Did you know that Halloween is my least favorite holiday? True story. It would be one thing to be mildly annoyed by all of the adults in my town who are super-worried about letting their children participate in such pagan festivities (seriously, my town is really churchy), but part of my job is discussing drunk and cracked-out celebrities who feel the need to “dress up” in costume to reclaim their youth I guess. It just seems like every day is Halloween for actors, but whatever.
Another reason I’ve grown to hate Halloween? It seems like the costumes grow ever more obliviously offensive every year. Take this costume worn by Julianne Hough to a party over the weekend. She’s dressed up as Crazy Eyes, a black character on Orange Is the New Black. The actress, Uzo Abuda, playing Crazy Eyes is African-American. So of course Julianne WORE BLACKFACE. Is this offensive? Is this just sort of casually oblivious? Or is it just…? I don’t even know. I can sort of see how you would watch Orange is the New Black and think, “Hey, that would make a great and easy and comfortable Halloween costume!” But how do you make the leap to “And now I need to apply blackface and the costume will be complete”?
Julianne must have gotten told off in a major way, because yesterday she released a statement apologizing for the costume: “I am a huge fan of the show Orange is the New black, actress Uzo Aduba, and the character she has created. It certainly was never my intention to be disrespectful or demeaning to anyone in any way. I realize my costume hurt and offended people and I truly apologize.” I think someone must have said something to Julianne AT the party, because in the photos of Julianne leaving the party, it looks like she’s tried to wipe off most of the blackface. Sure, Julianne.
I’m including some other photos from the same party. Chelsea Handler dressed up as a drunk a—hole, Kelly Brook as a slutty Marie Antoinette (?), John Stamos as Kris Jenner, Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford (as Axl Rose & Slash, which is pretty awesome) and Vanessa Hudgens as a hipster angel.
Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News, Fame/Flynet.
Halloween annoys me too. I don’t like candy or horror movies. Costumes are the one thing I somewhat understand but when people do stupid stuff like this it makes me just want to forget this day exists.
Halloween has turned into an excuse for women to dress in sexually provocative costumes. No longer fun.
Oh? Does this trouble you? 🙂
It troubles me. Because somewhere down the line, the pro-sex feminist message changed from “I should be able to dress how I want without fear of being harassed, raped, or in any way to blame for any physical harm that someone inflicts on me,” to “I want to dress like a male fantasy object because it is about ME fulfilling MY desires [to be appraised by others]. All objectification is empowering if I say it’s empowering and anyone who questions my reasons for wanting to do something is a sex-negative slut-shamer!”
But like Gloria Steinem said about Miley, women are playing the only game that exists for them. This is what the culture has dictated female expression of sexuality to be (performance for others), and women have chosen to go along with that rather than to change the culture. So you can’t really blame them for it, but it’s not exactly cause for celebration of female sexual empowerment, either.
Plus, sexy costumes always look cheesy and boring as hell, and you may as well be advertising “I have no creativity, but hey, check out my boobs!”
Well said Liz!
I would also recommend anyone who jumps on the ‘slut shaming’ bandwagon to read ‘Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism’ by Natasha Walter, which is a good account of how women are doing themselves no favours by participating in a hypersexualised culture on entirely male terms under the guise of female ’empowerment’.
@Liz and Kath: I don’t think any of you are engaging in slut-shaming. But I do have a bit of a problem with the widespread policing of womens’ clothing choices, whether it’s done by the religious right or even by well-meaning fellow feminists and one reason why I (and many others) feel this way is because it ignores womens’ rights, wishes, and desires.
“What? You’re saying you like these clothes? You like nudity? You like some types of porn? You don’t see these dance moves as bad? You like overt sexuality? You want to be able to take a carefree, playful, open, or even humorous approach to overt sexuality sometimes? You say you want to rebel against the notion that women have to be sexually demure and dress modestly? The thought of being on a dress code makes you want to scream, and you don’t want arbitrary limits placed on your dance moves? You even feel sexually liberated by some of these things and believe that without freedom, there really can be no empowerment? Nonsense, you Silly Child Who Can’t Make Choices On Her Own. It’s not sexual liberation or empowerment. It’s Exploitation and Oppression. For Every Woman. Because I/we say so. It doesn’t matter how you ‘feel’. You’re just desperate to please a guy. Mama knows best.”
One more thing: Believing that women shouldn’t dress ‘immodestly’, and being concerned about society’s message that women always have to be sexually attractive to guys, is not slut-shaming. I agree. But it would be slut-shaming to say or imply that a woman is ‘A Problem’, inferior, or bad in any way because of the skin she’s showing, or to call her any of those nasty ‘slut’ words because of it. And unfortunately many women- including some ‘feminists’ have resorted to that scarlet-lettering.
@ Leila in Wunderland… “think” whatever you want. If you don’t think women should dress provocatively, then whoopee for you. When you try to enforce your own ideals onto others, you are in fact trying to shame them by pointing out that you think the way they are dressed is inappropriate. Like.. a ‘good’ girl or someone you’d respect wouldn’t dress that way…
How does how people dress affect you anyway? Think what you want and keep it to yourself.
@Lex: Either you meant your comment for someone else, or you misunderstood what I said. If you misunderstood what I said, that’s my fault. I said, ” Believing that women shouldn’t dress ‘immodestly’, and being concerned about society’s message that women always have to be sexually attractive to guys, is not slut-shaming. I agree.” I should have separated the two ideas. I should have said the part about believing that women shouldn’t ‘dress immodestly’ isn’t slut-shaming. It’s also not slut-shaming to be concerned about our culture’s message that women always have to be sexually attractive to guys. The second idea- about how the message that women have to make themselves as attractive to guys as possible is a problematic one- is what I agree with, not the first. I have no problem with any way another woman chooses to dress, and I feel that we should dress however we want to. I feel that it’s time for society to get over its hang-ups about the human body, and that this patriarchal idea that covered up and less sexual= good, respectable, valuable, moral, superior woman/revealing clothes and more sexual= bad, inferior, corrupting, worthless, tainted, immoral, inferior woman needs to be stamped out. It’s misogynistic, sexist, prudish, and has caused way too much repression and violence. So you and I seem to both agree about this.
I agree. I simply cannot stand Halloween. I tolerate it because I’m a teacher and the children like to dress up and do the trick-or-treating thing.
Other than the candy thing, I totally agree.
The hairstyle, the outfit and the name tag (!) were more than enough to tell people who she’s dressing up as…
It’s offensive AND dumb. Seriously – how did she think it was ever a good idea?
I love and hate the John Stamos comment, mostly because I was just thinking “I’d hit that.”
Would I be offended if a black person would paint the face white for a costume? Don’t think so. I probably wouldn’t do it anyway.
What I don’t get is why she had to do that but her friends didn’t?! And why she was that dumb. I mean if I were her I’d be super careful what I do in public. This was really stupid of her, don’t get why she did it.
There isn’t the history though of black people wearing white face like the other way around. Fair or not, it is very hurtful to black people for whites to wear black face regardless of how much sense it may make. I admit, I don’t completely understand it, but I can still be respectful of it.
I understand that the history of it makes it difficult for people. I don’t think Hough’s move was racist, but pretty dumb. I think we should differentiate more.
I for example found it much more disturbing to see Zoe Saldana morph into Nina Simone. I mean look at Tyra Banks photoshoot. That’s fine, but the other way around is not? Like I said I do understand that there’s history, but we should treat everyone with equal measure.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2420591/Now-Tyra-Banks-morphs-Kate-Upton-Claudia-Schiffer-Linda-Evangelista-AND-Grace-Jones.html
I think the reaction a lot of black Americans have to blackface is childish. I get it, historically it’s been used to denigrate people of your skin colour. At some point you have to let it go. Not everyone who wears blackface is a racist jerk. Julianne Hough doesn’t seem like she intended to make fun of black people. If anything she seems like she just really likes the character and wanted to have fun with it for a night.
