I don't see him 'blacking up' there He hasn't used 'black face'.
That's more a cheeky dig at evangelical southern preachers....and a little dig at the commercialism of Xmas.
Well if that was his intent why did he alter his colour, hair and accent. He could have done it as a white, southern preacher if that was his intent. No he did it as a coloured person. Me-thinks very double standards.
Well if that was his intent why did he alter his colour, hair and accent. He could have done it as a white, southern preacher if that was his intent. No he did it as a coloured person. Me-thinks very double standards.
But I don't think he's 'blackened' his face in that skit...
And he's from the south...that's the way he talks!
You can create 'spin' as much as you like..its clearly humor based on the appearance and style of another race of Americans, and also the contrast between the brothers black faces and Jacksons white face. It made me cringe and no amount of debating the definition of `racism' can change that. And neither does the humor of a few black comedians excuse this either.
Would you have found the skit just as ok if it had been an Aboriginal band portrayed ..its more valuable to imagine the situation in our own back yard which is what HC was expressing. If the show had presented a bunch of guys sending up an aboriginal band with faces boot polished up, it would have been taken off air permanently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhino1980
I still fail to see how it was racist. Though if I was narrow-minded, and prudish I probably would.
RACISM:
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Hmmm. None of those.
Ever watched Dave Chappel, the African-American comedian? He makes fun of white folk all the time. More so, he makes fun of black people too! White and Black people are in the audience laughing themselves to tears. Eddy Murphy, Chris Rock, Chris Tucker god I could go on. Instead of seeing what they say as racist, I see it as humorous observations about people. There seems to be no backlash against them.
The Jackson Five, were in fact black. They were tremendously talented. Some guys put some black stuff on their faces and mimicked them. There was no suggestion of inferiority, superiority and no derogatory comments made. And there's one of the key problems with our society today. We're all becoming hyper-sensitive to things that just shouldn't matter. What is supposed to make us Australian, thick skin and a good sense of humour, is eroding away. It's alright for Americans to wage illegal wars and cause horrific collateral damage, but they can tell us what is funny and what isn't? In OUR OWN country no less? Come on, they dictate to us too much already and we take too much notice. Did the audience boo? No, they laughed and enjoyed the act in the spirit it was intended, just like Aussies should. Who cares if that idiot doesn't get our sense of humour?
Australia definately does have some racial demons to get past, and this is what we should be working on, not getting all hot and bothered about skits on a variety show.
Seriously, some Aussies need to eat a bowl of concrete for breakfast everyday, because we're becoming a bunch of whimps.
That said, I agree that Darryl handled it the right way.
Quite frankly, all I see here is another example of hypocrisy. This overly sensitive reaction is nothing more than bluster based on a false sense of indignation. Harry Connick Jr has taken the mickey out of black people himself, in order to get a laugh out of an audience and he's not the only one. In any case, this self righteous twit ought to just go back to where he came from and take his supersillious attitudes with him. Go and take a walk in any of the black neighbourhoods in America and see just how PC and sensitive most of their populations are with everyone else living there. The language they use openly about whites (and even themselves, both publicly and privately) would make a religiously PC person turn 24bit shades of red.
In order to get respect you have to earn it. In either case, neither is respectful of one another, or of themselves. PC is nothing but a put down of your own sense of worth and a diminution of your responsibilities and freedom of expression. Just in the same way as being vilifying to anyone is in the same respect.
A little bit of good, adult, common sense needs to prevail here. They need to all grow up and learn to not take things so seriously (or more to the point, take themselves so seriously).
It's not 'spin'. That is something over zealous do-gooders and politicians create. For a pack of white guys to portray a band full of black guys, they would need to put something on their skin. That is the depth of it. If you wanna dig deeper into it, no wonder you're so easily offended! I suppose we should censor all television, internet, only eat mash potato and have sex fully clothed, once a year with the lights off too? A don't forget bible studies. I would hate for my world to be so delicate... Excuse me, I'm off to eat with the rest of the pigs.
They didn't change any lyrics, they weren't good singers and their choreography was pretty lacklustre, so why was the sketch funny? where was the joke?
I have thought about this all morning and I cannot see any more than a parody in a comedy routine, akin to say, a group of people parodying The Rolling Stones by wearing long wigs, putting on fake lips and strut around like Mike Jagger. Or dressing up to imitate ABBA in camp glitter costumes and makeup. Or watching Lttle Britain comedian Matt Lucas performs his highly overt and camp sketch "I'm the only gay in the village". Or Nick Giannopoulos who constantly performed his overacted Wog routine for a decade. Or what about Chris Lilley portraying Tongan student, Jonah Takalua? If I recall his face was darkened by makeup. If you want to play the part down to a tee, this includes not only written material but also the visual look of the performance.
If I want to perform a tribute to Jackson 5 and dress up in 70's costumes and perorm a J-5 song, that's okay? as long as I don't paint my face because, goodness knows those Jacksonss weren't really black were they?
Having said all that, Daryl was a professional in offering airtime for the singer to express his view.
Or Sascha Baron Cohen playing a jew-hating Khazak even though he's Jewish. Or playing a gay fashionista or fully hectic wannabe meddo gangsta. Well said Stephen.
Oh well.....people can make what they like of it.
I hope the show comes back regardless, it'll be a change from the stupid "reality" tv shows which are never reality anyway, and all those other "franchise" shows which bore me to tears........
How many bloody CSI shows do we have to stomach on top of that??
Glad i have an outlet in Astronomy to do something useful with myself!
Hey Hey may be an old and tired format, but still has a big following, and any show that can survive for as long as it did is really a remarkable achievement! I grew up watching this show!
If I want to perform a tribute to Jackson 5 and dress up in 70's costumes and perorm a J-5 song, that's okay? as long as I don't paint my face because, goodness knows those Jacksonss weren't really black were they?
The `joke' was mainly a sight gag revolving around the visual shock of seeing 5 guys we know to be white with black boot polish faces , and the contrast of a guy who was black but pretended to be white. Its about colour, and wouldn't not be so funny in Africa where the majority are black anyway , would it?
These kind of sight gags were probably rife in the last century on the vaudeville circuits when most black people lived in slavery to white Americans and lived pretty miserable lives, and the sight of black people getting up and `doing and being something' was something unusual and easily made fun of.
The basic problem is that for many years white blokes used to put on black face and 'entertain' in the USA. They generally used this as a vehicle to mock and reinforce racial stereotypes. It is considered totally unacceptable now.
It is obvious that the people involved in the sketch did not have these aims.
So from where I sit I can see there is no problem to many people but there are many who will find it offensive. Both groups are correct in their perceptions.
I see it as more in very bad taste than racial overtones.
If I have my information correct the bloke who played MJ was an Indian Plastic Surgeon who was in 'white face' pretending to be a black man who looked like a white man in real life.
He hasn't used 'black face'.
