Harry Connick Jr. Is getting a lot of credit – and a lot of criticism – for his recent critique of a performance done in blackface on the Australian talent show “Hey Hey It’s Saturday.” A group performed a Jackson Five parody as the “Jackson Jive” while wearing blackface. According to Bitten and Bound the group originally appeared on the show 20 years ago, though there’s no mention of if they wore blackface at the time. Connick, who is from New Orleans, was a guest judge on the show and was visibly upset during the act. He gave the group a score of 0, and told them exactly why he was upset.

An Australian variety show featuring performers parodying the Jackson Five while in blackface so outraged its American judge, that the program’s host immediately apologized. New Orleans native Harry Connick Jr. was serving as a guest judge on Wednesday night’s ‘Hey Hey It’s Saturday’ when he became visibly shocked by the skit, in which four men with afro wigs and dark make-up calling themselves the “Jackson Jive” sang and danced behind a Michael Jackson impersonator wearing white makeup. Connick gave the skit a zero and later confronted the show’s host, Daryl Somers, about the taboo subject.

“I just want to say, on behalf of my country, I know it was done humorously, but we’ve spent so much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons, that when we see something like that we take it really to heart,” he told Somers. Somers seemed to realize the mistake and immediately apologized to Connick personally. “I know that to your countrymen, that’s an insult to have a blackface routine like that on the show, so I do apologize to you,” Somers said.

According to reports, the singer walked off the show after the skit and later said he’d wished he never agreed to participate on the show. “If I knew that was going to be part of the show I definitely wouldn’t have done it.”

[From PopEater]

Obviously Harry did the right thing, and the only thing a person could do in that situation. There are times where you can keep quiet to be polite, but this was certainly not one of them. The history of blackface is complicated and something I think a lot of people today don’t even know about, and don’t understand all the implications. Wikipedia has a good summary of it, noting “Blackface, in the narrow sense, is a style of theatrical makeup that originated in the United States, used to take on the appearance of certain archetypes of American racism…” I first learned about it when I saw Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled,” which is about two black men who decide to revive the minstrel show for national TV, but instead of white people wearing blackface, the black people wear it.

Harry Connick Jr. is simply getting praise though. He’s getting a lot of criticism too, and charges that he’s a hypocrite. It seems back in 13 years ago Connick was a guest on FOX’s “Mad TV,” where he played a black reverend. He’s not in blackface but his skin is darkened.

But just as he is being lauded for calling out the Australian group’s insensitive skit, Connick Jr. is also being labeled a hypocrite by many. In 1996, the singer-actor played a preacher in a ‘Mad TV’ sketch where his skin appears to be darker than usual. While he clearly isn’t in actual blackface, viewers of the clip are wasting no time calling him out on a double standard.

“Harry is a hypocrite of the highest order, typical shallow celebrity with double standards, do as i say, not as i do …” posted AussieOz07 in the comments section of the clip, found on YouTube.

According to the AP, Anand Deva, the frontman of the “Jackson Jive” act, said it was not meant to cause offense but added he would not have performed it in the United States.

Public reaction to the performance in online forums was mixed. Some Australians said they were embarrassed such a racist sketch had been broadcast, while others said detractors were too politically correct and that the skit was funny.

[From PopEater]

Here’s my thought: first off, the history of blackface is one of antagonistic mockery by white people. It is incredibly demeaning. It’s not quite the same thing to wear some skin darkening regular makeup. Many white actors on Saturday Night Live play black characters by wearing darker makeup. This past Saturday Fred Armisen played President Barack Obama, and he also does a hilarious (and often chided) impression of New York Governor David Patterson. You can argue he shouldn’t, and you can argue that Harry Connick Jr. shouldn’t have worn makeup to play a black reverend. But it’s a very different situation from wearing blackface. With the makeup, the point is to make the person appear black. With blackface, the point is to make the person appear to be a buffoon and an incredibly offensive stereotype. If you think it’s wrong that Harry wore make up on Mad TV, that’s understandable. Perhaps he agrees and regrets the decision – that doesn’t mean he should encourage others to do worse.