It’s pathetic how anything even tangentially related to race in America (Lorde’s Royals comes to mind …) always becomes a race issue and always creates the usual PC noise. It must be exhausting to live in that kind of an environment.
Nono: Childish? Wow. I’m going to get the popcorn ready now.
I think this could be a case of “any publicity is good publicity” because any Caucasian with an ounce of compassion knows that putting blackface on is an insult of the first order.
Yes, bluhare, childish. When you fail to acknowledge any kind of nuance or context and throw your toys out the cot when things aren’t just as you want them, lack of justification for your position be damned, that’s childish. That’s not how any reasonable person acts.
A reasonable person would realise that sometimes blackface is okay.
Someone mentioned the swastika in the comments, and the same applies to it. There are whole religions that now can’t practice their faith comfortably in the West because people are unwilling to be reasonable about a symbol.
I’m not saying there isn’t a time and place to be offended by blackface, because there are surely people who do it to be insulting, but there are also people who have no intention to be insulting with it. For the latter to be treated the same as the former is just ridiculous.
I blame the people who used blackface and swastikas to abuse others, not the people who are offended.
I certainly won’t say people are terrible for not being offended but i don’t think its so awful that peopke are still offended by powerful symbols of oppression from not that long ago.
No, nono. A reasonable person would wonder if something is offensive to someone else maybe it isn’t nice to do it.
Sometimes thinking of the person on the receiving end is the right thing to do.
@Bluhare, you are spot on.
I see nothing wrong with it. Tyra Banks did the same thing in reverse, making herself white and nobody batted an eye or made nasty comments. Check old movies and videos to see what blackface really looked like, nothing like this. She loves the show, put on some bronzer and came as one of the characters. Big effin’ deal. It’s not racist, just an admiration of the show and the characters. The sensitivity about this is ridiculous. Does this mean Sharpton and Jackson will be holding rallies now to denounce her admiration of Orange is the New Black?
Bluhare
Everything is offensive to someone. Are you going to hole yourself up in your room and never leave it in case you offend someone? That in itself would offend some people. What now?
Some offense is not rational, as evidenced by the above story.
No I’m not, nono. What I do like to do, however, is take other people’s feelings into account. Life’s nicer that way. And if it means I wear that costume with no face paint, then I’m totally OK with that.
I agree with you, Nono. This country is turning into a mess of white guilt. This “blackface” (which looks like a heavy tan, in my opinion) was not intended to hurt or offend anyone, and those with such little minds that think anything remotely related to some racist gesture is automatically a horrible, ignorant thing to do has some real growing up to do. It was all in good fun, but apparently no white person is allowed to have fun without checking in with every single race, religion, and group on the planet and make sure that not one ounce of what they’re doing is in any way offensive. It’s an impossible thing. I, for one, would rather live my life a little “ignorantly” I suppose and enjoy myself, bc I’m never mean to hurt anyone but as well, I’m not going to bend over backwards in everything I do just in case a few people gasp and are hurt. Grow a bit of thicker skin, people, life isn’t this serious.
And the partially scrubbed face picture is just pitiful.
How dumb do you have to be not to know the history if Blackface. Smh.
ITA! Blackface is heavily freighted with historically ugly racism in the same way as the N word is.
Nono, a reasonable person would never say that Caucasians using the N word is sometimes okay. I mean, people used to think a talking Aunt Jemima syrup bottle was okay too. – http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/antiblack.htm
In this case, I can kind of understand it–wasn’t Julianne educated overseas in dance academies for the most part? It doesn’t seem like she would have been taught about the history of blackface in the US while studying dance in England.
But that doesn’t excuse her friends. Not ONE of them took her aside and said, “Hey, this might not be that great an idea?”
If she does something like this again (like that kid from Arrow and Teen Wolf–he’s done blackface three or four times, even with fans telling him nicely about the history and how offensive it is), I’ll chalk it up to racism. But this may just be a case of ignorance, not intentional racism.*
*Which isn’t to say it’s not offensive. Of course it is.
Sloane
So Django Unchained should never have happened? Eminem shouldn’t be allowed to use it?
That’s the scary part. She didn’t even know she was being a racists. Every American should be required to learn about History in order to pass High School. The ignorance of it is frigtening.
I bet those who don’t think it’s a big deal wearing black face, wouldn’t dare wear holocaust attire for sh*** and giggles or the swastika. As a black person I’m not outrage, just think it wasn’t a good choice especially since she’s in the public eye. I’ve seen a photo on facebook with a guy in black face dressed as Trayvon Martin and someone else wearing a neighborhood watchman t-shirt, smiling for the camera. I would love to blink them to Compton/LA or Englewood/Chicago see if they’ll be smiling then. Also on facebook a black girl dresses as a slave with a bucket of cotton, her friends have a noose around her neck. I sure hope her parents and grandparents see the photo. I would like to blink her back to 1764 and see if she’d still have a smile on her face.
white people are aware, as shown commenters ‘nono’ and ‘liz’. THEY JUST DONT CARE. The concerns of black people are important or relevant. Not a single, solitary FRICK is given. Its the same with the monsters that were in blackface as TRAYVON, a 17 year child MURDERED by a racist.
The history of pain associated with blackface isnt enough to get people to act less disrespectful a-holes, they ‘just wanna wear a costume’ feelings be damned.
She obviously isn’t racist and wasn’t trying to belittle black people. She’s just dumb.
TO QUOTE LAINEY:
“Julianne may have not intended to hurt, but racism can still exist without intent…Racism is ignorance in action.”
for the cheap seats:
racism can still exist without intent.
racism can still exist without intent.
racism can still exist without intent.
Blackface? Her face is barely orange.
There are no words to describe the level of idiocy and complete f*ckery that is Julianne Hough’s costume. Infact, she’s such an idiot that I’m not even offended by her costume. I just feel sorry for her.
BTW… couldn’t she have run this costume idea by her PR people before she left the house?
Exactly. She is too dumb to get angry at.
I doubt she actually has full time PR people. I don’t think that many celebrities are as rich as we think. They might earn more, but they spend a lot too.
F* ck the PR people! Why didn’t she just ask a black friend?
if she has NONE!!??, which would be sad in itself, why not ask her most recent costar Octavia Spencer. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-steely/diablo-cody-interview_b_4133485.html
She is an Oscar winning black actress….for “THE HELP”!!!! for Gods Sake!!!
Dear God Almighty. Not funny.
Dumb mistake, but that doesn’t look like “blackface” to me. It looks like a bad Hollywood orange tan. Why aren’t people also offended by the many movies with actors pretending to be white, black, Native American, Asian, whatever and people aren’t up in arms about that?
Because blackface has a seriously ugly, racist history. It does look like a stupid Hollywood orange tan, but her INTENT was perfectly clear. Offensive.
Oh, for the love of gawd…. I am so sick of this “Politically Correct” crap in the US! It is a Halloween costume. When did our society become so damn sensitive? Lighten up people, and STOP wearing your feelings on your shoulder. Time to ditch the race card. It is old, very old!!!
I’m very glad you live in a post racial society, but most of us don’t. I’m extremely white and live in a city where I am very much a minority, and i still experience white privilege.
