Bamboozled and African Americans in Todays Industry Essay

The movie Bamboozled by Spike Lee is a very interesting movie which brings up a lot of different points. Although Bamboozled did not receive great reviews like some of Lee’s other movies, I think it brought up a lot of important questions regarding the media and the way film portrays African Americans on T.V. Lee’s movie brings to light the notion that to be black and on television you have to play a certain role or type of character. He makes the point that African Americans are expected to be a particular type of character and that their lives reflect that role. Lee also makes a statement that to be African American and live in the U.S. you have to act a certain way. If you want to be successful you have to entertain or act in a manner†¦show more content†¦The movie takes place in New York. Bamboozled is a movie about an African American TV producer, Pierre Delacroix, who is trying to get fired because he thinks he is going to get fired anyway. Delacroix and his secretary, Sloan, come up with the idea of casting two street bums, Sleep ‘n Eat and Mantan, in their new millennium minstrel show. The idea is to create such a controversial show that Delacroix would be fired, but instead the show is a hit. Delacroix’s plan backfires and he creates a new racial show that just adds to the stereotypical racial shows in America’s history. Lee’s movie brings up some very interesting questions. Lee illustrates the question of value through the role of Delacroix. Delacroix is faced with question of what is more important, to be successful or to be morally and ethically correct? Throughout the movie Lee uses very controversial words to describe situations and characters. He uses words like Alabama porch monkey, coon, Tommy Hill Niger, and Negro. He uses these words to show Americans the stereotypes America has about African Americans. Stereotypes play a big role in Bamboozled. The main actor Delacroix doesn’t even know his true identity. He acts white during the whole movie even though he is a black man. This depicts the stereotype of a successful black businessman. Lee manages to incorporate almost every black stereotype into his movie Bamboozled. The different characters portray the different African American stereotypes seen inShow MoreRelatedRacism And The Failure Of Alternative Methods Essay1541 Words   |  7 Pagesunarmed African American men. These have led to movements such as the black lives matter protests that have spread widely and quickly. And as before these protests have been met by heavy criticism for the methods it is deploying. But it has got people talking and that is the first way to change because with no conversation comes no change. These methods, in my opinion, are being deployed due to the failure of alternative methods. The methods used in the past were through film and music. Today I willRead MoreEssay on Taking a Look at African-American Cinema1543 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscrimination. African American cinema is enshrouded in history that depicts these themes of racism, struggle, and deprivation. Yet, this same cinema also shows scenes of hope, artistic spirit, intellectual greatness, and joy. Black actresses, actors, directors, producers, and writers have been fighting for recognition and respect since the great Paul Robeson. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s was fueled by black cinema through films like A Raisin in the Sun. Progressions in the industry wereRead More African American Women in Early Film Essay2160 Words   |  9 PagesAfrican American Women in Early Film   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In early film many African American actresses portrayed roles as mammies, slaves, seductresses, and maids. These roles suppressed them not allowing them to show their true talents. Although they had to take on these degrading roles, they still performed with dignity, elegance, grace and style. They paved the way for many actresses to follow both blacks and whites. These women showed the film industry that they were more than slaves, mammies, and maidsRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pages we generally take people at their word unless we have a reason to be suspicious. Answers (b) and (c) give worse reasons. Answer (b) asks us to believe Davids prediction from two years earlier. It makes more sense to trust what David is saying today (which is what we have in answer (a)) than what he said two years ago about the future. Answer (c) gives us a very good reason to believe that the uncle is dead but gives only a very weak reason about the cause of death. Maybe the uncle did drugs