Blackface, YellowFace, Any Face

Is it ever acceptable to wear black face? This was a question posed by our Intro to Cinema teacher, Ruth before we screened The Jazz Singer, 1927. In the film, Al Jolson plays Jack, the son of a Jewish Cantor, who defies his father to follow his dream of becoming a jazz singer. Years later he has made it to Broadway and we see him during rehearsals and on opening night in black face. This portrayal had nothing to do with the story line. In fact, the only time we see a real African American person was when a servant was assisting Mary, Jack's love interest, backstage. Black face was a popular thing during this era but in this film it seems really out of place. Not to say that it should have a place. Anywhere.

Black face negatively portrays African Americans as lazy, poor, and buffoon like. During the early part of the 1900s, African Americans had no rights and little say in these types of performances happening. Blacks even performed in black face. The most famous and highest paid black actor of his time was Bert Williams. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Williams).

Black face dates back to 1441 when West Africans were displayed in Portugal, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface) but black minstrels and blackface didn't begin to formally catch on until the 1830s and were popular for 100 years before attitudes about race and racism began to change.

That isn't to say that black face isn't still around. We see it in modern day media all the time. As we briefly discussed in class, examples can be seen in the films Tropic Thunder where Robert Downey, Jr. portrays an African American soldier; Ted Danson performed during a Fryer's Club roast in 1993 to his then girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg; in 1986's Soul Man, C. Thomas Howell poses as a black student in order to receive a full scholarship. I remember watching this film but never really thought about the message it was sending about black stereotypes. I guess that would have made me a passive racist during the viewing. I should have turned it off. This class has certainly taught me to view films in a new light. Which is really the point isn't it?

Advertising has certainly used its fair share of black face illustrations over the last 180 years. Playbills and sheet music commonly used these images in their marketing. The NAACP mounted a campaign in the 1950s to put an end to blackface performances and images which to a large part succeeded. Still modern day companies still use these images. Cloetta Fazer, a Finland candy maker of Lakritsi Liquorice, has used a black face logo since 1927. Only recently in 2007, did the company decide to change the logo of their most popular candy due to pressure from several Finnish agencies as well as other media sources. It's my opinion that black face is extremely racist in nature and should never be used to portray African Americans in film, stage or any arena.

Another common occurrence was the use of yellow face to portray persons of Asian culture in film. Although there were a few actors of Asian decent, they weren't hired to portray their own ethnicity on screen. Actors such as Mary Pickford in Madame Butterfly, 1915; Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's and more recently Rob Schneider in I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry were made to look like the stereotypical Asian person with buck teeth, slanted eyes, and heavy accented non-English speaking idiots.

What happens when an African American swaps roles and performs in white face as seen in the SNL skit, White Like Me? In the video, Eddie Murphy puts on white makeup and goes out into society to see what it was like to be a white man. Although the skit is meant to be funny and is, it could be seen as stereotyping white people as racists.


Why is this video more socially acceptable as opposed to the Australian video of the Jackson Jive where performers on a talent show dressed in black face and white face to portray the band The Jackson Five. Harry Connick, Jr. was a judge on the talent show and found it appalling and gave the group zero points. The group later apologized.

This spawned a discussion on the American TV talk show The View. The panel discussed this modern day black face and it's negative effect on African Americans worldwide. Whoopi Goldberg is a panel member. And no.. she didn't bring up the 1993 incident of then boyfriend Ted Danson.

There are countless examples of people in black, yellow, white and even red race in American and internationally. While America seems to have taken a stand on what is socially acceptable in modern times, the rest of the world hasn't caught on. So, I ask again. Is it ever acceptable to wear black face? In my opinion, No.

Photo sources: photobucket, ain't it cool.com, wikipedia, wikimedia commons
Video sources: youtube, hulu.com