It’s an amazingly duplicitous thing to flip racism around so that the person who’s a Black Ally or who is the victim now looks like the guilty party because of their observations of someone’s behavior. For example, a Black woman who feels that she has been passed over for a raise because of her background may be told that she is ‘pulling the race card’ and that racism will never end so long as people like her “see race in everything.” But how can you NOT see something that is constantly there?
Liz, accusing folks of “playing the race card” doesn’t really help move the dialog forward. The “race card” is a concept that has been used to silence people of color who attempt to speak out when they feel that race has been used unfairly in determining how people are treated. The “race card” is also dropped to undercut a white person who sees the very real racism or a racist act like blackface. The “race card” is one of the most dangerous weapons in the White privilege toolbox, for it implies that a non-POC would know better when something is truly racist than someone who is constantly subjected to racism. This just feels like White-‘splaining to me.
That said, it isn’t that people of color or their White allies can never be wrong about denouncing something as racism, but that they should be treated with a level of deference when expressing their concerns. Instead of having something dismissed as someone pulling a “race card”, these complaints should be respectfully analyzed and received. If someone is truly committed to being non-racist, why not say “I don’t feel like what I did was racist. Can you help me understand why you feel that way?”
http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2011/06/race-is-not-a-card-its-a-reality/
I don’t really agree with you because I think most people would be upset if blackface was used in films. I’m aware historically it’s been used in the past but the idea that it’s fine today is wrong.
With you Liz. It’s Halloween, its a costume, if her dressing up as a character is offensive…..then the character itself is offensive, and go boycott / trash talk the show that portrays the character. And the actress that portrays the character too.
I consider this to be a double standard, hypocritical, overly PC that defies rationale logic…….
I m just disappointed that’s the most creative she can get.
My question was answered below. I’ve got to start reading further before asking things.
I think you have responded to the wrong Liz?
Amanda, blackface is actually not acceptable in screen roles. It should be, but it isn’t.
Angelina Jolie as Marianne Pearl and Fred Armisen as Barack Obama both come to mind immediately. It seems a lot more acceptable when it looks realistic and not when it is an obvious farce.
msw
I haven’t heard of either of those two movies, so I can’t comment on that.
For another twist on this subject, remember how people were angry that Halle Berry and Hugo Weaving did “yellowface” for Cloud Atlas?
MSW there was an outrage at Angelina Jolie playing Marianne Pearl. There’s also outrage at Zoe Saldana being darken up and given a fake nose to play Nina Simone.
Blackface? More like Tanningmomsface.
Yes it is offensive, a person’s skin colour is not fucking costume.
Naomi –
Succinctly put!
We don’t really see Whites dressing up in blackface as Martin Luther King or Ghandi for that matter. Nope, we see ‘comedic’ characters minstreled up instead.
I just don’t understand why anyone would think this is OK. The popular reaction to anyone blacking up is always (justifiably) “Why are they doing BLACKFACE?! That is so offensive/stupid/tasteless/other negative adjectives”.
Did she never notice that? Or did she think she’d be the one to pull it off?
As someone who is from a country that has no black people, can I ask why is this so offensive? I’m not being disrespectful, but I truly don’t understand.
I read the Daily Mail comments, and most people don’t find it offensive.
Hi Kit –
The reason it’s offensive to so many people (including myself) is because “blackface” in itself has a really disgusting history. If you Google the term you can see it. It’s racist, because of how people have used it. The same as a swastika – it’s just a symbol and it was used before the Nazi party took it over…but it still has the power to hurt people.
Bubbles, if you look up the history of minstrel shows and the movie Birth of a Nation in the US that should explain a lot about why Blackface is considered an offense here.
Bubbles,
A lot of people read far more into her costume than she put thought into it. “Black Face” as people keep screaming over is blatant mockery and portrayal of a negative stereotype. It’s obvious to anyone who thinks beyond knee-jerk reaction that that was not Julianne’es intent here at all.
Black face is about mocking stereo types. Julianne wasn’t trying to do that.
This makes me think of that comedy, Tropic Thunder where RDJ played an Australian man playing a black man. http://movies.about.com/od/tropicthunder/a/tropicrd080508.htm
Oh, so people who are offended by it are just having a simple knee jerk reaction? Like it or not, cultural history matters because it permanently changes the meanings of things. Or should i get mad at people for getting upset if i have a giant swastika tattoed on my arm? It’s their problem for misunderstanding what i really meant, right?
Regarding the Daily Mail comments-
While I read the Daily Mail as a guilty pleasure, the reader comments on the site are often overwhelmingly anti-feminist, racist, homophobic, and terrifyingly anti-liberal. There’s a general feeling that whites are the most oppressed race.
I wouldn’t take what they have to say as a representation of the general public.
The Daily Mail is a right wing UK newspaper of course they won’t find it racist LOL
Here’s a bunch of examples of blackface and black caricatures and brief explanations of why it’s offensive. Hope it helps.
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/antiblack.htm
Brad Pitt dressed-up as Yo gabba gabba for Halloween several years ago. Another Black character, he kept his whiteface. She’s just a dumb bitch who didnt know better. I can’t imagine she wanted this publicity.
She’s a fucking idiot, that’s why she didn’t notice. Like, so so dumb. I want to pat her on her little head and tell her to stick to dancing.
I just don’t understand how someone can justify her actions. I can’t imagine dressing up as Jackie Chan and taping my eyes back to look Asian. Obviously Black folks don’t get offended easy when it’s actors playing a certain character. There was no uproar over RDJ in Tropic Thunder.
That said, I don’t think she’s racist, just plain stupid and uninformed.
“John Stamos as Kris Jenner” – hahahahahahahaha.
That comment was hilarious. I do think John Stamos made a deal with the devil to age as well as he has. What a seriously good looking man he is.
As for Julianne, I am cringing for her. I really don’t think she meant to offend (it kind of reminds me of the Designing Women episode where they perform as the Supremes and Suzanne goes on in blackface because she thinks she’s honoring the Supremes) but it was a boneheaded idea. I really do think she thought she was paying tribute to a show she enjoys and a character she likes. I am just surprised that no one around her was like, “Um Julianne, about that costume…”
I agree. I don’t think she ever meant to offend and loves the show and character. The upside is a lot of people didn’t know about the show and now they got a lot of free publicity. I love the show and hope it picks up more viewers from publicity getting its name out there more. It deserves it. It’s so good.
+2 – that comment was a riot.
I know right. When I read that above I was like great now the 4th sister is totally going to get a big head. But I see what you did there. Lol.
“Going” to get a big head? Ha! Did you see that twitter rant by the young one because people were calling them out for being at a club and underage?
That ‘Kris Jenner’ comment had me scrolling down, expecting to see John in a woman’s business suit & a shaggy dark short wig. Imagine my surprise, I actually burst out laughing. That was good.
Re: Julianne – I *totally* don’t think she meant *any* harm by the black makeup… It was a stupid thing to do, A.) Because it’s obviously still very hurtful to a lot of people, regardless of her intensions or lack thereof, & B.) Bc she should already know celebs are judged more harshly & by THE WHOLE WORLD. They always haveto keep their ‘game’ on when in public, for the sake of PR, which effects their whole career.
If she was going to a personal friend’s Halloween party, or something, it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal, since I truly dont think she meant *anything* negative by it. When someone (historically) was being intentionally horrible using ‘black-face’, they would almost *always* include the stereotypical, exaggerated large white/red/pink lip coloring, & insultingly unattractive hair (through using materials like straw or worse) & exaggerated styles. Julianne really looked like she was trying to very ‘basically’ portray the character, not going ‘all out’ w/either the coloring or style of her hair, to match the character. She used a really dark orangey-tan color (even tho the actress has a dark skin-tone), as opposed to the BLACK used for historical ‘black-face’.
