Bamboozled!

So we got to watch (most of ) Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" in class today. I've got to admit, for never having been a huge fan of Spike Lee's work, what I watched was pretty good. And eye-opening, too. I mean, sure he went way over the top with the racial stereotypes, but it was interesting to see things like the Vaudeville show in action -- something I'd only read about previously.

Variety shows were America's premiere form of entertainment way back when, so it's only fitting that the show was about one. The actors that were supposed to be "silly" or "dumb" almost always wore black face. I remember watching a documentary over Sophie Tucker once. She was a large, Russian-Jewish immigrant with a huge voice. She was good at entertaining people, but since she was so large, they made her into a black face wearing act so she could make people laugh at the same time.

Oh yeah and she couldn't transition into movies because of her large stature -- how's that for petty and chauvinistic?

So after all is said and done, I don't know what to think of the movie. I know it wasn't American History X in terms of craziness, but it was close. It also left me wondering if (god forbid) a television show like that was cast -- how would it fare? Would we take it too seriously? Would it be racist? (yes)

I'm not sure anyone in power is THAT culturally insensitive anymore, are they?