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| "whose eyes are oddly made" | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 04:32 pm EST 02/20/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Happy Talk racist? - Chromolume 01:31 pm EST 02/20/19 | |
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| It's lyrics like that which make it hard, especially out of context of the time period, to not see some inherent racism in the anti-racism song. Which I think for this character works just fine, as it would for almost any person of the time (or now even) because "we're all a little bit racist". You can be recognizing racism and rallying against it while also having some slanted ideas or "problematic" wording to your well-intended points. I don't think the lyric is racist, and I think even just in the context of the verse it's in your can see it's not. But the next line about skin color a different shade is NOT guilty of the same issue, because it doesn't use a word with judgement or connotation inherent in it, like "oddly" has. At least how I understand it. I would never do the show without Happy Talk, nor do I think You've Got to Be Carefully Taught is racist. |
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| re: "whose eyes are oddly made" | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 04:50 pm EST 02/20/19 | |
| In reply to: "whose eyes are oddly made" - Chazwaza 04:32 pm EST 02/20/19 | |
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| ***It's lyrics like that which make it hard, especially out of context of the time period, to not see some inherent racism in the anti-racism song. Which I think for this character works just fine, as it would for almost any person of the time (or now even) because "we're all a little bit racist". You can be recognizing racism and rallying against it while also having some slanted ideas or "problematic" wording to your well-intended points.*** I absolutely agree, and it works especially well for Cable because he is -- as he himself is pointing out -- the product of a highly racist upbringing. On a related note, I haven't read Hammerstein's intro to CARMEN JONES in about 40 years or more, but I distinctly remember some statements in it that I think many people today would consider racist, even though from a positive perspective -- something like, "the American Negro has rhythm in his body and music in his soul." This from a man justly famous as a fervent anti-racist, but he was still a product of his time. |
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| re: "whose eyes are oddly made" | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 04:59 pm EST 02/20/19 | |
| In reply to: re: "whose eyes are oddly made" - Michael_Portantiere 04:50 pm EST 02/20/19 | |
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| I also think the hyper-sensitive triggered-happy culture of right now is very quick to forget that there's a BIG difference between racist vs ignorant, and racism vs racial insensitivity (which i think is, for example, the difference between wearing black face in the 80s to dress up like a black celebrity you like vs black face to mock black people or do a fake KKK scene - both are wrong to do, but they display a notably different intention and outlook). I think in the Carmen Jones intro you describe, it seems to me like ignorance from someone who is anti-racism, rather than actual racism. But as a white person, I recognize I may be limited in my understand here and I am happy to hear if I'm wrong from someone who knows this kind of thing from another perspective. |
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