I think she was just being a complete airhead, maybe thinking that by using a lighter ‘tan’ color, it wouldn’t be seen as the offensive ‘black-face’. She shouldn’t have risked it, as it wash worth the backlash, or risking genuinely hurting someone.
That was so funny! I scrolled down to see John Stamos dressed up as Kris Jenner and when I saw the horns I laughed out loud. At work. *still cackling*
Funniest thing about the whole post… still laughing
I live in the keys. We have a WEEK of costumes, for an event called Fantasy Fest. If you think these are trashy/sleazy/gross, you should see the stuff we are visually-assaulted by.
Hey Teatime, to completely go off-topic – how crowded is it down there for FantasyFest? I love Key West but have never been during that week. Would it be so crowded that I would want to kill someone, or is just Duval St that would be really bad? I like the laidback atmosphere there and can’t reconcile it with a huge festival.
The whole damn island goes insane. The prices of everything (hotel/airfare) get ridicuously jacked up. They estimate there were close to 100,000 people on a 3×5 mile island. The laidback atmosphere vanishes during fantasy fest and is replaced with the ‘lets see who can be the most naked in public and not get arrested’ vibe. for cryin out loud, i saw a guy in a fire fighter helmet wearing a slice of pizza over his wang and written on his chest was “Dont be afraid to grab my meat”
UGH UGH UGH
Alternate theory: Julianne Hough knew exactly what she was doing. She easily could have gone as Piper Chapman and gotten zero media coverage. Instead, she went in a costume GUARANTEED to generate press coverage and further opportunities for coverage when she’d have to release a statement atoning for costume. What else does she have going on besides a floundering movie career?
Yipper Skippers. She just had a movie that
went straight to DVD. Movie career is not what she hoped. Next step, attempt at high profile relationship.
Ooh there are some blinds out there about an actress who beards that’s trying to jump on that Cruise crazy train.
You know, I had the same thought as you at first. Because, no matter whether you personally think this was offensive or not (personally, I do), surely you should know what a spectacularly bad idea this is? So to do something like this, you have to be doing it on purpose, right?
But then, why would you want this kind of attention? Being labeled a racist surely can’t be the way to get better parts. I don’t know. Very hard to wrap one’s head around this. Either way, clearly a very bad idea.
I think this might be the case as well. If so, it shows a serious lack of judgment.
I never watched Orange is the New Black, so I didn’t get why it was offensive. I thought earlier she posed as the Tan Mom. My bad :(. Now that I know better, yes, it is offensive.
+1
LOL – me too. I saw a headline saying “Look at how offensive Julianne Hough’s costume is” with a picture under it, and I was like…what is she? What’s the problem? So I clicked on the article and I was like…ooohhhhh….I see.
you have to be a special type of person NOT to realise that any costume that involves Blackface/whiteface, any type of face in this era will offend most, if not all, people.
Awww, LAK. You’re so nice. I can think of a whole lot of descriptions besides “special type of person”. 🙂
How is whiteface offensive when it doesn’t even remotely carry the same historical weight and impact as blackface? The two concepts don’t seem comparable at all.
white people INSIST on being willfully f**kin obtuse when itcomes to race.
I don’t see the problem. She dressed as a specific character, its not like she went as a stereotypical ‘black’ person in an attempt to degrade the race. If Kerry Washington dressed as Marie Antoinette and put white powder on her face, would people freak out? I doubt it.
I can’t tell if you’re trolling, or not.
My race is not a costume. The hairstyle alone would have made it obvious who she was dressing up as. Blackface is offensive to some people, whether you think so or not.
Exactly.
Also, sick of people jumping on the calm-down-you’re-over-sensitive bandwagon. Personal accountability is always a wise choice. I wish lazy-minded people would stop trying to excuse racist behaviors.
In the US, blackface is a symbol of racism and degradation, because historically it has been used to objectify and caricature African Americans. That’s why people get upset about it. Comparing a black woman using white powder to look like Marie Antoinette isn’t really fair. The french aristocracy are famous for their use of powder for one thing, and there is no system of oppression behind it. People aren’t upset for no good reason.
I meant a system of oppression related to the cultural use of white powder, obviously, and not the French aristocracy… just in case that needed clarification 🙂
How come Beyonce’s skin lightening isn’t offensive? You know, those magazine covers and whatnot. How she’s lightened so much (and her hair) that it’s hard to tell if she comes from a mixed race background to possibly even white. I’ve seen some photos and I’ve had to do double takes. This is a serious question and not one meant to rile the rage of others.
I’ve seen plenty of articles on that and outrage about it. I don’t think it’s going by unnoticed at all. Maybe they’re getting away with it because Beyonce herself isn’t complaining? Not sure.
For the love of God, Beyonce does not bleach her skin and YES she comes from a mixed background…like a lot of Black Americans. SMH. All you have to do is look at her mother and baby pics to see she is a light skinned Black woman who “shockingly” gets lighter or darker or you know…the lighting used in photoshoots.
For the love of god it’s called reading the comment and not reading what you want to read. No one stated she gets her skin bleached. It was a question that referenced the PHOTOS taken and the retouch afterwards. Dear god read before you comment.
The girl didn’t think and her friends she went with must be as stupid as she is not to relise how offensive her costume was. We really don’t celebrate Halloween here in oz, I’m always amazed at how many women use it as an excuse to dress up very sexual in Public. Actually I’m really not that amazed. I love seeing costumes like Cindy and husband dressed up as guns & roses!! That’s more to my taste and humour
We refer to it as Ho-loween in our house as women of all ages take it as an opportunity to dress provocatively or slutty (however you look at it!) …
I know, right? What sinners they are. Don’t they know that women are OBLIGATED to dress modestly and that skin-baring/revealing costumes are only for prostitutes?
What an informed, sex-positive, and open-minded society we live in. 🙂
I wanted to be Ron burgundy for Halloween, but the women’s costume was so low cut, short and tight. That’s fine if I’m trying to be sexy, but I wanted to be funny damn it!
Lol, Leila.
Word.
I remember dressing up as Buffy when I was about 12 and I LOVED it. Thinking back on it I don’t think I ever got to dress slutty (if anyone can say that the costumes above are sexy you’re wrong). The sluttiest thing I wore was a Lady Jason Voorhees costume and even then it went down to about two inches above the knee but I had a little bit of cleavage. But then again I never left the apartment and drank with friends there and played spades.
I’m doing Halloween this year but my little one is going as Cinderella with pants underneath the dress and probably a coat. It’s cold up here in Washington!
Oh who knows what her true intent is or was. It was a dumb move. But everyone needs to be held to the same standard.
Dress up as Crazy Eyes all you want. Or Prince or Michael Jackson or whoever. But i don’t understand why you need to put on blackface to convey the message. People aren’t dumb – if they know about OITNB, they’ll get that she was dressing up as Crazy Eyes. Like, non-white kids dress up as Iron Man and Spiderman and i don’t see them running around with white powder all over their face. Aside from the fact that blackface is offensive and borderline racist, there’s just no need for it.
I love Halloween! I really do, it’s great fun in my city for adults and kids. I think adult Halloween parties can be a lot of fun…but!…common sense is required. Who is stupid enough to wear blackface these days…oh, her. Check out actress Martha Plimpton’s twitter for a great take on this.
So, does the character Julianne dressed up as have blond hair? I don’t understand why you’d go blackface but not even put on a wig or spray your hair.
Right? I had the same thought.
The actual character has black hair. Why go to all the effort to be the character and then leave your hair blonde? And I think Crazy Eyes wears a tan uniform, not orange. Dumb on all fronts.
Good catch, emmie_a about the character’s uniform color. Dumb and poorly executed on Julianne’s end!
That’s what i wondered. Hair would have been my thought long before blackface.
Exactly. This is the reason I don’t understand why the only two options people are throwing out are “racist” or “dumb”. How about famewhore? That seems the most likely option to me. No adult in this country is unaware of the offense blackface causes to many people (whether they think it’s justified or not). So the fact that she didn’t bother to buy a wig or use temporary hair coloring, throw in some brown contact lenses, or use the right color jumpsuit to make this costume the least bit accurate…that tells me the ONLY thing she cared about was the buzz that would be caused when she stepped out in blackface.
The racism argument is entirely separate from this. I think it was just a stunt queen/famewhore move. And apparently well played since a lot of people are talking about it.
I’m black (Nigerian) but I don’t think this is offensive in any way, It is just dumb & stupid. Pple need to chill & not shout racism at every thing.
Blackface has a history of racism in the US and other countries as well. A person’s ethnicity is not a costume.
Dyllish, my understanding is that this is linked to systemic oppression in America, since blackface used to be used here to dehumanize and objectify black people. I don’t think it carries the same impact in other countries because it doesn’t have an obvious link to a system of oppression. Atvleast, thats what i observed when i lived in other countries besides the US.
It’s an USA thing, it’s not seen as a racist thing in my country either. A costume is just that, but I do understand why it’s seen as something different over there, history and such.
Well Dyllish, I am also Nigerian (Igbo to be precise) and after researching the history of Blackface, I find this offensive. Some of us Africans might not get it, because we do not share the same history as African Americans, but the least we can do is to at least emphatize with people who have been oppressed.
Well as long as YOU don’t find it offensive I guess the rest of us can go home then. RME. I really hate these arguments; I’m black and don’t find it offensive or I have black friends and they don’t find it offensive, so others are just being over sensitive. That is not a good argument, you don’t get to dictate what others can be upset about.
MTE.
“…you don’t get to dictate what others can be upset about.”
Nobody is dictating anything. People are simply expressing their opinion that “blackface” is not, as a rule, offensive and that those who believe it is are being overly sensitive.
It’s an opinion. They’re allowed to have it.
It’s more like brown face, (should I be offended I’m Hispanic) Not the smartest thing but not totally offensive. I love Crazy Eyes!
Um, wouldn’t she actually had to have panted her face black for it to be considered ‘black face’? She’s the same color as everyone on Jersey Shore!
It’s a bad makeup job, but it is still blackface. She was obviously darkening her skin because she was playing a black person.
It is offensive and dumb. I don’t believe people when they say they didn’t know what they were doing. If you are an adult you know better.
Lol, it looks like Handler has dressed up as Jolie…
It’s fu*king 2013, how do people still think it’s ok to do this?
Because this chick is a white Mormon from Utah whose dad was president of the Utah Republican Party. She doesn’t know history, she knows white privilege.
Well that was harsh but undoubtedly true.
This situation reminds me of a Marie Antoinette program I watched once on the history channel. A historian was saying it was very unlikely Marie Antoinette ever made the famous “let them eat cake ” quote. The historian said it was unlikely because a woman of Marie Antoinette’s privilege probably never even thought about or was aware of the poor. They were so far removed from her sheltered world.
I think you could definitely definitely say this about Julianne Hough. She appears to be incredibly sheltered and lacks awareness (and a brain).
This is accurate. Having recently moved to Utah from a very diverse state it become apparent. I have not been exposed to outright hatred towards non white people but there is a whole lot of ignorance. Granted, I am white and obviously my experience is different than someone who is black but, many people here have stereotypes of African Americans that are offensive.
Idiot. The comment section on People.com about this made me sick to my stomach. It’s a shame we live in a world with so many dumbasses.
People’s comment sections are disgusting. A lot of people use that site as a mouthpiece for any ignorant, dumbass thought that pops into their tiny little brains.
Yeah, the Daily Mail comments are pretty bad too (one of the top rated comments is along the lines of “If Jay-Z can remake Annie with black people, why isn’t this alright? PC gone mad!”).
:/
Jesus Christ.
It’s ATTENTION SEEKING…what is this beards name again? Exactly!
You are exactly right! I didn’t even think of that.
exactly ,Hough took a leaf out of Mileys book of ” How to shock ppl and generate pr”
Guess I should have read further down before I posted a similar (but longer) reply above. +1, total stunt queen move. I guess she’s trying to step up her game?
My girlfriend was very happy when she moved from California to Virginia and found out the city in which she lived hardly celebrates Halloween. Meanwhile, I intend to go in and yell at our rector this morning for not having a Haunted House in the church (I had to wait until today lest he put me in charge of setting it up any earlier)
I have to admit that Halloween is actually my favorite holiday! I’m a huge fan of scary movies and just all scary stuff in general. I love the Axl Rose and Slash get up! Now, on to black face situation. You must be a special kind of stupid to NOT realize that is incredibly offensive. I’m glad someone told her off and knocked her down a few pegs. I really don’t understand why she is even a thing in Hollywood.
Same here, Mandy. LOVE Hallowe’en and horror’s held a very special place in my heart ever since I was little. I remember being 6 and getting my mother to agree to me skipping school so I could stay up until 4 a.m. to watch Hocus Pocus! Hallowe’en is my Christmas and Valentine’s and New Year’s Eve all wrapped into one.
@NoNo – LOVE Hocus Pocus!! One of the favorites from my childhood! & back when I was trick or treating, the whole ‘oh-god-parents-inspect-ALL-candy-your-kids-are-being-poisoned!!!!’ craze hadn’t started yet. You could still afford to go out in your own neighborhood not assuming any of your neighbors were plotting your demise. Not that it’s worth not being safe now, I just miss that feeling of safety on your own street.
I love Halloween too! It’s also my favorite holiday as well.
Offensive AND dumb. And then the lazy excuse of, “But I love this show! I just had no idea!!”. Bordering on the non-apology of “I’m sorry if YOU got offended”. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there is simply no reason to not know that blackface would be offensive.
Those are the worst apologies. I would have respected the apology more if she said, “Guys. I’m an idiot. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think this through enough or make the connection to the history of blackface and how this would be offensive. I don’t know that much about the history of this but I promise I will educate myself and I really do apologize.”
She knew exactly what she was doing. Publicity grab, plain and simple, because why else would anyone talk about Julianne? Stupid.
I hope Uzo gets a lot of media attention from this. She’s incredible.
That’s what I’m hoping. I’m surprised how many people don’t know about this show. I love it. Uzo is my favorite on the show. She’s so talented and funny. I hope her profile is raised more because of this and that the show gets more viewers.
Yeeah, this is pretty offensive. Couldn’t she have just gone as a white version of crazy eyes? The hair and facial expression would have clued people in right away without having to do blackface.
It’s offensive and dumb. My skin color is not a costume, in fact, it’s a liability and a risk to my safety and health. If I’m walking down the street a people routinely think I’m suspicious and up to no good based solely on my skin color, and can decide to end my life over it, so basically eff you
so one of my friends (who just happens to be black) dressed as a geisha last night at a halloween party and painted her face white and used tape to make her eyes slightly slanted. she actually looked amazing and no one was offended.
I think sometimes people get offended on things like Julianne’s outfit because they think they are supposed to be offended and all PC like.
If Julianne were doing it to be hurtful, then thats one thing. but she’s not. case closed.
and crazy eyes is the best character on that show because she threw pie for her love. PIE. who does that anymore? *sigh*
I LOVE crazy eyes. The actress is just brilliant. I feel more affection for her character than any other in that show.
