swirlspice

When or if Crystal does release a statement concerning his actions I’m guessing the word ‘tribute’ will be used. Perhaps the term ‘subversive’, which tends to be a favorite of those defending Fred Astaire’s one blackface performance in 1936’s Swing Time. Astaire’s imitation of Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson is often given a pass because it was meant as an homage to the man he considered a colleague in dance, and because it was an imitation of a specific person, not the race as a whole. It wasn’t meant to be offensive, the theory goes–which of course means the viewer should just ignore the history behind blacking up and enjoy the dancing.

Crystal’s defenders seem to be expressing the same views, some even going as far as to point out that because he didn’t do it in the traditionally correct way (burnt cork mixed with water to make the blackface paste, coupled with a deliberate emphasising of Black features like the lips and eyes) it shouldn’t be put in the same class as “real” blackface.

Blacking up is blacking up, though, whether or not you do it ‘right’. And call me crazy, but it should never be funny. Remember the feeling you got the first time you saw Bugs Bunny in blackface for the first time during your Saturday morning cartoons Or maybe you accidentally saw Swing Time or an old Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney movie without anyone there to explain it to you.

When you see a film like Bamboozled, Spike Lee has purposely laid the groundwork for you to have a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, but when it comes to casual occurrences as with Bugs Bunny, Judy Garland, and Billy Crystal you start having to defend your feelings of offence and discomfort others. Done ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, blacking up evokes a sense of nostalgia that is anything but fond and comforting.