve him of the obligations that he considers tiresome and boring. Surprisingly, however, De La’s show succeeds massively to the extent that the outrage against it becomes negligible and irrelevant. Alongside the African-American entertainers, he has brought on board for the show – Womack and Manray – the combination becomes the worst form of racial stereotyping (Ebert 1). American blacks are portrayed as ignorant, lazy, and self-effacing buffoons. Bamboozled ends with much rage towards De La and Man Tan his main performer and dancer. The characters in Bamboozled have formulated a persona of “blackness” in various ways. They do this so that they can be employed and succeed in life. Only then will they fit in a society dominated by whites (Ebert 1). Whites control the entertainment industry in every aspect. Consequently, these characters have a huge task of scaling up the ladder and making exploits in the industry. Precisely, all the characters in Bamboozled wear public masks that are distinct from their authentic selves. De La, Julius Hopkins, Sloan Hopkins, Womack, and Manray have public roles in the film, which contradict the inner truth of their being. The characters suffer a great deal due to this contrast (Powell 46). Only Junebug – Pierre’s father – escapes the double consciousness. Junebug eschews the white society to avoid meeting the expectations of the white society. As mentioned above, De La first wanted a very outrageous show whose failure would be imminent thereby leading to his dismissal from work. As a black writer in an industry dominated by whites, De La felt that his employer – Thomas Dunwitty – did not consider his views quite important (Powell 45). There is some justification for this feeling. Spike Lee uses his camera to put more weight on this justification. During the meeting of writers, Spike Lee makes the audience look down on and up to De La and Dunwitty respectively. These different positions reveal the most powerful person between the two in that particular instance. As much as whites invite blacks to the negotiating table, the terms have been predetermined, which invite destruction and violence upon conclusion of the negotiations (Powell 47). Surprisingly, Dunwitty picked the minstrel show. On the face of it, Dunwitty seemed to understand the troubles that blacks face. Part of the reason for this could be the fact that Dunwitty’s wife is a black woman (Nowatzki 119). Greater contrast emerges in the accents of De La and Dunwitty. The former has a white accent while the latter has a black accent. The truth of Dunwitty’s blackness and De La’s whiteness can be explained in two senses. Firstly, De La is a pure black despite his efforts to achieve success in a world dominated by whites. On a similar note, Dunwitty is a pure white despite his attempts to appear black (Nowatzki 120). Secondly, Dunwitty’s blackness and De La’s whiteness are mere social creations and illusionary in this regard. The minstrel show becomes Dunwitty’s after he adopted it. He makes the show more degrading than De La hoped it to be. After adoption, the stereotypes covered not only the performers but also the audience. De La destroys his life and the lives of several other people such as Sloan Hopkins. This makes the film more tragic. Despite De La’s acknowledgment of the vilification of blacks and discrimination of black entertainers, he fails to appreciate the denigration of women in the society (Keeling 238). Sloan was at the heart of De La’s show and was equally surprised by the success of the show. However, when Sloan accused De La of contributing to the greater success of the show, he accused her of scaling up the organizational ladder through sexual favors (239). Oppression is sad partly because the victims have the urge to be on top of subordinate groups available. The intersection of effaceable power sets in here. Oppressed men often want to be above women and homosexual men (239). The manner in which De La accused Sloan demonstrated his power assertion over her because she was subordinate to him and because she was a woman (Henry 119). Despite the fact that De La is below his boss and the society dominated by whites, he has financial and emotional power over Sloan. The accusation could be a sufficient defense for the disaffected white community members against any Affirmative Action claim brought by him. Manray and Womack’s performances are at the peak of the film’s tragedy. As the film commences, the two men have nothing to help them obtain the basic needs of life (Bamboozled). Their only hope is in Manray’s talent at dancing. It is hard to blame these men for appearing in a black face when the contrary meant hopelessness. The dancing talents of these men bring more money for De La as he was able to convince the men to degrade themselves on television (Nowatzki 116). De La promised them material success in this regard. At certain scenes, the men go through extreme pain when they paint their faces black using burnt cork (Bamboozled). These scenes make the audience see the world the masks and blackened faces of the characters. Womack in one emotional scene covers his face using his hands as he changes in Manray’s presence (Bamboozled). Womack plays the part of a submissive, uneducated slave that featured the minstrel shows of post-civil war America. Womack regains his dignity when he quits the show. He finds a way to his true self thereafter (Nowatzki 118). Womack turns down the financial rewards of selling out his true self. In so doing, he surmounts the evils dominant in the show thereby becoming admirable to the audience (Barlowe 5). Manray learns from Womack’s refusal to propagate racism. Manray demonstrates the lesson by walking without a mask on stage and making the audience see his true self. Manray reclaims his real identity in this moment of transformation. He refuses to propagate culturally constructed negative stereotypes. Manray forces the audience to acknowledge the realities of racism hence the name Bamboozled. In conclusion, Bamboozled is a complex film that presents the racial identities in America. This essay has analyzed the film from both supportive and opposing angles. The film supports racial stereotypes through its black characters who try to achieve success in a white dominated society by putting masks. On the other hand, it opposes racial stereotypes through the characters of Womack and Manray who finally realize that racial stereotypes are wrong hence should not be encouraged through film. These two characters abandon their masks and black faces thereby making the audience realize their real identity. This analysis is important as it helps the reader acknowledge the negative effects of racial stereotypes. Regardless of how one tries to disguise himself or herself, the truth remains that the real identity cannot be changed. Works Cited Bamboozled. Dir. Spike Lee. 2001. VHS. New Line Home Entertainment, 2009. Barlowe, Jamie. ““You Must Never Be a Misrepresented People”: Spike Lee’s Bamboozled.” Canadian Review of American Studies, 33.1 (2003): 1-16. Black, Ray. “Satires Cruelest Cut: Exorcising Blackness in Spike Lees "Bamboozled".” The Black Scholar, 33.1 (2003): 19-24. Ebert, Roger. Bamboozled Review. Roger Ebert, 2000. Accessed at Epp, Michael. “Raising Minstrelsy: Humor, Satire and the Stereotype in The Birth of a Nation and Bamboozled.” Canadian Review of American Studies, 33.1 (2003): 17-36 Gubar, Susan. “Racial Camp in The Producers and Bamboozled.” Film Quarterly, 60.2 (2006): 26-37. Henry, Matthew. "He Is a "Bad Mother*$%@!#": Shaft and Contemporary Black Masculinity" Matthew Henry. African American Review, 38.1 (2004): 119. Keeling, Kara. “Passing for human: Bamboozled and digital humanism.” Women & Performance, 15.1 (2005): 237-250 Laski, Gregory. “Falling Back into History: The Uncanny Trauma of Blackface Minstrelsy in Spike Lees Bamboozled.” African American and African Diaspora Studies, 33.4 (2010): 1093-1115. Nowatzki, Robert. ““Blackin up is us Doin White Folks Doin Us”: Blackface Minstrelsy and Racial Performance in Contemporary American Fiction and Film.” Literature Interpretation Theory, 18.2 (2007): 115-136. Powell, Gerald Alan. “Rhetoric of identity: An inquiry into symbolic syntax and composition of black identity in Bamboozled.” Journal of African American Studies, 9.3 (2005): 45-53. Read More