In so many ways, Naomi Campbell is a pioneer. She was the first black model to appear on the cover of several international fashion magazines, including Vogue UK and French Vogue. At one point in the 1980s and 1990s, Naomi was one of the three highest-paid models in the world, forming one part of “The Trinity” – which included Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista. Since the late 1990s signaled the end of the age of the supermodel, Naomi has spent the past decade still maintaining a pretty great track record with ad campaigns, runway work and print work for a model her age – she’s 39 years old in an industry where women are “over” at the age of 25. In addition to her modeling career, she’s been involved in charitable projects in Africa, and she’s always been an outspoken advocate of more racial diversity in the fashion industry.

Of course, there are parts of Naomi that aren’t so admirable. I’ve lost count of how many people Naomi has allegedly (or not so allegedly) assaulted. Lord knows you can’t hand her a purse, a blackberry, a drink or a shoe, because she’ll just beat you with it. Last year, when Naomi got into that incident on a British Airlines flight where she basically fought with her fists and her mouth, there were many reports that claimed Naomi’s tirade included racial slurs (something about “white slags”).

I’m bringing this up because Naomi has given another interview where she’s talking about racial diversity in the fashion industry. Naomi claims advertisers and magazines are using the recession as an excuse to drop models of color. Here’s the thing – Naomi’s got a point. But is she the best person to make the point?

Never afraid of speaking her mind, Naomi Campbell has accused the advertising business of using the recession as an excuse to drop black models.

The 39-year-old supermodel, who is a close friend of Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife, claims that major companies are refusing to use non-white women to promote their products.

“This year, we have gone back all the way that we had advanced,” she says. “I don’t see any black woman, or of any other race, in big advertising campaigns.”

Campbell, who was born in London to a mother of Caribbean descent, refers to the publication last year of a special edition of Italian Vogue dedicated to non-white models.

“That made some noise, but, unfortunately, we are the same as before,” she says. “People, in the panic of the recession, don’t dare to put a girl of colour in their campaign, full stop. Nor of any other race. It’s a shame. It’s very sad.”

The model, who is a friend of Nelson Mandela, has won support from Bruce Oldfield, the designer of the wedding dress worn by Samantha Cameron, the wife of the Tory leader.

“It’s absolutely true that black models will be not as popular for advertising companies and magazine covers as white girls,” the designer tells Mandrake. “In a recession, it’s probably doubly difficult for black girls to get a booking.”

Oldfield is thought to be the son of a Jamaican boxer, but never knew his natural parents and grew up in an orphanage. “In this climate, things are worse, but it is compounding a problem that already exists,” he adds. “Cover editors are going to choose white over black. Naomi is not far off the mark.”

In 1988, Campbell appeared on the cover of French Vogue as its first black cover girl after Yves St Laurent, her late friend and mentor, threatened to withdraw all of his advertising from the magazine following its refusal to place Campbell, or any black model, on its front page. She also became the first black model to appear on the cover of British Vogue.

Earlier this year, she described the fashion industry as “racist”. In a magazine interview, she was quoted as saying “You know, the American president may be black, but, as a black woman, I am still an exception in this business. I always have to work harder to be treated equally.”

In June, she attended the Glastonbury music festival with Gordon Brown’s wife, Sarah. The pair were promoting the Million Mums charity, which aims to help prevent women from dying needlessly in pregnancy and childbirth.

[From the Telegraph]

I don’t have all the facts and figures to know if all of this is technically accurate, but I suspect it is. The only black people I’ve seen on magazine covers the past year have been the Obamas – and to be fair to them, I think those Obama covers still sell really well. As for the larger issue of more racial diversity in advertising and the fashion industry as a whole – I tend to think advertisers will get smart about this stuff sooner rather than later. When someone like Tiger Woods is the highest earner in sports, just because of his advertising contracts, the sea change is coming. Speaking as a mixed-race woman, I know I appreciate it when I’m not just staring at vapid-looking blonde models on every page of Vogue. I’m still not sure if Naomi is our best spokeswoman though.

