TV gets 'Bamboozled' by Lee

By Christopher Cousino

Daily Arts Writer

"We Brothers."

"U Pick a Negro."

When writer-director Spike Lee visited the University last February to speak about filmmaking and his latest yet-to-be released feature, he bitingly joked about the acronyms for the television networks WB and UPN.

Lee's new film, "Bamboozled," is a brutal racial satire with the courage to uncover and reveal the horrible entertainments of the early 20th Century in juxtaposition with the seemingly fine present situation for American audiences and, specifically, African-American roles in culture and society.

Along with his intelligent casting of characters, including Damon Wayans, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Tommy Davidson, Lee barks at everyone involved in the American media, attacks with an angry, offensive gait and rages in force and heartsinking imagery - all to strike home the important problem of the moment concerning the sad, racist state in which Lee sees the American media.

"Bamboozled" is a satire (which Lee makes a point to define at the beginning of the film) about the television broadcasting concerning a fledgling network in desparate need of a hit show. Producer Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport) complains that his top writer Pierre Delacroix (Wayans) writes shows that are too white. At one point, he tells Delacroix, "I'm blacker than you," a statement that Dunwitty enforces with his photo array of African-American heroes (Kareem, Ali, Jordan, etc.) hanging in his office.

Along with his assitant Sloan (Pinkett-Smith), Delacroix creates the ultimate, offensive degrading show for African-Americans in hopes he will make a point about racial role stereotyping and get fired. However, Dunwitty loves his pitch for "Mantan, the Modern Day Minstrel Show," a flagrant play on minstrel shows of the early 20th Century where characters put on black-face and performed degrading interpretations of African-Americans, big lips and "Yessuhs" in all.

Portraying the singing and dancing Mantan is Savion Glover, seen recently on stage in "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk." With his sidekick Sleep 'N Eat (Davidson), the pair of minstrels, backed by their stage band the Alabama Porch Monkeys (The Roots), become TV sensations across the country. Before long, everyone is laughing about the minstrel character as children put on black face masks for Halloween and fans buy loads of minstrel merchandise. Sloan's brother, Big Black (Mos Def), a leader of a militant rap group, fights an outspoken, violent battle to end the show.

And sure, enough "Mantan" eventually self-destructs - as does "Bamboozled" to an extent. The premise of Lee's film is incredible. He hits on an American problem here and now, throwing it in your face and forcing you to watch the old, painful Minstrel images along with his satirical lampooning of modern rap videos and so-called "black sitcoms." However, the film runs its two hour length too long, desparatly needing another round of editing. By the end, there seems to be a shred of a story left to tell. Lee, however, brilliantly leaves us with a montage of old minstrel footage and cartoons, which make for the most powerful, poignant part of the film.

Shot on digital video (Lee claims it's an aesthetic to make the film look like TV), the footage at times looks really dirty and pixelated. In that regard, many of the electric beauty in Lee's previous efforts is lost in the imagery.

"Baboozled," though, isn't so much a film, but a social message. Lee makes his statement loud and clear - we as a culture must move on, but first we need to face today's minstrel, the J.J. Walkers, the "Mo' Money"'s and change the "only" parts for African-Americans.