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Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate From left to right (Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Janet Jackson, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rasahad, Loretta Divine, Tessa Thompson, Thandie Newton) |
The movie was amazing. The adaptation of the choreopoem to the screenplay was amazing.
The cast is amazing and the integration of the poems throughout the movie were smooth and
easy to comprehend. I love poetry , especially ones that may relate to me. A good many of
them did and it was the poems along with the situation that brought me to tears. Ntozake
Shange is a vivid , very conscious writer. Her words paint a very clear picture of people and
their situations. So many people from so many different walks of life and who are any color
could relate to the situations and characters in this movie. That is why I would recommend
everyone, man, boy, girl woman to go see this movie (not necessarily child because of the
language and violence and sexual content). You can indeed take "colored" to mean any race
because women of all races go through the issues the women in the movie encounter and
tackle everyday. The play/ choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide
When The Rainbow Is Enuf" is all about getting through when falling down. It is about
eventually getting up and finding yourself, your place, your "rainbow"
- check out her blog! www.chaneliman.com
Blackface is theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and propagated American racist stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon ".
This act was indeed offensive to African Americans and in the film , an African American television writer, hungry for fame and recognition uses the minstrel show idea , turns it into a "modernized" new millenium version to create a new tv show. The show takes the television world by storm and just like anything that goes up, it comes down. Things come crashing down from people's ignorance, to denial resulting in if not everyone's physical but emotional fate and demise.
The Best Part : Watching it taught me so much I did not know, from the origins of blackface to the effects that it had on so many people and indeed how offensive it can be and is to African Americans even now today. Spike Lee's creative mind is essentially used to teach us and I am grateful that I have had this opportunity to learn.We as African Americans are forced to look at ourselves and how we are bringing ourselves down, from using the "n-word" amongst ourselves or portraying ourselves willingly as "gangstas and hoes" Just like Michael Jackson said, we have to look in the mirror at ourselves and make the change before we can put the blame on anyone else. It starts with us.
The Worst Part: The Reality of it. Actually seeing the characters in blackface, the full-out costumes and "shucking and jiving" was shocking and painful. I also did not like the killings, death. Me being a very emotional person would rather learn hard , tough realities but still have a happy ending. In Bamboozled, that was not the case. People in the movie die because of one misunderstanding or another. No one really had to die, but the fate of a character is usuallly essential in understanding and getting across the full meaning of the story. I cried. Couldn't stop thinking about the history, A reality that was not so long ago.
As a result or my racing thoughts and "bamboozled" mind, I came across this video, of an Australian group called the "Red Faces" in blackface portraying The Jackson Five as a "tribute" on an Australian show called Hey Hey it's Saturday . I would not call this a tribute as they are making fun of Michaels skin tone and karate chopping thier crotches. Harry Connick Jr., An American singer and guest judge speaks out...
Bamboozle: 1.: to deceive by underhanded methods : dupe, hoodwink
