Blackface Minstrelsy may very well have been the single most popular American form of entertainment from the 1840's through to the 1940's. Its popularity waxed and waned, from a peak in the 1850's, through a gradual decline until a revival in the 1880's, followed by a gradual shift toward more "refined" versions produced by both amateur and professional companies in the period between WWI and WWII. The 1940's saw its permanent decline, in large part due to social changes, integration of the armed forces, and the post-war rise of television, although it still survives in a few isolated places such as Derby Connecticut, where its clown-face "Gang Show" is now in its 81st year (they stopped using blackface in 1944). In the UK, where minstrelsy had been enormously popular from its earliest period, the Black and White Minstrel Show remained on the air until 1978!
Of course it is easy to see this tradition as fundamentally compromised from the start, as it relied upon a distorted, comical, theatrical version of "blackness" devised by white entertainers. And yet, from the beginning, it was a hybrid form, appropriating bits of actual Black culture and mixing them with elements such as Irish jigs, regional humor, melodrama, and early skit comedic routines. As early as the 1850's there were a number of Black Blackface troupes ("Black people in blacker faces," as Pierre Delacroix puts it), some of which enjoyed even wider success than white troupes. The commercial success of the form, for better and for worse, paved the way for other artforms which were, or were perceived as, "Black," including Dixieland jazz, blues, and Black vaudeville.
Could such a form ever, in this day and age, have a revival? Somehow, the proposition which in Spike Lee's Bamboozled seems so absurd, seems closer to reality today than when the film was released ten years ago. What does this mean? Or do you disagree -- is such a show unlikely to ever be aired by any network or production company today?
If this were to resurface, I believe it would be accepted as a parody, such as something seen on SNL. Media such as television is able to get away with much more than an individual(s) performing something like this on the streets, because shows such as SNL for example are accepted as pushing boundaries and being politically incorrect. However, a less known source would immediately be bashed for racial intolerance.
ReplyDeleteCory P Kirk
Something like this in my opinion would also be seen in parody or sketch comedy, because the blatant racial innuendoes would not be mainstreamed in modern day format. I believe that is this was to appear at all, forms of this would be taken and placed in a more subtle environment within the context of shows, as the signs of the times are just too sensitive for this to be viable in this society.
ReplyDeleteIf Blackface was the resurface today, I believe that it would have it's fair share of backlash from every one. A photo of Ted Danson was shown in class, with his face painted black as a form of dedication to Whoopi Goldberg, and Mr. Danson was criticized and called "racist" for putting on this makeup. My opinion is that the blackface entertainment was popular during the 1840s to 1940s for a reason, it died down for a reason and I don't believe that people would be accepting of this "entertainment" today. Yes, it could be seen on Saturday Night Live but, would only be effective if a black man or woman were portraying the character, not a white person portraying a black man or woman - people today would find it extremely offensive.
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