I didn't take issue with the n-word being constantly used throughout the controversial movie "Django Unchained." Quentin Tarantino is absolutely right about the fact that the word was probably used more during that era than it was in the movie. But, did black slaves paint their faces to look like a "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" as Samuel L. Jackson did in Django Unchained? Is that the sort of historical accuracy that Mr. Tarantino was going for? I was offended by the subliminal tribute to the black minstrel show that was included in this violent, profanity-laced movie. The worst kind of stereotypes are being promoted. Spike Lee would not have been any happier if he would have actually seen the movie before he criticized it (as some of his critics have suggested).
Remember Spike Lee made a movie about black Hollywood stars that were being "Bamboozled" into creating a new age black minstrel show. Here's the IMBD description of that:
"Dark, biting satire of the television industry, focusing on an Ivy-League educated black writer at a major network. Frustrated that his ideas for a "Cosby Show"-esque take on the black family has been rejected by network brass, he devises an outlandish scheme: reviving the minstrel show. The hook: instead of white actors in black face, the show stars black actors in even blacker face. The show becomes an instant smash, but with the success also comes repercussions for all involved."
Now, doesn't that sound familiar? "Django Unchained" is on track to become Quentin Tarantino's highest grossing movie. That's why I say that it should be a welcome addition to the Cape Town Minstrel New Year's celebrations that are currently ongoing. Apparently, South Africa fell in love with American Minstrel shows and decided to incorporate black-face into their New Year's celebrations.
Here's an excerpt from The Washington Post that describes what is also known as the Coon Festival:
"Once on the Cape, the roughly 63,000 slaves intermingled with the similarly oppressed local Khoisan people to form a unique, vibrant culture on the southern tip of Africa. Celebrations similar to today’s Tweede Nuwe Jaar were said to take place during the New Year’s festivities, a time when Dutch masters went on vacation, leaving their slaves to their own devices.
Troupe coordinator Moegamat Rushdien Sardien told The New Age, “The tradition of the ‘klopse’ (troops or teams) come from the time of the slaves. The slaves were only let out once a year, and if you only get out once a year, you’ll go crazy. People jumped, danced and could do what they wanted.”
The story gets more complicated from there. The troupes picked up their distinctly minstrel look from another country with a deep history of slavery and racial diversity: the United States. Before the civil war, minstrel performers in America had been predominantly white, wearing the now-infamous blackface. After the war, black performers started putting on their own shows, though still wearing blackface. The black troupes gained such popularity that, by the late 1800s, some prominent ones had toured South Africa as many as three or four times.
The American minstrel shows were a hit in South Africa – maybe because the lighthearted if reductive treatment of complicated racial issues also resonated in the country – and the entertainment entered the cultural milieu. That included, among other things, the practice of black performers wearing blackface, which is still manifest in the outlandish face painting in Tweede Nuwe Jaar. The face paint is no longer uniformly black or white, though. Judging from photos, just about every color is used.
The holiday evolved again with the implementation of Apartheid after South Africa’s 1948 election. Racially integrated South African neighborhoods, which perhaps by virtue of their diversity had become centers of Tweede Nuwe Jaar celebrations, were forcibly separated along the newly legislated racial lines. The government, perhaps seeing the parades as unwelcome celebrations of racial diversity, closed their routes to all non-whites. After Apartheid, the state began offering outright support to the troupes, treating them as part of the city’s celebrated cultural heritage." Read the whole article here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/08/the-history-of-cape-towns-raucous-new-years-celebration-which-is-still-going/
I think that showing "Django Unchained" would be a nice addition to Tweede Nuwe Jaar celebrations because South Africa historically has love for a good 'ole American minstrel show. And most of that movie was really not much more than a "Coon Festival " itself!
Here's another article that gives you even more insight into this New Year's event:
http://www.henrytrotter.com/scholarship/minstrel-carnival.html