Here’s Naomi and her boyfriend Vladislav Doronin enjoying the beach together in St. Tropez, France on August 20th. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .

Last week, Jessica Simpson created a subdued racism-kerfuffle when she was asked about the $100,000 boat she had given Tony Romo when they were together, and whether she would ask for the boat back or not. Jessica Simpson said, “I’m not an Indian giver.” Like CB, I had always assumed the idea of being an “Indian giver” was about how the white colonialists were douches and broke all of those treaties. Not so much, according to Wikipedia, who has one of the definitions as “When an Indian gives any thing, he expects to receive an equivalent, or to have his gift returned.” Meh. Colonialist bastards. By the way, I should just point out how much I hate that anyone is still calling Native Americans “Indians”. My father is Indian – he is from India. People descended from America’s pre-colonial indigenous people are Native Americans.

Anyhoodle, US Weekly took a statement from Jacqueline L. Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, who was basically like “meh, maybe it’s a teachable moment or whatever”. According to US Weekly, Pata only said, “Most people flippantly use the comment ‘Indian giver’ without realizing its true meaning… [Jessica’s gaffe could be] a good chance to educate people not to stereotype Native Americans by using a comment this is both incorrect in the way most people use it, and culturally insensitive to Native people.” Hold on to your hat, Madame Pata, because Jessica Simpson is about to school you for real.

While exiting a restaurant with her sister last night, Jessica was swarmed by paparazzi. She was pretty gracious with them, even stopping and signing some autographs. But then the guy from TMZ asked her “What do you think about the Indian association being mad at you for the–” and then Jessica interrupts the guy to yell “I am Indian, alright?!” What the hell? Don’t believe me? TMZ has the footage of the incident – you can tell Jessica thinks she’s being clever. She really is that dumb.

In other Jessica news, she gave an interview to Women’s Wear Daily to promote her new line of lingerie. I found the interview a bit boring, but here’s an interview excerpt:

WWD: Do you love lingerie?
Jessica Simpson: Of course I love lingerie. What girl doesn’t? My lingerie reflects the way I’m feeling when I wake up and helps me set the tone for my day.

WWD: How important do you think lingerie is as part of a woman’s wardrobe?
J.S.: I think lingerie is a special part of what you wear every day. It’s fun to pick different colors and styles. What you wear underneath your clothes helps define the outfit, whether T-shirt bras, push-up bras, different patterns and colors, you always have to choose what works best.

WWD: Do you have a favorite item in the collection?
J.S.: I love the seersucker group because it is just classic and so adorable. We also have a beautiful print group that was inspired by Morocco. It is both exotic and feminine at the same time. We also created a denim and floral set that is flirty and fun.

WWD: How would you describe the signature look of Jessica Simpson Intimates when it comes to your personality?
J.S.: My intimates are feminine and sweet with a hint of fun.

[From Women’s Wear Daily]

Seersucker lingerie? Just kill me. Perhaps they’re only seersucker nightgowns or menswear-style two-piece pajama sets? Because the idea of seersucker panties or bras is ridiculous. You’d have little lines etched into your vadge and boobs at the end of the day! Is this the real reason Tony dumped her? Seersucker panties?

UPDATE: Jessica’s rep told TMZ that “the singer is 1/16th Native American ‘on her mother’s side’.” Therefore, Jessica is totally in the clear for saying she’s not an “Indian giver”… right?

On June 29, a group of 65 kids attending the Creative Steps camp went out for a preplanned field trip to The Valley Club in Philadelphia. The kids’ outing was to simply use the pool at The Valley Club, and the camp had paid $1,950 to bring the kids there for the day. Unfortunately, once the group of 65 kids arrived at The Valley Club, they were first allowed to change into their swimsuits, then when they started to go to the pool area, they turned away. The majority of the kids are African-American and Hispanic, and as they were being turned away, a few of the kids later told the Creative Steps director they heard racist comments coming from the white adults and children at the club.

One camper reported hearing a woman ask “‘Why’s there so many black kids here,’ cause she said she was afraid that we might do something to her child.” Another child said, “All the Caucasian people, they got treated nicely. They had lockers and everything. But we had to put our book bags on the table outside. I had to get changed in the bathroom.” Camp director Alethea Wright said, “A couple of the children ran down saying, ‘Miss Wright, Miss Wright, they’re up there saying, “What are those black kids doing here?’” Meanwhile, The Valley Club’s spokesperson told the press that the kids were denied access to the pool because of overcrowding issues, and the club refunded the camp’s fee.

This whole incident is causing a local furor within Philadelphia, and a war of words amongst black and Hispanic activists, spokespeople for The Valley Club and Creative Steps, and now the local and federal government. The Justice Department is now investigating The Valley Club for racial discrimination. As everyone stews in their own juices during the long, hot Philadelphia summer, writer/director Tyler Perry has stepped up to offer the 65 Philly kids a wonderful chance to do something fun during their summer holiday. Tyler is sending the kids (and presumably, their parents) on an all-expenses-paid three-day trip to DisneyWorld:

Tyler Perry is playing Santa to 65 Pennsylvania children from a largely minority day-care center whose outing was axed when they were turned away by a predominantly white swim club.

Instead of wading in the waters of the so-called exclusive Valley Swim Club in suburban Philly – whose members feared an influx of the black and Hispanic children, the adults were quoted as saying – these kids are going to Disney World, with Perry paying for the works: airfare, food, hotel and admissions for the three-day visit.

“He wanted to do something nice for them and let them know that for every negative experience, there are people out there who want them to succeed regardless of the color of their skin,” Keleigh Thomas, publicist for the producer and Madea Goes to Jail star, tells CNN.

“I am ecstatic for the children,” said Alethea Wright, the Creative Steps day-care center director, adding that the Perry offer came through on Friday.

As Perry said on his Web site about the actions of the Valley Swim Club, “This made me so angry. This is awful, and for anyone that has grown up in the inner-city, you know that one small act of kindness can change your life.”

He added about the children, “I want them to know that for every act of evil that a few people will throw at you, there are millions more who will do something kind for them. This is all about the kids.”

[From People]

It’s a real cool gesture for Tyler Perry, and it’s wonderful that there’s at least one African-American activist who was really thinking about the kids who were victimized, instead of just the usual peanut gallery of self-absorbed talking heads on the 24-hour news channels. I bet those kids will have a great time at DisneyWorld, and I hope the situation in Philadelphia calms down, and people come to some sort of general consensus about what’s appropriate and what is disrespectful and insensitive.

Update: Here is a local news report from Philadelphia about the kids being turned away. It was definitely about race. The swim club released a statement saying “”There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club.” Thanks to Annie for commenting with this link.

Tyler Perry is shown on 2/12/09 and 2/18/09. Credit: WENN.com

Disney unveiled the cartoon image and the doll of their new black princess about a month ago. Tiana, the cartoon “princess”, works as a waitress, and then she kisses a frog and then she becomes a frog… then there’s a swamp and a voodoo curse, and maybe she becomes a princess and her frog friend becomes a prince, something like that. But all hell is breaking loose!

Amongst the issues: Tiana’s hair (straight), her original name (at first is was Maddie, but that drew “slave name” complaints) and one of the biggest issues – Disney’s first black princess doesn’t have a corresponding black prince! The prince is being voiced by a Brazilian actor, and the cartoon image (and description) of the prince as “neither white nor black, but portrayed with olive skin, dark hair and, need we state the obvious, a strong chin. The actor who plays him, Bruno Campos, hails from Brazil”.

Long ago and far away, she was an unnamed little princess in a little story called the “The Frog Prince.” She and her amphibious friend lived in a very small, mostly forgotten corner of the fairy tale universe.

