Is a Minstrel act not shocking outside the US (Hey Hey It's Saturday reunion)?

[parzival]

I put this in the PoR because I expect there may be some strong reaction. But I am curious to have the question answered.

Here's the incident, though I don't know all the details: The Australian show "Hey Hey It's Saturday" apparently had a reunion special and brought back an act from 20 years ago called "The Jackson Jive". Said act consists of several white people in blackface dancing in the style of the Jackson Five.

(American singer) Harry Connick, Jr. was a judge on the show and was unsurprisingly appalled. He comes back after a bit to talk about it after they realize how offensive it was.

The thing that I couldn't quite gauge is the audience reaction. One judge gave it a '1' but the other graded it '7' for their dancing ability. There's no way any show in the US would bring an act like this on. Even 20 years ago it wouldn't have been done. So what is the general opinion on this, especially from Australians - is there much awareness of how this appears?

[ivan astikov]

Let's face it - Aussie men in general aren't exactly known for their decorum and sensitivity.

These fuckers should have been beaten up on stage.

[5er]

I wonder if the judges would have changed the scores for the beating.

[Feirefiz]

Non-Australian here.

An act like this wouldn't go over well, although the reaction would be nowhere near as hostile as in America.
On the other hand we don't have this strong taboo against blackface in general.

[The Original An Gadaí]

I find this whole issue a bit confusing. Minstrel shows are distasteful because of the legacy of subjugation and racism, I understand that, and I thought the link in the OP was crap apart from anything else. It looked like from 1970's British television. But, as crude as the OP video is, it begs the questions, is it out of bounds for actors to perform as people of other races?
You also end up splitting hairs when it comes to this and it shows up the chimera of race.

Anyway here's another clip for your enjoyment.



The OP reminded me of this picture of Mickey Rooney.



Also here's a video about Padstow's "Darkie Day".

[ivan astikov]

I'd like to see a coachload of Jamaican yardies turn up in that little village and put a permanent end to their fun and frolics.

[jali]

I don't think I'm overly sensitive and I can take a joke for just a joke - this hurt to watch.

I feel an almost overwhelming sadness.

[ivan astikov]

I don't think I'm overly sensitive and I can take a joke for just a joke - this hurt to watch.

I feel an almost overwhelming sadness.

Yup, Jali. This is the 21st century we are living in; there is no excuse for this shit anymore.

[hatesfreedom]

America doesn't have a problem with blackface, we have a problem with bad blackface. Robert Downy Jr in Tropic Thunder? Sure, that was ok. The makeup was well done and we can all believe in our hearts the crazy devoted actor characters purpose behind doing it. Dave Chappel went white face for a couple of his skits. Hilarious. But this abortion of a performance? It's offensive, cheap, and just bad.

[The Original An Gadaí]

America doesn't have a problem with blackface, we have a problem with bad blackface. Robert Downy Jr in Tropic Thunder? Sure, that was ok. The makeup was well done and we can all believe in our hearts the crazy devoted actor characters purpose behind doing it. Dave Chappel went white face for a couple of his skits. Hilarious. But this abortion of a performance? It's offensive, cheap, and just bad.

There isn't a simple, nasty "white" stereotype either.

[Feirefiz]

But, as crude as the OP video is, it begs the questions, is it out of bounds for actors to perform as people of other races?

It think this highlights a difference between the situation in the US and some other countries like Germany.

An act like the one in the OP using nothing but blatant racial caricatures would not fly.

However I get the impression that the taboo in the US goes beyond that. "Blackface" is unacceptable in almost every context.

For example here is a clip from the German version of SNL. It's from the mid-nineties, but its the best example that I found right now. Not surprisingly for a country with an estimated number of Blacks somewhere below 0.4% the cast was all white. In a recurring segment one guy always played an interviewer, the other a real or fake celebrity of the week. That week's "guest" was Mike Tyson.



My understanding is that shows in the US would be a lot less likely to do someting like this, but here nobody thinks anything of it.

On the extreme end the spectrum you have the "star singers" who go from door to door on epiphany portaying the three magi and blessing your home in exchange for a small donation. I have heard of expats who were at least seriously surprised by this.

[Sarahfeena]

Not only offensive, but dumb and not funny. What's the point of that show supposed to be?

[parzival]

Well, there are examples from SNL itself of actors portraying people of another race. Adam Sandler did Bill Cosby and Jimmy Fallon did Chris Rock. My reaction was of vague discomfort but I didn't find it out and out offensive like the Jackson Jive routine.

As hatesfreedom said, it's the 'bad blackface' that's a bigger problem. I'd say anything that looks like a minstrel show is completely out of the question. Something that is shown only as a caricature to make jokes about race (like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's) is out as well. If they'd brought out the Mike Tyson character in a gorilla suit that wouldn't fly, but the bit linked didn't really bother me. In the US that might have been done, but it probably would only get a mild reaction.

My feeling is that it's somewhat a reaction to the lack of minorities on network television - an Asian impression on SNL bothers me simply because it's as if they couldn't find any Asians to fill the part.

on MadTV was bothersome but not appalling; she was mainly a caricature of immigrants and actually funny at times. It did bother me that they tried to dance around her ethnicity when it was pretty obvious she fit Asian stereotypes (black hair, her accent, working at a nail salon).

[Zuul]

That was...bad. I don't even know how to describe it other than "bad." It wasn't funny, it wasn't good dancing, it wasn't even friggin' Jackson Five songs. It was an excuse for a bunch of pudgy, untalented white guys to wear afro wigs and shoe polish on their faces on television.

And, yes, I suppose those stereotypes don't hold the same weight in Australia as they do in America, but they're portraying a specific group of African Americans, using stereotypes that are keenly offensive to African Americans. Somewhere along the way, I'd think somebody with a brain would realize that they were doing something deeply offensive to another culture. Apparently not.

It was unfathomably stupid on multiple levels.

[Jaglavak]

While chatting with an asian friend and her mother:

Ann: Hey Mom, I've been wondering. Up at school I've heard jokes about blacks, asians, jews, indians.... So where are all the jokes about white people?

Ann's mom: Well honey you see, white people just aren't funny.

Me: BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHahahahaha heh..... What?