Thursday, February 25, 2010
Overview and Analysis of Hip-Hop and Blackness and Challenging the Neo-Minstrel
From how I read these two sections of the book I am not to sure I can provide an accurate overview. In the section of Hip-Hop and its Blackness it pretty much discussed how black people have been portrayed through all types of the media and how it has changed. Starting with shows like Heat of the Night, then the Jeffersons, then to Bamboozled and how they have changed the image of black people. It also covered how black image and artistry is involved in a political scene and how they are portrayed. In the section Challenging the Neo-Minstrel it focused more on how blacks are portrayed in a bad way or inaccurate way. It described more in detail of black people and the image of them being referred to as coons and why. I am struggling to understand this book but in my analysis of these two sections I would say it boils down to how all black people in general want to be portrayed based on their personal experience not from the eyes of a white man. It seems to me that they(black artist) classify the image of poverty, drugs, and violence as normal within their race and if a black person is not subject to that then they to are not worthy of having an opinion that opposes theirs. I also would say that these artist feel like the image they portray says something politically about where they stand in society and how they are mistreated. I don't know if I interpretted these sections correctly but I did read it with an open mind and I just don't understand the majority of the terminology and references they make to certain movies, songs, artist, or even historical events.
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I really like how you say that if a black person doesn't go through one of those things their opinion doesn't count. I think you hit the nail on the head with that one. From the youtube video that was shown in class, to me, they were saying the same thing. This is just like I don't understand the book because I haven't been through the things the book talks about.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I really do not like hip-hop music, so I am finding it really hard to read and understand this book. I think you did a fine job with your analysis. I had read about minstrels, but did not know that they started out as a white man with his face painted black. I do not understand why they did not just use a black man. I think the picture in our book looks silly. I guess that was the point, it was like a comedy show. One thing you did not mention is that blacks were not allowed in theaters. So, one role of the minstrel was to ridicule blacks. In fact, the book pointed out that the whites could ease their sense of guilt over how blacks were treated by creating an image of blacks as happy-go-lucky type people. They were portrayed as happy even though largely not successful according to the American image the whites held as their standard. It is interesting that this played a large role in the rise of theatre in the United States. Have you seen any of the movies you mention?
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that you said they tie politics to it also. It seems to me they can involve politics in just about anything these days. It is all about who does what, when, why, and how.
I tried to read it with an open mind, but the parts I understood turned me away because they use so much language that is repulsive to me.