Director Spike Lee has never shied away from controversy, and with Bamboozled he tackles a thorny mix of racism and how images are bought and sold. A frustrated TV writer named Delacroix (Damon Wayans), unable to break his contract, tries to get fired by proposing a new minstrel show, complete with dancers in blackface. But the network loves the idea, and Delacroix hires two street performers (Savion Glover, who is truly the finest tap dancer since Fred Astaire, and Tommy Davidson) whose hunger for success and ignorance of history combine to make them accept the blackface. Despite protests, the show is a huge success--but gradually, the mental balance of everyone involved starts to crumble. As an argument, Bamboozled is incoherent--but how can racism be discussed rationally in the first place? Lee takes a much braver approach: Every time something seems to make sense or make a point, he complicates the situation. At one point, Delacroix goes to see his father, a standup comedian working at a small black club. Delacroix perceives his father as a broken failure. But his father's routine is full of articulate critiques of white hypocrisy, and the older man describes refusing to play the narrow movie roles that Hollywood had offered him, while Delacroix has convinced himself that his minstrel show is actually doing some social good. And what is the effect of the show itself? Lee obviously finds blackface abhorrent, but the minstrel routines are perversely fascinating and Glover's dancing, even when he mimics Amos and Andy-era routines, is outstanding. Most cuttingly, Lee points out parallels between minstrel and contemporary hip-hop personas. By the time it's over, Bamboozled won't have told you what to think, but you will have to think about these issues--and that alone is a remarkable accomplishment. --Bret Fetzer
2.
Spike Lee turns up the controversy notch once again with BAMBOOZLED, a sizzling satire on race and racism within the modern media world. Harvard-educated writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), the only black employee on the staff of a struggling television network, suggests the most absurd idea for a pilot that he can possibly imagine, hoping it will convince his tyrannical boss, Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport), to terminate his contract and fire him. However, his plan backfires and his idea--MANTAN THE NEW MILLENNIUM MINSTREL SHOW--finds great success. The show is a stereotypical and racially charged depiction of the tap-dancing Mantan (Savion Glover) and Sleep 'n' Eat (Tommy Davidson), two lazy, homeless black men who spend their days in a watermelon patch. As the show becomes a national sensation, Delacroix, his assistant Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett), as well as her older brother, aspiring rapper Big Black Af' (Mos Def), begin to see the harm the show is causing the community, triggering outbursts with deadly consequences. Shot on digital video, Lee uses his basic premise to mock and accuse today's entertainers (including Chris Rock, Ving Rhames, gangsta rappers, and Lee himself) for being modern reincarnations of the stereotypical caricatures that were so offensive in the past. The result is a biting commentary that is at turns hysterical, absurd, and poignant.
3.
Damon Wayans stars as Pierre Delacroix, a hip, young, Harvard-educated writer who is the sole person of color working for an upstart network with floundering ratings. Despite several attempts, Delacroix has yet to see any of his concepts go into production. Now his boss, the ratings-hungry, culture-vulture Dunwitty (Michael Rappaport), issues him a searing ultimatum: come up with a hot, trend-setting, headline-making, urban hit or get fired.
Feeling doomed, Delacroix decides to present the most outrageous, unbelievable farce of stereotypical comedy he can imagine - hearkening back to the old days of "black-face" minstrels with a variety show featuring Manray (Savion Glover), a homeless tap dancer, and his sidekick Womack (Tommy Davidson).
Incredibly, Delacroix's spoof turns into a ratings bonanza, a cultural phenomenon that has the media pundits raving and audiences of all types howling. But, for Delacroix, the runaway success of "Mantan The New Millennium Minstrel Show" is the start of a rapid unraveling. Despite trying to defend his hit show, Delacroix comes under attack from all sides, not least if all from his own beautiful assistant Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett Smith), who is falling for Manray, and her radical hip hop rapper brother Big Black. Delacroix's ratings keep rocketing, but they peak on a day that will change everything.
4.
In a searing parody of American television, Bamboozled takes a humorous look at how race, ratings and the pursuit of power lead to a network executive's stunning rise and tragic downfall.
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