Well, other than the fact that he's jokingly dressing up as a kid who was murdered. I'd say that's a considerable difference.
Julianne Hough (Actress/Singer/Dancer) Blackface Halloween costume
- Thread starter CDX
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Well, other than the fact that he's jokingly dressing up as a kid who was murdered. I'd say that's a considerable difference.
There you have it, folks.
ryutaro's mama
Member
BINGO.
If I dressed up as, say, Superman for Halloween, I would have no need to paint my face White so that people would know who I was supposed to be.
Based on my costume, it would be clear that I was dressed as Superman.
Everyone knows that Superman is White. No need for me to go that extra step.
Coreda
Member
Only posted the image as a representation.
blame space
Banned
so being black has nothing to do with great black characters?
Couldn't of said it better myself. I fear it will only get worse.
Eddie Murphy did this on SNL back in the 80's- he dressed up as a white guy and guess what....NOBODY GAVE A SHIT OR GOT OFFENDED.
Oh, then there was this horrid piece of shit. I was more offended that it was just a terrible movie.
No one gave a shit about this either:
Because there's a god damned difference
ryutaro's mama
Member
Is her character memorable because she is Black?
Is her character defined by her being Black?
Think about this before you answer...
blame space
Banned
no great character is defined by or is memorable because of the color of their skin.
His wikipedia article seems to make his history with blackface more complicated than what it appears to be. He's probably one of the most infamous examples of singers who performed in blackface.
I think the example in the OP could easily be defined as offensive under the right context. She probably shouldn't have colored her face like that for the costume due to the sensitivity and recency of that act being associated with institutional bigotry within the entertainment and advertising industry.
I don't believe that the example in the OP is what would be considered blackface in the traditional sense on a surface level, or even with the context of the costume she was going for. I would say that it was probably unwise for her to go with this costume choice when Halloween is a time when it is difficult to tell when a costume is out of respect for authenticity or a costume is meant to make a caricature or a joke of an entire group of people.
thesuperfunk
Member
It can work, you just need to make it tasteful:
Superman's costume is a little more recognisable than a generic prison looking outfit though, no?
ryutaro's mama
Member
So are you defending her decision to paint her face, to show who she dressed up as?
No, your original post was complaining about black people dressing up as white people in movies.
Your original post completely ignored the historical context of whites dressing as blacks to demean and ridicule and reduced it down to "If blacks can do it, why can't whites?!"
Which is dangerously similar to white people complaining about not being able to say nigger free of consequence simply because black people can.
blame space
Banned
no. white people shouldn't portray black characters because of the fucked up history involved. if they paint their skin. most of the time. right?
id on't even know.
roosters93
Member
Would it be offensive for me (whitey) to dress up as Mr. Popo?
So people will be able to tell that she is playing some character in some tv show just by her painting her face black instead of leaving it as is while wearing a prison outfit? Doing that somehow gives it the recognition it needs to be perceived as a specific character from a form of media?
Don't tell me what my post was about, I'm the one that wrote it. It has NOTHING to do with historical context or demeaning and ridiculing other cultures. It also has NOTHING to do with whites bitching about not being able to say the "N" word freely.
I'm simply stating my OPINION that as a society, we've become WAY too oversensitive on many things. She was dressing as a FICTIONAL CHARACTER from a show. No more, no less. People lost their shit over it just because they can. I couldn't give a good Goddamn if a black person, dressed in white face to be Superman or Bill Clinton. I'd think it was funny as hell. A white person dressing as Treyvon Martin, Medgar Evers, Martin Luthor King, yeah....there's probably some ridicule in that, and that's not cool.
It seems to me that she did it because she likes the CHARACTER, not because she's being an insensitive prick. I'm done arguing this shit and defending my thoughts.
MorisUkunRasik
Member
I didn't know who Julianne was dressed up even WITH the bronzer on her face.
But if I was gonna go as Mr.T to a party I wouldn't need to put on paint to make it clear who I was. Or Blade or Jules from Pulp Fiction.
abstract alien
Member
That's actually my voice. I'm a black man(who was called white often due to speech) and don't find it offensive at all.
clearacell
Member
This isn't blackface. Why would anyone be offended? She's dressing up as a character. Was anyone pissed at RDJ for doing his part in tropic thunder? That was much worse than this.
Careful.
No ones saying she's purposefully doing this with malicious intent. People are pointing out her ignorance. Anyone can doing something that's extremely ignorant that you think is harmless, and in your heart you truly meant no harm.
It's obvious she did it because she liked the character and did it the only way she thought she could. It's also very obvious that she is unknowingly ignorant in her actions.
Ninja Scooter
Member
it's a little different. RDJ in Tropic Thunder was played up for a gag because everyone would think he was in black face. The other black characters looking at him sideways for it was part of the gag.
