FCN 11/06/2000
Muhammad Inside Music
Spike Lee's latest joint tackles
very controversial subject
by Donald Muhammad
Contributing Editor
Controversy
and Spike Lee have not been strangers. With the release of both his New
Line Cinema movie and Motown Records soundtrack,
"Bamboozled" will unquestionably be the most talked about film to come
out this year.
Lee, in very blunt terms, makes potent politically incorrect satire against the current state of Black entertainment. Meanwhile, the movie�s soundtrack features both old and new stars that present music and lyrics that are as controversial as the movie.
Both the movie and soundtrack are compelling purchases that will one day be collector�s items.
In one sense, Lee drives home the point that practically all of the Black entertainment currently available has some sort of tie with the Minstrel shows of an earlier part of history. Likewise, the soundtrack, in keeping the same thematic format, finds Stevie Wonder delivering some of his most powerful lyrics of Black liberation combined with a Motown beat that marks his first recorded release of the so-called new millennium. Newer stars like Erykah Badu, Common and Mos Def, who had a starring role in the film as the character Big Black Africa, deliver equally as commanding performances that bridge the "new school" with the "old school."
Damon Wayans who plays Delacroix and Jada Pinkett Smith who stars as Sloan are TV programmers who come up with a spoof that turns into a popular show, "Mantan The New Millennium Minstrel Show." Savion Glover, the dynamic tap dancer, stars as "Mantan," and Tommy Davidson who plays Womack, also known as Sleep-N-Eat, are the stars of the TV show.
Black liberation, another important theme of this film, makes its bold appearance in the person of the Mau Maus named after the legendary African freedom fighters. Their hip hop anthem, "Blak is Blak," is the centerpiece of an important moment in this film, soundtrack and short music video, which is featured on the movie�s official web site. The conflict between those who wish to pursue Black Nationalism in contrast with those working from within the white-controlled system is another important issue the film raises by way of parody.
"Burn Hollywood Burn" as performed by Chuck D, The Roots and Zack Da La Rocha transforms the soundtrack into one of hip hop�s most significant releases of the year 2000. Prince, another key figure in progress and development of Black music, presents one of his most powerful and musical social commentaries with his song, "2045 Radical Man." Angie Stone, one of the top new Black female performers of the new century, delivers her rendition of "Slippery Shoes" which displays her ability of being perfect every time she sings.
Due to the controversial nature of this movie and soundtrack, a good and wise movie watcher will be rewarded by research. Among the library books that explain and deal with the subject of the minstrel, few are better than, Joseph Boskin�s "Sambo, The Rise & Demise of An American Jester" published by Oxford University Press (1986). "Sambo," Boskin determined in Chapter One, "was, then, an illustration of humor as a device of oppression, and one of the most potent in American popular culture. The ultimate objective of the whites was to effect mastery: to render the Black male powerless as a potential warrior, as a sexual competitor, as an economic adversary � The longer it persisted, the more believable the image became, and the more easily it was transmitted to succeeding generations� ."
Think. Reflect. Then get up and do. This is The Final Call.
Related site: Bamboozled The Movie