Many years passed.

And then one day, through the magical powers of Disney animation and commercial marketing, the forgotten little princess was transformed into Tiana, a beautiful black princess from New Orleans. She became the star of “The Princess and the Frog,” a movie set to premiere in November. Her doll and toy set were unveiled last month, and the Disney promotional machine is already humming, for Tiana is the first Disney princess in more than a decade, and the first ever to be black.

[While] Disney has brought us nonwhite princesses before (see “Mulan,” “Pocahontas”), Tiana is a first. The implied message of Tiana, that black American girls can be as elegant as Snow White herself, is a milestone in the national imagery, according to a range of scholars and cultural historians.

Her appearance this holiday season, coming on the heels of Michelle Obama’s emergence as the nation’s first lady, the Obama girls in the White House and the first line of Barbie dolls modeled on black women (“So in Style” debuts this summer), will crown an extraordinary year of visibility for African American women.

But fairy tales and folklore are the stories that cultures tell their children about the world around them, and considering Disney’s pervasive influence with (and marketing to) young girls, Princess Tiana might well become the symbol of a culture-changing standard of feminine beauty.

On its most basic level, “The Princess and the Frog” is a vintage Disney princess fairy tale, in hand-drawn (2-D) animation, a Broadway-style musical. It draws inspiration from an 18th-century fairy tale from the British Isles, and “The Frog Princess,” a 2002 teen novel from Maryland writer E.D. Baker. Disney transferred the story to 1920s New Orleans and changed her name, race and almost everything else.

In the Disney version, Tiana is a young waitress and talented chef who dreams, like her father, of owning her own restaurant. She eventually kisses a frog and is transformed into one. She must journey into the dark bayou to get a magical cure from a good voodoo queen. She is aided by a goofy firefly and a trumpet-playing alligator. The frog turns out to be handsome Prince Naveen, from the far-off and fictional land of Maldonia.

The stills released by the studio show Tiana in full princess regalia: a powder-blue gown, tiara and hair in an elegant upsweep.

Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose voices Tiana. Other parts are played by Oprah Winfrey, John Goodman, Terrence Howard and Keith David. The music is by Oscar winner (and New Orleans veteran) Randy Newman. It is directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, the same team behind “Aladdin” and “The Little Mermaid.”

[Disney stresses] Tiana will be one of the “strongest” Disney heroines yet. The criticisms the film got over the character’s name in early drafts (“Maddy,” short for Madeline, was perceived by some to sound like a “slave name”) were only hiccups on the way to a finished product, he says, noting that one of his most popular creations, Buzz Lightyear in “Toy Story,” was named “Tempest” at one point.

The message that Tiana learns in the film — Disney characters always learn something by movie’s end — is that balance is important in life. Jazz Age woman that she is, Tiana needs both love and a career to find happiness.

Tarshia Stanley, a professor of English at Spelman College in Atlanta who often writes and teaches about portrayals of black women in film, says that the character’s hair — straight and pulled back in early images released by the studio — seems to be the appropriate, middle-of-the-road bet, too.

“They might as well make it straight so little girls can comb it when the doll comes out,” she notes, wryly. “We as African American women haven’t fully dealt with how sensitive the subject of our hair can be, so I certainly wouldn’t expect Disney to know what to do with [that issue].”

(Prince Naveen, for the record, is neither white nor black, but portrayed with olive skin, dark hair and, need we state the obvious, a strong chin. The actor who plays him, Bruno Campos, hails from Brazil.)

[From The Washington Post]

I don’t really mind that Disney’s first black princess doesn’t have a corresponding black prince, but I do wonder why Disney did that. Would it have been so weird or strange to have a frog turn into a black prince? Voiced by an African-American actor? Why didn’t it occur to anyone at Disney to change the story? Originally, the rumor was that the prince would be totally white, not even a whiff of “olive skin”, so obviously changes were made at some point.

