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A Review Of Bamboozled By Roger Ebert

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In a review of Bamboozled, by Roger Ebert on October 6, 2000, the film critic begins by writing that “producing a satire is challenging because no matter how the image that is being ridiculed is portrayed, it will remain the same if the original message of the image is too strong” (www.rogerebert.com). In Bamboozled, Spike Lee attempts to expose the media’s role and manipulation of black demeaning stereotypes to gain profit and increase ratings in the entertainment industry. Although Ebert understands Spike Lee’s purpose, he does not believe that Lee succeeded in communicating his message effectively through this film because he believes the use of blackface overshadows the underlying message of the film. To support his argument, Ebert references an incident that occurred in 1993 when Whoopi Goldberg’s former boyfriend, Ted Danson, showed up at her roast at Friar’s Club wearing blackface. Members of the audience were stunned and tension filled the air (similar to the first reactions of the audience in the film). Danson makes matters worse by sharing a story of when his parents asked Whoopi to clean up after them during dinner time. Ebert thinks that possibly, the story would have been a little humorous if Whoopi had shared the story herself, but it definitely would not have been funny if she had told it while wearing blackface. Even in 1993, neither white people nor black people found blackface to be amusing. To conclude, Ebert wrote that the negative stereotypes depicted by

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