How many Asians were at the party? Because as an Asian I think that’s pretty damn stupid. You can have a full Geisha costume without “slanty eyes”. It’s a pretty obvious outfit and makeup. Did the rest of you partygoers ask if she could see constantly? Or pull your eyes back and chant “Ching Chong chinaman” at her? Probably not-after all, this is America and the only racism that deserves attention us when it is directed towards African Americans. Yep-you just pulled an Epic FAIL at the standard PC BS.
The white paint is tradition anyway so I can understand that, but taping their eyes seems gratuitous.
@Tarheel Tina – I don’t think theres anything wrong w/wearing white makeup for a geisha, bc they wear the white makeup themselves, as part of tradition (which the history of the Geisha is steeped in. I read ‘Memoirs Of A Geisha’… Dont know if that’s totally accurate, but *whoa*. Rough read, for me.)
But I do think the tape on her eyes was unnecessary. Like someone else said, the costume’s identification or accuracy (or even cosmetic look) didnt depend on using the tape on her eyes, so I don’t think it was really a good idea. The ‘effect’ she was going for could’ve been achieved a bit less noticeably using makeup.
The white paint isn’t so bothersome, but slanting the eyes is unnecessary.
Much to do about nothing. I’m on a political site that has a lot of African-Americans, and I would say 65 percent said they weren’t offended, that she was portraying a character she loved on Orange is the New Black for Halloween going as an ensemble group, and wasn’t really blackface with the bronzing of her skin. Definitely not the best decision , but I don’t think it was ever meant in any malicious manner or making fun of anybody, and too much is being made of it. Everyone has the right to express how they feel though if they were offended, so it’s good she apologized.
it isn’t white people’s job to tell African American women would they should or shouldn’t be offended by. There are plenty of African American women who have also said it bothers them. It isn’t like there is one spokesperson for the entire race who gets to hand down a tablet from the mountaintop and tell everyone they should or shouldn’t be offended by her costume.
I imagine if i dealt with that kibd of crap everyday, i might just roll my eyes and say “here we go again, la di da” and ignore it. Or maybe i reallt wouldn’t care at all. But that doesn’t mean i should be a mouthpiece for everyone.
Wow anon. You dont sound very fun. I once dressed up as jasmine on halloween. I’m not arab but I did wear a black wig and dark self tanner. Guess I must be racist too. People need to calm down.
Yep you sound racist. Especially with the ‘People need to calm down’ spiel. That’s what privileged people say to demean the justified anger of minority groups who experience oppression/racism every day.
Totally idiotic. Although, I firmly believe this girl doesn’t take a crap without having a PR angle. She probably knew it would get a reaction. She wants to stay in the news. First she was a dancer. Then she wanted to be a country singer so she dated a country singer. Then, she wanted to be an actress so she dated Seacrest. What will it be next? Can’t stand this desperate fame seeker.
Maybe she just wanted to see what she looked like with darker skin and she used Crazy Eyes and Halloween as a cover. Did you ever think of that, people?!
If i wanted to know what i looked like with a postage stamp moustache, i would probably do it in the privacy of my own home.
And maybe I should dress up as you because I always wanted to know what it feels like to act like an idiot.
+1
Good luck with that.
I have such mixed feelings about Halloween. As an artist and a geek, I love dressing up. As an introvert, I HATE the attention it brings. As a sugar addict, I love the candy. As someone who is trying to lose weight, I HATE the temptation.
So, you see, it’s complicated.
As for Julianne’s costume, I feel like any props given to her for not wearing a slutty version of her costume (really, society? Does every female Halloween costume need to be sexy?) are canceled out by her clueless insensitivity of taking it to blackface. Oh girl. Just .. no.
So Chelsea Handler dressed as herself?
I think she dressed as her arch-nemesis Angelina Jolie.
While blackface has an ugly and offensive history, I can’t get worked up about this particular incident. Just seems like Julianne was dressing up as a character who happens to be black, not making fun of black people. As some other commenters have noted, she probably did it for the publicity it would generate.
Reminds me of the Designing Women episode when Suzanne appeared in blackface as one of the Supremes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwdeDZk7GJg
Besides, I’m more offended by the whole “Slut-o-ween” thing that anything else.
Yeah, women are pretty much supposed to adhere to a modest dress code all 365 days of the year. Except for leap years. Then, we have to dress modestly 366 days of the year. Lucky us.
@Leila – I’m always conflicted, regarding the way Halloween seems to attract a lot of overtly sexy outfis. Not bc there’s *anything* wrong w/sexy or exposing outfits (& I don’t think there’s anything wrong at *all* that a lot of women probably feel freer to let themselves be (what they may consider) a bit ‘wild’ on Halloween. Many who maybe don’t feel comfortable normally doing so, or who don’t get the opportunity to be ‘ostentatious’ very often, due to family or their jobs, often use Halloween for that freedom).
But I think in recent years, Halloween has started to make a lot of girls & women feel *pressured* to wear ‘sexy’ subject matter or ‘sexy versions’ of various costumes. I noticed in places that commonly sell costumes, if you select ‘women’s’, it’s either all very exposing, or big & frumpy, almost like the industry is trying to pressure people, implying it’s not a ‘good costume’ for a woman if it isn’t ‘sexy’.
I know it’s not always the case, & happens some places much more than others. I just think if society *insists* on making women feel pressured, men should be just as pressured.
I definitely agree that nobody should be pressured into wearing something they’re not comfortable with. But that’s still not an excuse to call people sluts and whores either.
John Stamos as Kris Jenner …. Hehehe!
Of course this was an ill-advised choice of costume. But I am really surprised (or not, maybe) that so many people are calling what she did ‘black face.’ She tried to make her skin tone darker because that is the skin tone of the character she dressed up as. I understand why true ‘black face’ existed and the racism of it. But I also understand what true ‘black face’ looked like – not at all what JH looked like. Not even close. I see nothing mocking or overdrawn and cartoonish about what she did which is what real ‘black face’ looked like. To me, intent means something. I understand to others it does not.
Whats is “real blackface”?
Try doing a Google image search. If not, think black shoe polish and overdrawn cartoon lips.
Offensive or dumb? Both.
To tell you the truth, when I saw the hair I thought her costume was Miley Cyrus.
As a person of color, while I’m not personally offended by her silly makeup (or otherwise attention-seeking behavior), all of you folks screaming reverse racism need to sit down and learn some history. It’s amusing to listen to Tea Party zealots & others complaining that Jay Z & other rappers can use the “n” word, so why can’t white people? I don’t think it’s appropriate for anyone to use that term, but I think it’s important we try to understand these concepts within the historical context of racial relations, bigotry, Jim Crow laws, etc. Of course, anyone of any color/ethnicity can be a “racist”, but please don’t pretend like history doesn’t figure into how race is viewed in the present.
+100
Lol@ “John Stamos as Kris Jenner”!
I love Halloween. Not the dress up part but the Jack o Latern, decorations part. Kid costumes and candy grabs are pretty awesome too. The adults irk me and the dumb drunks.
