Hey Hey It's Saturday - The Black Face

Cafe Society
1

Just wondering how widespread the coverage of this incident has actually been.

To give some background:
Hey Hey It’s Saturday was a variety show that ran for ~25 years on Australian TV, but was cancelled about 10 years ago. Just recently they have shown two 'reunion’specials.

One of the long running segments was ‘Red Faces’ an amateur talent segment played more for laughs than any serious talent identification. Last Wednesday one of the acts was a tribute to the Jackson 5, where the back up ‘Jacksons’ were in black face, and ‘Michael’ was painted white.

Harry Connick Jr was one of the judges, and he got upset, saying it was terrible and racist, etc, etc the hosy of the show apologised on air at the time, and the network issued a formal apology, blah blah blah.

Here’s a Youtube Link

Now, anyway on with my point of interest - it was a major storm in a teacup in the media here in Australia, with claims it had received worldwide coverage, and everyone now thought Australia was a backwards racist country, full of convicts and rednecks. :rolleyes:

Is that the case? Did it rate more than a blip if that in the media in the US, the UK? Anywhere at all? Apparently it was at least briefly discussed on the ‘The View’, maybe that counts as worldwide coverage? :stuck_out_tongue:

And my other point - is the act racist? Would something like that get you Stoned to Death in the States. And if so, how is it then that a white actor (Robert Downey Jr) not only gets away with a black face performance but gets Oscar nominated for a black face performance. Is the difference because the Hollywood movie had a big budget black face?

I’m just intrigued, if this is a case of Australia’s little man syndrome kicking in, in response to one American celebrity having his grumpy pants on?

2

I’m in the U.S., and this is the first I’ve heard of it.

I don’t think that group would have gotten on television here in the states, because that skit would cause nothing but trouble, and lots of people would consider it racist. It’s not exactly the same, since he also told a bunch of racist jokes, but the actor Ted Danson appeared in blackface at the encouragement of his black girlfriend (who currently hosts the View…I wonder what she had to say about the Jackson skit), and it didn’t go over very well at all.

I can’t comment on what Robert Downey Jr. did while he was in blackface, since I haven’t seen the movie, but his make up looked a lot more natural than the black shoe polish thing, those performers, and historical black face performers used, and that probably went a long way.

3

It was covered widely in the US for about 30 seconds.

The role played by Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder was making fun of him as a ‘method actor’ who took his job so seriously that he had his skin darkened. Which seems like a different kind of thing.

4

I’ve only seen this referenced in a few online news sources- it really hasn’t gotten a lot of coverage in the States.

My major complaint with the act is that it just isn’t funny- although the lead singer resembles Michael Jackson, he didn’t really try to imitate the falsetto, the moonwalk, or any other distinguishing features of Michael Jackson, nor did the backup singers in any way resemble the Jackson Five. The backup singer’s intro (“Yo, Jermaine, my main man!” “Yo Randy!”) sounded a little bit like they were imitating the way black people supposedly talk and also sounded a bit like the old stereotypical “sho’ nuff” way blacks were often depicting as sounding like in old acts, so I would say that the routine was a bit racist- but not being entertaining is its major crime.

5

I only know about it because of another thread on the SDMB. On the other hand, I get most of my news from public radio, which has different priorities than the commercial TV networks. If it was on “The View,” a lot of people knew about it.

The sketch was not a tribute. It mocked the Jacksons based not on their actual appearance or manner of speaking, but on exaggerated racial stereotypes. Of course it was racist.

It’s almost impossible inconceivable that it would air on a U.S. network. If it had, there would have been major protests, public apologies, and firings.

In Tropic Thunder, the subject of the humor was the behavior of a clueless white actor. It isn’t comparable at all.

6

The definition of cringeworthy… and so ingrained for the types that manufacture it, it appears it makes no difference that they’re bagging us, just so long as we’re mentioned.

7

Correct on my first guess, that his girlfriend was Whoopi Goldberg.

It was actually Whoopi who defended the act on The View. Her take was simply that Australia did not have the specific cultural context around African American history and slavery, etc for it to enter the horizon of our sensibilities. Which I kind of agree with. TBH they were just unlucky that a celeb from America was on as a guest judge to kick up a stink about it. Otherwise it would have simply sunk as another forgettable skit.

In a purely Australian context I don’t see it so much as racist* as being terribly outdated, which truth be told the entire show is very outdated and I suspect it garnered such good ratings due to a massive surge of nostalgia and rose coloured glasses about the quality of the show.

  • That being said I do understand where it would be considered racist from an American perspective, because I can imagine the furore if they dressed up in black face and did a skit about Australian aboriginals instead.
8

There’s a three page thread on this in Great Debates, so it got at least some coverage.

9

His character was also Australian, so the rest of the world tends to overlook it as the country is populated by convicts and rednecks.
:smiley:

10

Thanks Telemark. It seems I searched the wrong forum to see if there was an existing thread.

11

I think you’re being unfair to Harry Connick, Jr. here. He didn’t get upset, but he was pretty clearly uncomfortable with the act, which would be the reaction most Americans have to being surprised by a minstrel show. He made a point to say that he didn’t think the performers had any racist intent, and was over all very graceful about being put in an incredible awkward situation.

And the show was very stupid and thoughtless to have put an American celebrity in that sort of a position. Imagine if Connick had not made a fuss, and someone posted the video of an American, Southern celebrity watching a minstrel show and apparently enjoying it. That could have been an enormous publicity disaster for Connick, and he absolutely had to put as much distance between himself and the show he was on, simply out of self-preservation. That he was able to do so with such grace and good manners, particularly after being totally blindsided by something that violates some major taboos in his culture, speaks very well of him.

12

Hi,

I’m in Oklahoma here, which is pretty much in the back of the line as far as breaking news is concerned, and I saw an article on it in the early morning TV news the week that it happened.

I don’t know if I understand how it might not seem racist to Australians. Black folks do live in Australia too.

13

Apologies if I came across as being harsh against Harry Connick with my comment. I actually think he behaved reasonably well overall, and took a good approach when placed in an unfortunate position by the shows producers.

I can fully appreciate what you say about how it would have looked for him at home. Personally I think it was a pretty lame sendup of a pop group, and I think that’s how the majority of Australians took it, but I would have thought experienced TV producers might have had a clue about the connotations of it for an American guest.

14

I think as i just mentioned above that, because we don’t have the long history with African American people, the racial overtones would flat out not have occurred to most Australians - it would have been viewed in the manner it was intended i.e. a pretty lame but ‘humourous’ send up of a pop group. And the immediate shock gasp reaction of your average American was just not there.

Something that many non-Australians don’t understand is that Australia’s ‘black people’ - indigneous aboriginals and islanders are far more analagous to Native Americans than African Americans.

Thanks for the info about it showing up in the ‘back blocks’ :smiley: