Bamboozled

Who Is Tricking Who?

At first Pierre Delacroix is presented as the “trickster” in the movie Bamboozled. He is fed up with the station he works for, CNS and its inability to see that he is trying to produce television that represents the African American community as it is, not as it is portrayed. After numerous attempts and rejections he tries to “trick” the station into doing a racist show that is based off of the old minstrel shows. He is sure that they will deem it too racist and in the end he will be let go from the network. But, the trick is on him.

Ultimately the trickster in this movie never actually appears on camera it is the man behind the scenes, the creator Spike Lee. Who is he tricking? Everyone that watches the movie! A minstrel show within a minstrel show is what he has created.

Why? Lee is trying to tell the American public that things have not changed much in the entertainment industry. African Americans are still being portrayed as stereotypes. While the viewers watch in horror at Lee’s production of the minstrel show he uses the Mau Maus to make his point. They are seen as violent, materialistic, alcoholics, rappers. This is the negative image that is sold to the white American audience.

Think about it. There are very few African American families portrayed in a non-stereotypical light on television, movies, or the music industry today. The reason behind this; is either the networks don’t buy these shows, or America doesn’t watch them. Look at the ratings for these shows or movies, and the amount of money they gross are considerably less than the others. Of course I’m talking about today’s shows, not the few that did well in the 70’s and 80’s like Sanford and Sons, The Jeffersons, and The Cosby Show, these may be seen as the exception to the rules.

Lee was trying to open the eyes of the American audience to show them that racism is still a concern in this country, and that we are still allowing the stereotypical identity of the African American to entertain us.

I’m left with two questions:

1.      Is the rap industry another form of the minstrel show?

2.      Was the lack of success of the movie Bamboozled due to the fact that the white and black audience didn’t like being tricked into seeing a movie that may have spoken the truth about the entertainment industry, and its portrayal of African Americans still in today’s world?

John Leland in Hip: The History says, “The trickster brings enlightenment” (166), Spike Lee does that in Bamboozled.