The second half of the movie did a total 180. Some of my thoughts from the first post are def. different now. I’m still shocked and don’t know what to say, and I’m not sure if I ever will. Like we talked about briefly after the movie ended, people are extremely uncomfortable talking about anything race related. I’m pretty sure the main reason for this is because white people are afraid of saying anything that might appear racist whether they mean to or not. I think this accounts for how far racism of blacks has come in the last 50 years. The fact that I have analyzed everything I have written about bamboozled to make sure it doesn’t seem racist is a testament to the outrage that racism sparks from the population. Look at any celeb that has uttered a racist remark, especially the n word, and check out what happened to them and their career. They are pretty much done: dog the bounty hunter, don imus, and michael richards are just the most recent. In my last post I said that Spike Lee is looking for racism that isn’t there, well after watching the second half I feel like maybe I’ve been burying my head in the sand. Maybe I just don’t see it cause I’m white, but that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t think it needs to be this big of an issue anymore.
I should clarify my last statement, I don’t think racism of blacks is that prominent anymore, or at least compared to the racism of mexicans. Mexicans are the new Blacks. They are the most hated race in America and not just by whites either, everyone hates them. In 50 or so years, my grandchildren are going to be writing blog posts about a movie dealing with racism, and by then when you think the word racism, you won’t think of a black person, you’ll think of a hispanic. For this reason, I don’t think racism should be such a big fuckin deal because it is always gonna be there whether its blacks, asians(WWII), or mexicans and it sucks! But that’s life. There is always gonna be discrimination: racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, etc, etc, etc. There is something about everyone that they can be discriminated for. Even white males: if they are gay, old, or overweight can be hated on and that sucks but it’s human nature and there is pretty much nothing that can be done. This might seem racist to some people because I’m kinda saying GET OVER IT, but that’s not my intention. My intention is to say that everyone gets discriminated against and that’s not gonna change, so just let it go because if you don’t you’re just gonna become jaded and pissed at the world for it being that way.
I haven’t really written much on the movie itself because I don’t know what to say. It is grossly exaggerated and made me roll my eyes several times. I know it is supposed to be exaggerated for satirical purposes and to get the point across, but I don’t like how it made me feel: indignant. I know there is racism but when I see it portrayed so harsh and ridiculously it makes me go on the defense. Although, the movie was outrageous at some points it did get its message across and whether the movie helped the anti-racism movement or not, it did make people think more about the issue so it got the job done.
Now just to touch on another thing we talked about in class I just wanna say a couple of things about rap. Yes, it’s all good if you wanna show your money and women because you grew up poor and you’ve managed to hit it big, but you are screwing yourselves. You are making the whole black population lose its respect because while teens might like to listen to your music, they don’t respect that culture. You are preforming just like Spike Lee said, you are the new blackface. You know why rappers publicity blows up if they get shot? Cause that shit doesn’t happen in suburbia and it’s fascinating. But that fascination doesn’t equal respect, more like the exact opposite cause those same kids like to watch from afar but don’t want that shit in their backyard. Rappers play up every negative stereotype out there and it’s sad. When a little kid turns on MTV,VH1, or BET what message are they getting from rappers? All blacks love to drink, smoke pot, aren’t well educated, love to fuck some hos, and shoot up some snitches. The truth is blacks are partly responsible for some of the racism in this country. Of course once those kids grow up they should realize the image rappers give off isn’t the correct one, but by then maybe the damage is done. I wonder what is going to happen in 10 years when those kids who have grown up in a period where rap is HUGE. Will there be more racism because of it…will the movement backslide? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I can’t believe I’ve written this much on this issue. I’m sooo tired of it. Hopefully that’ll change before next thursday, although I doubt I’ll say any of this in class cause I’d prob. have 20 people jump all over me before I can even explain my argument.
