(no subject)

[novapsyche]

Have you seen Bamboozled? I just did for the first time last night, and I was amazed at how shocked I was. Especially at the montage at the end. Horrified.

Tonight I am watching banned cartoons from the '30s on YouTube. I guess I like feeling my jaw drop. At the same time, I feel there is a duty I have, as an American Studies scholar, to revive a living memory of these ugly bits of entertainment that have been scrubbed from our current collective consciousness. History forgotten is history repeated.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I saw Bamboozled for a communications/media class a few years ago. Unfortunately, it was spread across a couple classes, losing some of its impact.

This is probably a trivial observation, but the thing I noticed (and that added a lot to the satire) was that the dancing, music, and comedy on the TV show was really good.

I don't think I could watch it again, it was too intense.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Intense is certainly a modifier one could use, yes.

[johanna-hypatia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for pointing this out--I read the review and it looks fascinating. I rarely bother going to movies any more, but I'll definitely go see this one. I've admired Spike Lee's work since Do the Right Thing, but hadn't been keeping up with movies lately.

[stampytherhino.livejournal.com]

i'd never seen it, so i went out and got it.

ouch. hot damn, J, that was a good, painful movie. even though i've got a serious allergy to wayans, i took my claritin and muscled through. i think spike lee has a reputation as a sledgehammer of a director -- and "bamboozled" isn't terribly subtle, it's true -- but i don't think a light touch would have hit it home nearly as well as he did.

oh, and in the end, jada pinkett smith blew me away (well, and damon wayans, too). and mos def is still dreamy. but what got me the most were the times when honeycutt was in the audience, talking to all the people in blackface -- and that fucking montage at the end, which just decimated me.

thanks. i'm really glad i watched it.

[jdoggiedogg.livejournal.com]

Do you have any links for those banned cartoons from the '30s?

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

No, I just went to YouTube, plugged in "banned cartoons".

If I go back (I might tonight), I'll update you.

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I've seen a couple of those. No disguising the racism there. I think that material is important to preserve, if for no other reason than to document the history of racism.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

If you haven't seen Bamboozled, I'd like to see it with you sometime. sarahmichigan would probably appreciate it, too.