John Stamos as Kris Jenner! KILARIOUS
LOVE your writing, SEVERE
I just… I don’t get this. Even if she wasn’t capable of pulling together the coherent thought “Wow, this might just, golly gee, be a bit of an upsetting thing to do” herself, don’t people in the public eye (I understand she is famous. I just don’t understand what FOR. Having dated Seacrest? Beyond that…. kinda no clue, but I know her name and face get splashed about a lot it seems) have ANYONE who stands at their front door before they head out to a photographed public event, looks them up and down, and says “Wait. Hold up. Back upstairs, wash the face, you’re gonna get killed for going out like that?” If not for any actual human decency reasons, then at the very least to protect their OWN investments and ass…ets? Once you hit C-list, why don’t managers install some kind of auxiliary conscious, pay for a starlets personal Blue Fairy to be ready with a rolled up newspapers and a stern “NO!” so they avoid this kind of thing? I mean, the actual human thing would be to be self-aware enough to know when you are being a racists twerp, but let’s be realistic here. The backup Blue Fairy or personal Jiminy Cricket seems like the safer bet.
Her last name is Aduba.
I think she’s as dumb as sh!t, and eventually, her sheltered, Morman upbringing will stop being a protective cloak for her.
And White people dressing up as a favorite Black character without employing blackface has happened before… Brad Pitt, dressing up as DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba comes to mind. Orange hat/outfit and big-rimmed glasses did the job, plus it gave that show some shine, since those who didn’t know looked up the character and the show after the fact.
I find it offensive and dumb. It may not be to the extreme of historical blackface, but come on, how did she not pause before doing it and think, hmm, maybe this isn’t the best idea?
Nicely done on the Stamos comment!
The look on her face is clear enough that she’s aware of the uproar she’s causing/going to cause. While I wish that we in the US wouldn’t give into the further hate and separation of races this girl should have known better to do that in this era that we live in. Personally I wish racism cease to exist but that would mean that everyone would have to let go of their chipped shoulder in order to move on. If we sit here and allow ourselves to be offended by this and that it’s only going to continue. That said this girl knew what she was doing and who she was going to offend. Boosting your exposure at the expense of a race is never a good look. Isn’t she only famous for doing that dancing show?
Stamos as PMK is GOLD.
First off I love Halloween, just carved two pumpkins yesterday, but I hate the fact that every adult woman costume has to be sexy.
As for Julianne (why is she a star again?) I saw these pictures yesterday and didn’t know who she was playing since I don’t watch the show, I actually thought she was playing some kind of tan person. She is an idiot and made a poor judgement and has since then apologized, the more that is made of this, will just bring her more attention that she doesn’t deserve.
@Chloe – I actually just commented on the whole ‘sexy woman’s Halloween costume’s think in response to Leila a few posts up.
She looks like Lindsay Lohan.
I think when you ask a multiple choice question about Julianne Hough and one of the answers has “dumb” in it, that’s the answer.
She seems about as smart as a talent show backup dancer.
Wow, I don’t find this offensive at all. Who cares if she has a name tag? This is NOT “Blackface” – GOOGLE it if you’re confused. The comments on this page and the backlash against this woman for this decision both qualify, however, as racism. She is absolutely not trying to offend anyone, and there’s no reason whatsoever for her to not have made herself look as authentic as possible. This is a human being in costume promoting a character, actor and tv show that she likes, end of story. She’s not dressed as a slave with fake lips and bootblack on her skin. If you are incapable of recognizing the difference then there is no chance of making progress toward true racial equality. If I dress as a zombie, I’m gonna have open wounds. If I dress as a geisha, I’m gonna have black hair and I’m going to change my eye shape. If I dress as Michonne from the Walking Dead I’m gonna be in dreads with dark makeup, BECAUSE I WOULD WANT TO LOOK LIKE HER! I am disgusted by how unbelievably foolish and incapable of using rational thought the entire human populace is.
Not sure if troll…
I am disgusted by the foolishness of this post, really.
How can you possibly think that this is trolling? This is NOT BLACKFACE!
OK, go slant your eyes and go to a party with Asians.
Darken your face and go to a party with African Americans.
Let’s see if everyone agrees with you.
PS Did you notice she tried to remove the makeup before she left the party? That might mean she got crap while she was there.
Everyone? You mean the majority of people who aren’t complete and utter dipshits and think that it is unacceptable for a white person to make themselves look another race? Are you shitting me? THAT is racism. I’m not supporting an outfit like, say, someone who IS ACTUALLY IN BLACKFACE dressing as Treyvon Martin. This costume is not offensive to anyone with the ability for rational, analytical thought.
Or someone who’s smart enough to have read the article & understand she was going in costume as an African American actress Ann (btw, “black” people are actually various shades of brown, as are many white people–TAN MOM)
Ann Valor, sometimes being sensitive goes a long way. You might try it sometime.
OMG please STFU and have several seats…oh and please stop using ALL CAPS, it’s not going to bolster your weak arguments in any way.
I like candy and horror movies so I don’t mind, plus I like to see all the little kids dressed up..As for Julianne, of course it’s offensive and there’s no way she didn’t know that it would be, I think she wanted some attention. Bad attention is better than no attention right.
Re Daily Mail comments above.
The Daily Mail is a British newspaper correct? Black face is not viewed the same way in Europe as it is in North America. When I lived in Spain, I saw one or two late night talk shows use black face in a sketch (in fact I think one was used to portray Michael Jackson but I’m not 100% sure about that). Obviously would be considered inappropriate, offensive, and racist in the USA.
But Europe doesn’t have the same hang ups or concerns about black face. I’m not sure why, but I think it has to do with the fact there was no great war waged over there to end slavery like there was in the USA. There WAS slavery in Europe but they aren’t as worried about being politically correct or being offensive towards a specific group of people. It seems the American Civil War greatly shaped our society’s views towards racism and this is why people react strongly to such things such as when people use black face to try to “look black.”
But this is just me theorizing, I could totally be off base. But it does seem that people wearing black face in Europe isn’t considered as offensive as it is here (or if black people in Europe are offended by it, they don’t tend to speak up as much).
But I think Julianne probably could have dressed up like that without the darker make up/black face. I don’t watch Orange is the New Black, but even I can tell that she is dressed as an inmate.
Actually, the DM has a large U.S. readership. You will see many of the comments are from the states. This doesn’t mean that the U.S. as a whole is okay with racism—rather, the site is flooded by commenters who share a same set of (SCARY) beliefs.
That being said, I still frequent the site. The stories are trashy but entertaining. I just try to avoid the comments section.
It has a US portion though and a lot of US readership. It’s pretty right-wing, sexist etc. The DM’s comment sections are equivalent to what you see on Youtube videos. Basically, full of trolls and downright scary viewpoints.
God damn, John Stamos looks hot as hell (pun intended).
Julianne Hough (what is she famous for? I’ve never heard of her before) was being ignorant for sure. Impersonating an African American to make fun of them using black face paint is why such a practice is considered by so many to be offensive. As a black person, I’ll sincerely believe she was paying tribute to a character and actress. But she didn’t think this one through. She should have thought about the consequences of that costume and how it can run the risk of being racially insensitive. Blackface is a touchy thing. Are you impersonating someone because they are or black or are you impersonating someone who is black? I find the latter to be more acceptable.
Oh GTFO! She’s supposedly paying homage to a character she loves, so she paints her face black and leaves her hair blonde? What kind of half ass homage is that? When did crazy eyes start sporting blonde? She did this for publicity. And what do you know, she’s getting it!!
Exactly. Wigs are cheap.
I can understand that the wounds created by slavery, & the disgusting racism that remained totally mainstream for decades & decades after it was abolished, run deep & are very painful. I saw someone above saying that the historical use of black-face, & completely accepted racism, were So long ago… But unfortunately that isn’t true for some, & it hasn’t been long enough to fully stamp out the racism in everyone (as it may never be, as a lot of people can’t seem to function w/o trying to find a reason to think they’re better than someone else, no matter how idiotic or inaccurate it is).