You know what’s weird? No one is raising a ruckus about the voodoo. That really surprises me. The conservative Christian community might raise a stink about that, considering they had issues with the magic in Harry Potter movies and books. Or is voodoo acceptable? Doubt it.

For the new ads promoting Ciroc vodka, Diddy is looking for attractive girls – but only those with light skin. The casting call, released by Imperative Management, requests girls of certain height and size requirements, as well as only white, Hispanic, and fair-skinned African Americans. Understandably, the casting has sparked considerable controversy.

Hip-Hop renaissance man Sean “Diddy” Combs will be shooting a new television commercial for Ciroc Vodka and only African American women with a light/fair complexion need apply, according to the casting information sent out to by Imperative Management.

The casting call, which is also open to white and Hispanic women, goes on to specify both height and size requirements, stating that only those who meet their criteria will be contacted. The management company’s requirements are sparking controversy, as bloggers cry discrimination.

In 2007, Diddy announced his partnership with Diageo, the spirits company that owns Ciroc Vodka. Under the terms of their agreement, Diddy and his company Sean Combs Enterprises handles all brand management decisions for the vodka. As such, Diddy has appeared in several Ciroc ad campaigns, and also receives 50 percent of the company’s profits.

[From The Boombox]

I don’t want to touch this one because it is such a delicate and controversial issue. I will say that casting calls often rule out entire populations of models – no brown eyes, no blondes, certain weights, etc. However, this is also an issue of discrimination based on race and ties into the issue of skin lightening in print media. While some magazines and makeup companies have been praised for featuring models who don’t fit into the “5’10” 120 pound, blonde, blue-eyed” look, they have also been accused of using lighting and Photoshop to make black women look white. L’Oreal, for one, got flak for supposedly lightening Beyonce’s skin in their ads.

You’d think that Diddy would have thought this one through, but you never know – even though he has a 50% share of profits and stars in many of the ads that may not mean he has final say on what the commercials will look like.

Here’s Diddy leaving a medical building in Beverly Hills on February 29th. Images thanks to WENN .

Last week, comedian Jackie Mason did a stand-up act in which he referred to President Obama as a “schwartza” (also spelled “schvartze”). This word is Yiddish slang, and according to various sources, it could either be an innocuous word for “black man” or the Yiddish version of “n-gger”.

Different sources claim “schwartza” means different things, but Jackie Mason claims the word is not “demeaning.” Mason also explained that he is “an old Jew” and that he “was raised in a Jewish family where ‘schwartza’ was used. It’s not a demeaning word and I’m not going to defend myself.” TMZ has the video, and The Jewish Telegraphic Service has more details about the whole incident:

Twenty years ago, comedian Jackie Mason got in trouble when he referred to David Dinkins, then a candidate for New York City mayor, as a “fancy shvartze with a mustache” while campaigning for Rudy Giuliani. Last week, Mason used the Yiddish term again, this time to describe the president, reports TMZ:

Comedian Jackie Mason used what some say is a racial epithet in describing President Barack Obama during his act Thursday night, infuriating at least several people in the crowd.

During a performance at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency in NYC, Mason referred to Obama as a “schwartza” — some say it’s equivalent to the “N” word — others say it’s just part of the Yiddish culture and a literal translation of the word “Black.”

We’re told one person walked out fuming, “He’s more offensive to the Jews than Madoff tonight.”

We spoke with Mason by phone a few minutes ago, and he was outraged at the criticism, saying, “I’m not going to defend myself. Chris Rock has told a lot more jokes about whites than I have against Blacks. What about the demeaning words Blacks say about Jews?”

Mason added, “If it’s a racist society, the white people are the ones being persecuted because they have to defend themselves.” Mason called people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson “professional racists.”

Mason added, “I’m an old Jew. I was raised in a Jewish family where ‘schwartza’ was used. It’s not a demeaning word and I’m not going to defend myself.”

Mason responding to the original TMZ report, in which he says he’s called other ethnic groups “a lot worse” and once again brings up Chris Rock, who he confuses with the singer “Kid Rock.” (The best part of the video is probably when the woman he’s with gives him the smart advice to get in the car, but he just keeps talking.)