You really can't tell the difference between an obvious satire and this?
lol
Aite. I'm oversensitive. Tell me more about how wrong my worldview is.
blame space
Banned
one is being photographed for a motion picture while one is being photographed as a halloween costume picture. one is portrayed within the context of blackface while one is a white girl portraying a character who is black.
my worldview is pretty wrong. please tell me more about what it should be.
my worldview is pretty wrong. please tell me more about what it should be.
That's not really a good goal post to attempt to move to
ryutaro's mama
Member
Who has told you this?
Bobby Roberts
Banned
bringing up Robert Downey Jr.'s character in Tropic Thunder is kind of missing the point of what he was doing in the movie. Talked about this in the Emerald City thread I linked earlier - but basically, the whole point of his character was to satirize the idea of superficial "authenticity" as a means to earn legitimacy.
Which is essentially the core of what we're talking about with this costume.
You're absolutely supposed to laugh AT Downey's character for thinking and acting as he does, as it's obviously bullshit of the highest degree. It's not at all a positive example of racial stereotypes being broken down. It's the opposite.
Which is essentially the core of what we're talking about with this costume.
You're absolutely supposed to laugh AT Downey's character for thinking and acting as he does, as it's obviously bullshit of the highest degree. It's not at all a positive example of racial stereotypes being broken down. It's the opposite.
blame space
Banned
i tell myself my worldview is wrong every second of my life.
Ninja Scooter
Member
It's sort of like saying, if a famous celebrity gets caught using the N-word, "Well Leo DiCaprio said nigger in Django and nobody cared!"
Black-Wind
Member
I don't think this is actually offending anyone ... just people confusing "Cosplaying as a chocolate person" with "blackface" and trying to make a thing out of something stupid.
clearacell
Member
And you can't tell what someone's intent is? This girl doesn't seem like she was trying to offend anyone, nor was she portraying a caricature of someone. She really liked a character and tried to dress up as her to pay tribute. She should have known better, but she made a mistake.
Blackface is different. There is obvious intention make fun of black people as a whole. I'm not saying people can't be offended by this, but when anyone equates THIS to what white folks did before the 1970s regularly I have to wonder if you are just looking for something to be outraged by.
spindashing
Banned
I wish I could pull off Tom Jones. Dude gets panties thrown at him like the women just had them ready in their purses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ3dk6KAvQM
White Guy voice is such a thing too amongst black comedians, never gets old either.
ryutaro's mama
Member
As I said before, if someone Black dressed up as Superman for Halloween, there would be no need for them to paint their face to show that they were "paying tribute" to Superman, who we all know is White.
It would be self evident.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
When I google "White Guy Voice" this comes up.
My go to "white guy voice" is Alan Colmes. Best exemplified in the track "Incident at 66.6 FM" on Fear of a Black Planet.
Well, wait a min. Can you? If you're bringing up Tropic Thunder the way you are - is it clear you understand the intent of Downey's character? The intent in making that character look/act/talk the way he does?
My go to "white guy voice" is Alan Colmes. Best exemplified in the track "Incident at 66.6 FM" on Fear of a Black Planet.
clearacell said:
Well, wait a min. Can you? If you're bringing up Tropic Thunder the way you are - is it clear you understand the intent of Downey's character? The intent in making that character look/act/talk the way he does?
notworksafe
Member
Wouldn't that just be a dude in a suit?
clearacell
Member
Yes, I understand that, I bring it up because I don't believe either one is offensive as I believe neither had intent to offend, but RDJ character should have been more "offensive" (due to the degree of stereotypes being portrayed) to someone that thought Hough is offensive.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
Then I don't think you actually understood it, as Downey's character is intended to specifically MOCK people like Hough, essentially.
White dude going as Jules for Halloween:
Light blue Krazy Kat T-Shirt
Curly wig
Sideburns/muttonchops
Ugly shorts.
Wallet that says "Bad Motherfucker" on it.
Gun
Fu-Manchu mustache.
Pretty unmistakably Jules without having to color your skin.
ryutaro's mama
Member
No. He could wear the jheri curl wig and rock a goatee.
He could carry around Big Kahuna Burger soda.
or a Bad Mother Fucker wallet.
None would require a painted face to pull off the intended costume.
:lol :lol :lol
notworksafe
Member
Sounds pretty racist to me. My hair is not a costume.
ryutaro's mama
Member
evil solrac v3.0
Member
man are you ever a rageaholic.
clearacell
Member
Shouldn't that be the most offensive thing?
Anyways I'm a Latino and I don't think it would be offensive for a white chick wanting to dress up as jlo to put in butt pads (big butts being a Latino stereotype) and tanning her skin. She wants to be jlo, not "Latina stereotype" :/
ryutaro's mama
Member
Naw, not really. That's coming from someone that is Black.
I would be waaaaaay less offended by Moris, a Latino guy, dressed as Jules with a black curly wig (as Jules did have a jheri curl) than i would be if he went the extra step and painted his face black.
I'd know who he was supposed to be via his costume.
Julianne Hough prolly STILL had to explain to people who she was supposed to be in a lot of cases.
notworksafe
Member
Well, you convinced me.
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