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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWho is going to tell C Thomas Howell his career is over once this pic hits the papers?
Last edited Thu Feb 7, 2019, 08:31 AM - Edit history (2)
Soul Man is a 1986 American comedy film about a white man who temporarily darkens his skin in order to pretend to be black and qualify for a black-only scholarship at Harvard Law School. The film was directed by Steve Miner and stars C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, Arye Gross, James Earl Jones, Leslie Nielsen, James B. Sikking, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Man_(film)#Controversy
Controversy
The film was widely criticized for featuring a Caucasian actor wearing blackface. When the film was released, some protests took place within the black community.
NAACP Chapter President Willis Edwards said in a statement at the time, "We certainly believe it is possible to use humor to reveal the ridiculousness of racism. However the unhumorous and quite seriously made plot point of Soul Man is that no black student could be found in all of Los Angeles who was academically qualified for a scholarship geared to blacks."
In defending the film, producer Steve Tisch said it was like Tootsie. "It used comedy as a device to expose sexual stereotyping. I think Soul Man uses it to explode racial stereotyping."
"It was only controversial because Spike Lee made a thing of it," said Rae Dawn Chong years later. "He'd never seen the movie and he just jumped all over it... He was just starting and pulling everything down in his wake. If you watch the movie, it's really making white people look stupid... It (the film) is adorable and it didn't deserve it,""
"I always tried to be an actor who was doing a part that was a character versus what I call 'blackting,' or playing my race, because I knew that I would fail because I was mixed," said Chong. "I was the black actor for sure, but I didn't lead with my epidermis, and that offended people like Spike Lee, I think. You're either militant or you're not and he decided to just attack. I've never forgiven him for that because it really hurt me. I didn't realize [at the time] that not pushing the afro-centric agenda was going to bite me. When you start to do well people start to say you're a Tom (as in Uncle Tom) because you're acceptable."
Spike Lee responded by saying, "In my film career, any comment or criticism has never been based on jealousy."
"A white man donning blackface is taboo," said C Thomas Howell. "Conversation over you can't win. But our intentions were pure: We wanted to make a funny movie that had a message about racism."
Howell later expanded:
Im shocked at how truly harmless that movie is, and how the anti-racial message involved in it is so prevalent... This isnt a movie about blackface. This isnt a movie that should be considered irresponsible on any level... Its very funny... It made me much more aware of the issues we face on a day-to-day basis, and it made me much more sensitive to racism... Its an innocent movie, its got innocent messages, and its got some very, very deep messages. And I think the people that havent seen it that judge it are horribly wrong. I think thats more offensive than anything. Judging something you havent seen is the worst thing you can really do. In fact, Soul Man sort of represents that all the way through. I think its a really innocent movie with a very powerful message, and its an important part of my life. Im proud of the performance, and Im proud of the people that were in it. A lot of people ask me today, Could that movie be made today?"... Robert Downey Jr. just did it in Tropic Thunder!... The difference is that he was just playing a character in Tropic Thunder, and there was no magnifying glass on racism, which is so prevalent in our country. I guess thats what makes people more uncomfortable about Soul Man. But I think its an important movie.
The film was seen by Ron and Nancy Reagan at Camp David.:"The Reagans enjoyed the film and especially enjoyed seeing their son Ron," a White House spokesman said at the time.
The point of my post is the year of release (1986 - two yrs after the alleged Northam pic was taken) and the contemporary criticism of it.
brooklynite
(94,922 posts)Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)...contemporary to the time the alleged Northam pic was taken.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)It really is that simple, isn't it.
Sid
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)On edit: I put the important part in bold...
doompatrol39
(428 posts)Just checking because that's pretty much what DU is leading me to believe based on the frequent number of posts that seem to be stating just that.
And for the record many of us found that movie offensive at the time as well.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Do people read past subject lines anymore?
doompatrol39
(428 posts)..I did read the article. I remember this was a pretty big discussion at the time. I was still unclear whether this was a justification of Northam or a condemnation. Apologies if I got it wrong.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)I bolded my opinion at the end.
doompatrol39
(428 posts)Again, my apologies. There is a lot of obfuscation and spin going on here lately so it's getting really hard to parse where people are coming from sometimes.
RandiFan1290
(6,260 posts)Welcome back to DU and nice try
doompatrol39
(428 posts)....and I don't believe it's yours. But for far too many on here it seems it is.
RandiFan1290
(6,260 posts)Kingofalldems
(38,503 posts)manor321
(3,344 posts)I'm baffled why anyone thinks this is relevant.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)The point of the OP was that it shows a contemporary account of how "blackface" was viewed at the time of the alleged Northam pics. It was widely condemned.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)The OP is trying to paint an equivalency where none exists.
Sid
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Read what I bolded, Sparky....
uponit7771
(90,370 posts)aidbo
(2,328 posts)theboss
(10,491 posts)Mainly because it took a somewhat interesting idea and turned it into a cartoon.