Fear of a Brown Blogger: the "pixie skit"

7.17.2006

Here's the Chappelle skit that my last post was about. Watch for yourself and discuss.

Anonymous said...: I think Dave is a very clever, intelligent, funny man who bit off more than he could chew with this sketch. He seems to have grossly underestimated the impact that blackface has on audiences-- most of all, he seems to have underestimated the impact it would have on himself.

I wonder how many people actually know about the history of minstrel shows in America and abroad (for instance, there was a very popular televised minstrel show featuring a half dozen men in blackface that aired in Britain until 1979. 197-fucking-9.) To this day the image of a person wearing blackface conjures up the most appalling portions of recent history. It's not like there isn't anything written on the subject.

People compare this sketch to "Bamboozled"-- but do they remember that movie was a spectacular failure? It didn't address modern racism in any practical way and Spike Lee could just as easily be accused of exploitation that Dave apparently accused himself.

I'm sad that Dave has given up. The fact that he posed the question of what effect he was having could have been a brillianr turning point in his comeday. His sketches before have all been funny, broad, and with a certain amount of truth: it could have been the beginning of really indepth satire.; August 10, 2006 1:01 PM