Bamboozled Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)February 9th, 2001
BAMBOOZLED (2000) / ** 1/2
Directed by Spike Lee, from his screenplay. Starring Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith. Running time: 135 minutes. Rated R for offensive language throughout by the MFCB. Reviewed on February 1st, 2001.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Some of the best -- and undeniably most provocative -- movies of the past half-century have studied the problem of racism. In American cinema, most (though, certainly, not all) of these works have dealt with prejudice against the black community, and one of the most successful purveyors of these films has been Spike Lee. "Bamboozled" is Lee's newest treatise on the subject, and this time around he has pushed the envelope one step further by examining bigotry toward African Americans not just from white people, but from black individuals as well. And in concert with this, Lee looks at the way people respond to what they see on television -- how the medium itself can help what was once controversial, and even obscene, become an easily-accepted part of our culture.
Lee's key character is Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), a black programming executive for a fictitious American network. Lee clearly sets up Pierre to be a person who, if he is not ashamed of his race, at least has set himself apart from it. Not only has he changed his name to make it sound upper-crust and distinctly non-black, but he speaks in such a bizarre, affected accent that even his own father questions him about it. With their ratings floundering, Pierre is charged by his boss (Michael Rapaport) with coming up with a new show to appeal to the underserved black population -- something which veers away from the formula ensconced by "The Cosby Show" and its imitators. (One of the questions Lee poses is why all black-centered programmes are sitcoms. This isn't strictly true -- "New York Undercover", from "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf, was a moderate success on FOX in the mid-Nineties and featured a mostly black and Hispanic cast -- but Lee's point is valid all the same.)
In response, Delacroix invents a show designed to thrust the topic of racism back in the public spotlight by indulging in that very thing. Christening it "Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show", Delacroix envisions it as a modern update on the black exploitation vehicle of the mid-nineteenth century. He recruits two street performers, Manray (Savion Glover) and Womack (Tommy Davidson) to star in the programme: Manray will play the eponymous Mantan while Womack portrays his pal, Sleep 'n Eat. Amongst the supporting cast are such offensively named characters as Honeycutt and Aunt Jemima. And the racist ingredients don't end there: Mantan and Sleep 'n Eat live on a watermelon plantation, are lazy and out of work, steal chickens, and generally indulge in every stereotype imaginable. Even more obscenely, all the actors in "Mantan" wear blackface (Delacroix insists Manray and Womack make their own make-up, just like their forebears did a century and a half earlier). And yet, despite the show's heinous content, "Mantan" quickly becomes a nationwide hit, a success which presages serious ramifications for all those involved.
"Bamboozled" starts off very well. The audacity of Delacroix's idea is both frightening and compelling, and the burgeoning success of "Mantan", flying in the face of all common sense, is at once fascinating and horrifying. Within weeks, the concept of actors wearing blackface changes from an appalling taboo to a national craze -- amongst all demographics -- demonstrating the effect television can have even on our deepest-held beliefs. The implication is that if something is on TV then it's okay, no matter how bigoted it might really be. And this laissez-faire attitude toward racial injustice applies not just to white viewers but black viewers as well, who seem heedless of the fact that the racism is targetted directly at them.
At the same time, Lee draws an intriguing parallel between the minstrel shows and the modern-day "gangsta rap" scene. One of the instrumental figures in "Bamboozled", played by Mos Def, is the brother of Delacroix's assistant Sloan (Jada Pinkett Smith) and the leader of an aggressive band called the Mau Maus. Lee's assertion is that bands like the Mau Maus do not tout African American rights but instead simply reinforce every negative black stereotype prevalent today: that they're violent, thieving, sex-crazed, hostile to everyone who isn't African American. In this way, suggests Lee, gangsta rap and related musical genres are scarcely different from the old minstrel shows. The trappings might be different, but the effect on public perception is the same.
It is the collision of "Mantan" and the Mau Maus that forms the climax to "Bamboozled". But unfortunately, this is also where the film runs out of steam. Having established such a thought-provoking premise, having posed so many intriguing and worthwhile queries, Lee ends up tossing it all aside in favour of a predictable, monotonous and gratuitous finale which hardly matches the invention of the movie's first hour. Instead of approaching his themes like a master workman, Lee takes a sledgehammer to them. At this stage, "Bamboozled" also loses sight of its characters and instead resorts to tedious, melodramatic shenanigans. Particularly ill-served is Pinkett Smith, whose astute characterisation in the first reel steadily deteriorates as the film winds on.
And this is disappointing, because it wastes both a great concept and some fine acting. Wayans is magnetic as the maladroit Delacroix, a unique character who manages to be intriguing and repugnant at the same time. Rapaport is very funny as Delacroix's boss, Dunwitty, a man who believes himself to be so in touch with African American culture that he tells Delacroix, "I'm blacker than you are," and yet thinks nothing of spouting a racially-motivated slur at his underling.
Lee is clearly trying to bring some great ideas to the fore here, and is on the verge of making a truly memorable film about racism; that the picture fails so badly in the end does not diminish this potential. If nothing else, this movie demonstrates that Lee has by no means run out of steam when it comes to this subject. But "Bamboozled", sadly, will go down as a lesser entry in the director's filmography.
Copyright © 2001 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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_______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | [email protected] | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |
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