Of course, while not to make excuses for Mason, there is a significant difference between the 1989 incident and this one. The Dinkins remarks came at a campaign appearance, while his use of the term “shvartze” to refer to Obama was in a comedy show — and much of Jackie Mason’s act for decades has involved making fun of various ethnic groups.

Jackie’s last foray into politics, this fall, was his response to Sarah Silverman’s famous video for “The Great Schlep,” in which he objected to Silverman’s implication that Jews were not voting for Obama because of his race.

[From The Jewish Telegraphic Service]

Even though I see a racism bent to the story, I think the unexplored aspect of it is simply a generational conflict. Much as it embarrasses me, my father talks a lot like Jackie Mason (only his curses are in Bengali). People born, say, before World War II have a completely different set of standards for what is appropriate and what is just wrong.

I have no idea if “schwartza” is actually a derogatory word. I tend to think it’s not the actual word, it’s the sentiment behind it. The worst kind of slur or curse can sound different if said a certain way, and you can make a name like “dentist” or “mailman” sound obscene. In any case, Jackie Mason isn’t going to apologize.

I am one of those people who has never been able to sit through a Tyler Perry movie. I can’t even stand more than two minutes of his aptly-named “House of Payne,” a terribly unfunny show on TBS. But taste is relative, and Perry’s movies have proved that more than once at the box office. In fact, Perry’s latest film, “Madea Goes to Jail,” is Perry’s highest-grossing film so far, raking in $75 million. But critics say Perry’s movies are full of negative African-American stereotypes that do nothing to help change attitudes towards race relations. One detractor went so far as to call his success the “demonization of educated, successful African-Americans.” Of course, Perry is laughing at these critics- all the way to the bank.

“Tyler keeps saying that Madea is based on black women he’s known, and maybe so,” says Donald Bogle, acclaimed author of Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. ”But Madea does have connections to the old mammy type. She’s mammy-like. If a white director put out this product, the black audience would be appalled.”

“These stories have come out of my own pain and everything I’ve been through,” [Perry] says, referring to his six years of struggle, including three months living in his car in Atlanta before his plays became such huge hits in Southern black theaters that even Hollywood couldn’t ignore him. “These characters are simply tools to make people laugh. And I know for a fact they have helped, inspired, and encouraged millions of people.”

…Right now there are so few consistent, high-profile representations of African-Americans in film – Will Smith and Denzel Washington are pretty much it – that Perry has a near monopoly on the depiction of American black life on the screen. That gives him power beyond the images he puts in his movies; it makes him the top employer of black actors in Hollywood (not to mention Atlanta, where he owns a 200,000 square-foot production house, which produces his TV sitcom, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne). In other words, if you’re an African-American actor, Perry is the biggest boss in town, which explains the reluctance of so many black actors, even those who’ve appeared in his films, to talk about Perry on the record.

…Perry himself is keenly aware of the responsibilities resting on his shoulders. And while his critics aren’t likely to hurt business…the filmmaker also doesn’t want to be hemmed in by race. “After Obama became president, I realized that black people could not have put him in the White House- it had to be a collective effort of everyone in the country,” Perry says. “My fan base crosses all ages, all cultures, all classes. I won’t be forced to do just Madea. There’s no way I’m going to do that.”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Good god, I hope not. It’s not as if there’s a shortage of actors willing to put on a fat suit and a wig to get cheap laughs. Let’s see what else Perry has to offer. I’m so conflicted. On the one hand, I hate his movies. They’re so stupid! But I also love his story – a Hollywood outsider goes from living in his car to opening at number one at the box office. I do concede his point that there are not nearly enough opportunities for minorities in Hollywood- but is making bad, racially charged movies really the answer? I guess for millions of movie-going Americans, it is – so why would he make any changes?

