Streaming Bamboozled Online
Jeudi, juillet 29th, 2010 |
Streaming Bamboozled Online.
Movie Title: Bamboozled Bamboozled is available for streaming or downloading. |
I finally saw this film recently after reading an editorial that mentioned this film in regards to how the racial stereotypes perpetuated in Minstrel shows continue this day in any rap video you see. This film is a much needed eye opener, a satire with a deeper message. The use of satire is often necessary to bring to people’s attention the underlying truth that most cannot accept at face value. This film perfectly draws out on our society’s racism and race relations.
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A few years ago, I remember coming across an advertisement for a Minstrel show that my church congregation put on in the 1950s. Considering that there are few African American members of my church to begin with, it was a complete shock to me who these nice elderly people could do such a thing. With “Bamboozled”, Spike concludes the film with an excellent montage of images from movies, TV shows, cartoons that all featured the worst stereotypes of African Americans as bug-eyed, big lipped, ants-in-pants, cannibalistic animals, who sang and dance, shucked and jived, all kinds of terrible traits. These images were taken from Shirley Temple movies and films with Bing Crosby, Mickey Rooney, and Judy Garland. It was an eye opener. Even Warner Brothers cartoons of my recent youth (1970s) contained racist images in the guise of Bugs Bunny in some of his antics.
I’ve been meaning to watch all of Spike Lee’s films someday, as I like the statements he tries to make in his films. He has amassed an interesting body of work, though some were more successful than others. For me, “Malcolm X” and “Do The Right Thing” are his best works, and this one would be third, ahead of “Jungle Fever”. I loved the performance of Michael Rapaport as the cool talking head honcho of CNS Television, who has an expressive way with words and sounds more “black” than the faux intellectual nerdiness of Damon Wayans, who plays Pierre Delacroix, which we learn in the film is a pretentious name he gives himself to distance himself from an embarrassing past. I also liked Jada Pinkett Smith in this film, as Delacroix’s assistant who doesn’t agree with the direction he’s taking with his show idea.
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The premise is that Delacroix can’t quit his job, so he comes up with a plan to make the most racist show he can imagine that will cause CNS to fire him. He proposed a new Minstrel Show for the New Millennium, featuring two African American street performers (the excellent Tommy Davidson and Savion Glover) in black face make up. Rapaport’s Mr. Dunwitty loves the idea and claims that the show would be even bigger than “Friends”. They shoot the pilot show to an unsuspecting audience who don’t know if its okay to laugh. Tommy Davidson plays “Sleep n Eat” and Savion Glover plays Mantan, the tap dancing idiot. Their variety show features schtick anyone who has ever seen “Hee Haw” would be familiar with…lame brain one liners, idiot people, and exaggerated stereotypes.
The satire is that the studio execs love the show and pick up 12 episodes, and when it airs on TV, it becomes an instant smash show. Soon audiences are showing up each week in black face and proclaiming their pride in being “n——”, even though nearly all of them are white. The film is so over the top, poking fun at our double standards (how many claim not to be racist because they listen to rap or watch basketball). The truth is…we expect African Americans to entertain us (in music and sports), but beyond that, we don’t take them seriously as people. True, the hip hop community is quite influential in the language and style of our advertising and pop culture, but how many African American CEOs and Mayors and Governors and Senators are there? In the financial matters of our country, we still impose a glass ceiling on anyone not part of the white male demographic…so what is our minstrel show of today? Spike Lee made a point in the commentary track that you don’t have to wear black face to have a minstrel show. It goes on without people being aware of it. For that reason, I’m grateful he made this film. Just seeing the disgusting collectibles from the past century (such as the “jolly n—– bank” or the Aunt Jemima dolls) is a reminder of our racist past. We mustn’t forget even as we move on to greater inclusion and burying old stereotypes, allowing people to be who they are regardless of race.
I want to give this film 5 stars, but because the film veers into a strange tangent for about 10 minutes near the end of the film, I simply thought Spike Lee got lazy with how he wanted to end this film. It was a cheap and lazy way to go, even though he explains his reason on the commentary track. I disagree, because if done right, his ending would have punched up the meaning of this film. I’m at least glad that the montage at the end saved this film on a somewhat redeeming note. If anything, this film serves as a reminder of our recent history and how overt racism really was. The film succeeds as an awakening to the forms into which the Minstrel Show of the last century has morphed into something a little bit different, but accomplishing the same devastating effect. I know I’ll never be able to look at another rap video in the same way again. Thank you Spike Lee!
I have recently decided to finally expose myself to the work of Spike Lee, putting his entire body of work at the top of my DVD rental list, and Bamboozled was the first one to arrive. I must say that I can not wait for the rest of them to come in. The only negative aspect of this film is something that several others have pointed out…the voice of Damon Wayans’ character. Through the film it did begin to grate on me as I heard it, seeming too forced and unreal. However, Wayans did a solid job of portraying a man who, having made a horrible mistake of judgement, slips into denial and ends up rationalizing the error to himself until he believes he actually did the right thing. The supporting cast was also very strong, Savion Glover is a very talented tap dancer, and Tommy Davidson shows that he is more than just a comedic actor. Michael Rappaport pulled off what was a very dangerous role, as it is so easy to play the role of a white man trying to be black and turn it into a cliche of ignorance. Instead, he was very believable and very tasteless and rude, a flawless performance.
As for Spike Lee? I thoroughly enjoyed his direction. The graininess and edginess of the quality of the cinematography is a beautiful character of his work. It has a distinct style that can be identified as his work immediately. He wrote a very powerful story, showing several sides of the struggle of the black man trying to be successful in this day and age. Sometimes, it seems that the only way to succeed is to sell out in one way or another. In the end, the deaths are metaphorical, symbolizing the cultural death of those who sell out, that they are eventually ostracized from both the white and the black sides of society. The story is a Shakespeare-style tragedy, rife with internal conflicts, a main character with a fatal flaw, and an ending with permanent finality. There really is not a hero, nor is there a villian, as none of the characters are one-dimensional. Their conflicts are never black and white, no pun intended. They are complex problems created from the characters’ choices and their circumstances. It is easy to see how their mistakes are made. We can believe that we would not have made the same choices if we were in their position, but that is easy to say from the outside looking in.
In this film, Lee told the tale of several real and human characters, presenting a struggle that he sees every day. He withheld judgement of these people, and did not force his opinion on the viewer, allowing the viewer to decide who was right and who was wrong. I look forward to seeing the rest of his work.
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