When viewing this clip I would like you to think about this week's lectures and readings. Your comment should include your response to this cartoon AND how this clip relates to this week's major themes.
For more information about the Amos n Andy show, click *here.*
Questions you might want to ask yourself include:
Who are these characters? Who might they represent?
Who is the intended audience of this video?
What is the historical context?
How does it relate to this week's readings and lectures?
How does it relate to the larger themes of this course?
Video: Amos 'n' Andy - 1934 Cartoon, "The Rasslin' Match"
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What I got from this video is that Amos trained for a wrestling match with a champion wrestler. He gets beat up. I thought the most important part of the video was when Amos was training and he was fighting his shadow. his shadow beats him up and Amos says "even my own shadow gets me." I thought this could have been a representation of internal racial issues that were occuring during the 1930s. Amos' reaction to his shadow could be the image of Blacks that was stereotypical during this time and put African Americans under a social glass ceiling.
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to watch this video outside of the context of class becuase we had moved on. even not thinking of the class context the racism was obvious, with the big lips, the poor grammar, and the crawling on the floor like an animal. this combined with what somone else had mentioned about how influential cartoons were during this period and this was clearly a means by which to perpetuate racial stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteWhat I could not help but think about while watching this clip was a discreet discreditation of the famous and great boxer Joe Louis. Joe Louis, or the brown bomber, was the undisputed heavy weight champion during this time when boxing was explicitly a white-man's sport and endured racism, intolerance, and degrediation his entire fighting career. Otherwise, the racism in this clip is apparent with poor grammar, bumpkin-like behavior, laziness (he was sleeping on the job), big lips etc. I think what was most dangerous about a cartoon like this was that it lended credence to racist thoughts to racist thoughts floating around white society, and was able to instill (as an institution: tv cartoons) racialized thoughts into younger generation.
ReplyDeleteThis clip is a piece of history that hopefully resonates within viewers today the impact of racial stigmas and stereotypes. It is evident that the portrayal of Amos and Andy, with their oversized lips, Andy sleeping on the job and so on, are past white perceptions of African Americans and how the spread of this through media could maintain and strengthen the stigmas further. This was a way to make decrease the "threat" of the African American population, which the White population felt and perceived, In addition, the dialogue and pronunciation used by the cartoon characters truly is that of "characters," racist stereotypes that, combined with the appearance of the character has roots back to scientific racism. Now it appears the cartoon is an overtly insulting and racist mockery, but at the time of the cartoons release, this only strengthened and maintained the false perceptions of inferiority on the African-American population. Moreover, this reinforcement could have instilled in a young African American child, what is expected of him/her and how others view him/her, which is detrimental to the future generations.
ReplyDeleteReflecting on the Amos and Andy clip it at first seemed like a funny cartoon but after continuing to watch it became blatently racist. The scene with Amos chasing the car and him losing a battle to his own shadow is portraying the African American race as stupid. Even the looks of the cartoons and the voices sound and look like African Americans. I am surprised that this was allowed on television but even more so that people found this humorous. I didn't see the humor in it at all and just thought it was appalling. It is upsetting that such a racist cartoon would be allowed on television in our nation and am glad we finally came to our senses and found this wrong.
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