Discussion questions for Spike Lee's Bamboozled:
It appears that Pierre Delacroix, (as played by Damon Wayans) originally conceives of The New Millennium Minstrel Show as a type of "modernizing force" similar to that envisioned by Linda Williams for the role of racial melodramas in American culture. He believes that viewers will be offended and appalled, thereby fully putting to rest the shameful travesty of minstrel shows and blackface as historically popular entertainment. Obviously, within the confines of the film, his concept backfires. However, instead of quitting, backtracking, or somehow sabotaging the show after it proves to perpetuate racial stereotypes instead of burying them, Pierre continues to work for its commercial and popular success. Additionally, as demonstrated by the shots of his office as he lays dying on the floor, he compiled a collection of kitschy racist artifacts. What does this seeming duplicity of motive suggest about the character? Are we intended to read him as an agitator for racial equality or a traitor to his race? Are his changing motivations and attitudes explored in the film? Are the temptations of money, awards, and fame an overly simplified explanation?
Bamboozled repeatedly shows Manray and Womack applying blackface in front of the mirror. Gregory Laski connects Bamboozled to both Freud's idea of the uncanny and Lacan's theory of the mirror stage through analysis of these scenes. If we accept that Manray and Womack feel an uncanny sensation when confronting their double in the mirror, what does this suggest about constructing identity? Would their double represent a recognition of themselves, or a recognition of how they realized that others might see them?
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