Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Japanese show parodies Obama in blackface
4 comments
Some incredibly bizarre Japanese show decided to parody Barack and Michelle Obama. I was utterly confused while watching this, as they do incredibly strange things, but I was also a little horrified because... seriously? Blackface? We're still doing that racist crap?
Posts
February 19, 2009 at 6:22 PM
I don't think that's similar at all. Just because they darkened their skin to play a part doesn't mean they're in Blackface.
February 19, 2009 at 7:01 PM
Well I'll admit that the content isn't similar (I mean, one involves singing "coon songs," while the other involves pulling fruit out of a hat) but I still feel that this display is highly inappropriate and unnecessary.
February 21, 2009 at 12:41 AM
I admit that a non-Black person painting there face dark to look like a Black person does come off as "black face". However, it's unfair to say are "we still doing this", because I don't think there is a history of it in Japanese culture like there is in America. So, one could think that they're perhaps unaware of that connotation.
BUT Ganguro is even more offensive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganguro
February 27, 2009 at 3:26 PM
What do you mean "we're" still doing this? I didn't know we were Japanese.