Photos are stills from Madea Goes to Jail thanks to AllMoviePhoto

Brigette Bardot in the 1960s

French actress and general rabble-rouser Brigitte Bardot, 73, is on trial this week for inciting racial hatred in France. And this is not the first time Bardot has been on trial – since 1997, she’s been fined four times for breaking France’s strict antiracism laws. Bardot isn’t one of those silly little Hollywood types that gets her law breaking urges out of the way with a common DUI. Instead she writes angry letters about Muslims – sometimes using an animal-rights activist angle, and sometimes railing against them just because.

France (and much of the countries in Europe) has very strict antiracism laws. It is against the law to incite racial or religious discrimination or hatred of any sort. Bardot’s current trial came about after she wrote a letter in 2004 to current president (then Interior Minister) Nicolas Sarkozy in which she railed against the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Kabir. The festival traditionally includes the slaughtering of a sheep.

In the letter, which was later published in the quarterly journal belonging to Bardot’s eponymous animal-welfare foundation, the …And God Created Woman star attributed France’s perceived decline to its growing Muslim population. “I am fed up with being under the thumb of this population which is destroying us, destroying our country and imposing its acts,” Bardot wrote. The activist group Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples, or MRAP, filed suit against her last year.

The former screen siren has been fined four times since 1997 for violating France’s strict antiracism laws, which prohibit the incitement of religious or racial hatred and discrimination. Bardot’s first conviction came for a letter published in the newspaper El Figaro in which she complained about a large influx of Muslims contributing to “foreign overpopulation.”

[From E!]

The assistant prosecutor of Bardot’s case noted that she was getting pretty tired of dealing with her. She asked the judge for a fine of about $24,000 and a suspended two-month prison sentence. Something tells me that won’t make Brigitte Bardot keep her thoughts to herself. It’s hard to tell if her issue is just over the animals, or about Muslims in general. From the brief mention of her first letter, it seems that she has some issues with both.

Brigette Bardot in 1990

Last week, Naomi Campbell was hauled of a British Airlines flight after throwing a shit fit when they lost one of her bags. It was first reported that Naomi was then arrested in the first class lounge, but it appears that she was actually dragged off the airplane by police. Which makes me really happy, because I have this image of four cops against one Naomi Campbell, and it’s still barely a fair fight. Since then, it’s emerged that Naomi threw out some racial slurs at the cops as well. Because she can never just go out graceful.

Bucking clothes horse Naomi Campbell has been accused of hurling a torrent of racial abuse at a woman cop during her arrest at Heathrow last week. The supermodel later claimed police only nicked her because she was black. Now cops claim she called a WPC a “white ****” and a “white s**g” as she was dragged off the LA-bound jet in handcuffs.

The police source said Naomi continued, screaming: “f***ing white honkeys” at the officer and her colleagues. Those anger management classes have clearly been a great success, then. Campbell went berserk when she discovered one of her bags was missing at Terminal 5 last Thursday, allegedly spitting at officers who approached. Senior Scotland Yard staff were furious when Naomi later claimed police only arrested her because of her colour.

[From the Sun via the Huffington Post]

I took a criminology course in London four years ago during which time I learned just how serious the British criminal justice system takes racial slurs. One of the professors gave the example of someone yelling at a bouncer who kicked them out of a club, and the bouncer was Indian. If the guy called the bouncer a jerk and walked away, nothing would happen. But if the guy called the bouncer a jerk and mentioned his ethnicity in any way, that would be considered a hate crime and he could be arrested. I have no idea how often people are actually punished for it, but they made it sound like it was a pretty serious offense that they dealt with harshly.

Hopefully Naomi Campbell will finally do some real jail time. I doubt it’ll be anything legendary in terms of length, but anger management and community service clearly hasn’t done a thing for her. She still thinks she’s mightily entitled to do whatever she feels like and treat people like crap.

Here’s Naomi Campbell at the Led Zeppelin Concert “Tribute to Ahmet Ertegun” at the O2 Arena in London on December 10, 2007 . Images thanks to PR Photos.