FFWD Weekly
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Film by Jane McCullough Combine burnt cork with water. Apply liberally to face and neck. Add bright red lipstick – the brighter, the better. A pair of shockingly white gloves will no doubt accentuate the "pearly whites" and the "bulging eyes." Exaggeration. Blackface. Is it only a historical stereotype of blackness? Bamboozled, the latest Spike Lee Joint, is a biting satire on the state of mainstream television and popular culture. Meet Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), a television executive under pressure from his boss (Michael Rapaport) to come up with a show that will increase the ratings for the floundering network CNS. Tired of being pigeonholed and ignored, Delacroix sets out to get himself fired, so he pitches the idea of a "New Millennial Minstrel Show" and places two talented vagabonds (Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson) in the starring roles. What follows is the rise and fall of the show and those directly involved with it. Satire is king right now among filmmakers who reside just outside the mainstream. Like Cecil B. Demented, the latest feature from John Waters, Bamboozled openly declares its opinion of certain figures in popular culture, whether it be "Patch Adams: the Director’s Cut" or "Timmy Hillnigger’s" fashion mecca. Spike Lee’s portrayal of race has evolved – he is concentrating on a specific occurrence of racism and this makes the anger in Bamboozled more accessible. Lee has finally put gender issues aside, for the most part, and with fewer distractions he is able to address racism head on with a sense of humour. The cinematic framework echoes the criticism within the film. "Mantan: The New Millennial Minstrel Show" is erroneously referred to as subversive and cutting-edge television that tackles old stereotypes. Bamboozled succeeds where "Mantan" fails. Lee is appropriately self-referential and he plays with the dynamic between his film and the television show that resides within it. Such satirical accuracy makes me believe our culture isn’t far from embracing the idea of a similar program on major networks – assuming it’s not there already. The cast deliver enthusiastic and intelligent performances. One of the more notable comes from Wayans, whose disembodied voice segregates him from the other characters. Delacroix is isolated as the one character who is not true to his intentions and thus finds no self-motivated redemption. Ellen Kuras, who also worked with Lee on Summer of Sam and Four Little Girls, once again proves herself a great director of photography. There are some trademark "Spike" shots, but Bamboozled finds its own style in the world of mini-digital-video cameras, which lends every scene a processed and televised look. It’s as though Lee has found the perfect vehicle for his trademark montages – he provides many images of race and its historical representations. The film’s weakness is the violent subplot that eventually dominates its story. Some sort of turbulence is necessary, and physical rage can be extremely powerful, but here it momentarily derails the film. That being said, I don’t doubt it’s important to distance the audience from the humour and show them where ignorance can lead. We live in a world where Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben greet us in various aisles of the supermarket – their happy faces promote wholesome foods and make us feel good. Exaggeration. Blackface. Is it only a historical stereotype of blackness? No suh.

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