I don’t think she meant any offense or harm. I think it was risky, stupid move that, if she somehow *didn’t* realize would be a problem, makes her incredibly ignorant & more than a little stupid. But I don’t believe the hatred behind true black-face exists in her attempt to resemble the character (& actress) she claims to really admire. I can’t read her mind or heart, so can’t expect everyone to agree. For some, intention doesn’t matter, but I think that’s the wrong way to think, in situations where hurtful intent of any kind, seems to be missing. But Im not telling people how to feel. Just my opinion on the subject.
Another instance of blackface made headlines today. Someone attended a party dressed up as Trayvon Martin. Complete with a bloodstain upon his chest.
Blackface, no matter the cosmetic medium used to create it, is not acceptable. Period.
People trying to justify one person’s use of blackface are justifying everyone’s use of it. Good job, people. I’m thinking of you and your naïveté every time I see that photo of the Trayvon ‘costume.’
http://globalgrind.com/2013/10/27/trayvon-martin-black-face-george-zimmerman-halloween-costume-william-filene-greg-cimeno-photos/
“People trying to justify one person’s use of blackface are justifying everyone’s use of it.”
Um, no. Not even close.
Um, yes.
@Babalon – I’m late to this reply, so you probably won’t even see this, but I’m with Payton. Um, No. it’s incredibly ignorant & presumptuous to make such assumptions, & throw out such an accusation regarding a very serious issue, to people you dont know the first thing about.
Black-face w/o malice, while not a good idea, is NOT the sane as historical black-face- Full of hatred & done to dehumanize & humiliate black people based on grotesque exaggerations.
Thinking Julianne’s case is different from that, does NOT mean I ‘condone ALL black-face’. Absolutely ridiculous & narrow minded.
Just because a person changes their skin or hair color to make themselves look like the character they’re portraying doesn’t mean they’re racist. But blackface does have a bad history behind it, and just because someone does find blackface, yellowface, brownface, or something else offensive doesn’t mean they’re ‘too PC’. Most of the time, when people find something offensive on the basis of race, sexual orientation, or gender, there’s a valid reason for it. It’s always best to err on the side of respect and compassion.
And it’s too bad that one of the best holidays in America (costumes and chocolate) 🙂 has to turn into a scarlet-lettering fest. Do women always have to be on someone else’s dress code?
“It’s always best to err on the side of respect and compassion.”
No, not always. Certainly not when people use the “I’m offended!” bullhorn as a means to bully others into conforming to their own narrow worldview (which happens often).
@Payton: Asking people not to be insensitive when it comes to racism, sexism, and homophobia is not bullying or forcing a narrow opinion.
I don’tt have a problem with sexy Halloween costumes, but i do have a problem with how few choices there are for women. I shouldn’t have to shop in men’s for costumes if I don’t feel like exposing myself or wearing a sexy costume–the men’s costumes are way too long and don’t account for boobs/hips at all.
I am a black woman and I am not offended. Is it possible that she likes the character and wanted to look as close to the character as she could? There is too much serious racism going on in this country (ex. Barney’s profiling young black customers, black teenagers being gunned down because they dress and look a certain way, hundreds of black men getting racially profiled by police on a daily basis etc….) to be calling out this chick who most likely meant no harm. Stop creating controversy where there is none.
I am a white woman and I am offended. I get your point, I just think she was being really ignorant or even worse, doing it on purpose for the attention. If it’s the latter she was being insensitive at best just to score some headlines while doing something that is genuinely hurtful and makes many people angry. And it doesn’t just piss of black people. I get tired of people assuming that racially offensive stereotyping is only offensive to people who are the race being stereotyped. Racist behavior is not something a majority of people will tolerate. I have called out people saying racist things in groups of white people. It makes me sick to see racists who think they’re safe to say or do prejudiced things just because only other white people are around. It starts with seemingly harmless things like this but it quickly escalates, which is why I have a problem with this.
exactly Shannon (+ your second sentence)
I honestly don’t think she meant any harm. She wasn’t putting on the make-up on in order to poke fun of the black community. That being said, I do think she is probably a bit ignorant and didn’t realize that it could come across as insensitive.
She knows what she’s doing. It’s just her lame attempt at getting attention. No one cares about her.
You don’t have to be a history major or even get a “C” in a course in contemporary US history to know what “blackface” means throughout history and what it exactly represents. “Blackface” and “Minstrel shows” been been dead and have gone the way of the “Virginia Serenaders” and Al Jolson’s early career for over eighty years now. Despite her half baked Twitter apology she should be forgiven but she will be labeled as an ignoramus in her industry and in the popular consensus for many years to come.
Offensive and dumb. Wearing the costume and the name tag would have been sufficient. Hell, even twisting her hair the same way would have been sufficient. She didn’t need to slather brown paint on her face. It’s obvious she realized she done F*cked up good when she came out with most of the makeup gone.
I love Halloween, but it’s my birthday, so I’m totally & completely biased.
Halloween costumes are not getting more offensive. Our society is getting more easily offended.
Big difference.
Its almost impossible to find a costume for Halloween that won’t offend a particular group. You can’t dress up as a native American, you can’t dress up as a witch (because that will offend witches), and you can’t dress up as any other ethnic character than a white person. Also, any type of costume such as nurse, cowboy, doctor, could be considered a “stereotype” of people in that profession.
Here’s a better idea. Instead of constantly getting offended, let’s all grow up and get over ourselves.
Yeah, it’s so unfair that it’s not acceptable to marginalize and make caricatures of other races/ethnicities/cultures anymore, right?
No, people feel more confident in saying “Actually, this is hurtful and demeaning to me/my culture/other people” today than before. That’s the difference.
Really not the smartest choice but not offensive either.
Some people are just ultra sensitive and/or looking for problems.
I agree, some people are way too sensitive. They need to grow a backbone.
I didn’t even know she was doing “blackface” until the world announced it. If I just saw these pictures without the title, I automatically would’ve just thought that she was dressed up at a jailed person. I really did not see this as offensive at all. Unless she had added more specific features that would have been even MORE offensive.
Offensive, and demonstrative of a low IQ.
I agree–B Celeb trying to get into the news. I also think that if Black people find this offensive then it should *not* be done. There’s nothing wrong with leaving skin colour out of it and just dressing up as the person.
To me, she looks more like she just spent too much time in a tanning bed. Still messed up though.
honestly it is offensive on so many levels. One whether she is racist or not. Wearing black face is a racist act, so you don’t do it because it is offensive. And people would have gotten who she was without it.
the other horrific offensive part the level of stupidity that this girl has. I mean in what world are you dumb enough to not think this is A offensive, racist and hateful and B why would you do this knowing that you’re picture is being taken, post pictures yourself
I love the slash and Axl costumes. Best costumes out of all of them. They look cute together. Now if hell freezes over maybe the real slash and axl will kiss and makeup too and gnr will make the most awesome comeback ever. Yeah rite that’s never gonna happen. A girl can wish rite.
Americans should know and understand American history. They should also know how events in their collective history have acted to marginalize and defame. It’s hard for me to excuse her ignorance.
In addition to her ignorance, what I find equally offensive is the seemingly ease in which who people “want to be seen or heard” go right for the “let’s offend black people (and others who are equally offended) schtick.” Why didn’t she dress up as some other stereotype from some other ethnic/racial group? Probably because she tap into such powerful imaginery and emotions to generate publicity. Please know that I am not saying that’s it’s okay to dressed like a Mexican farm laborer or an Asian or Russian sex worker, a depressed pill-popping Mormon wife, or a stereotypical Jewish mom. I am just saying that I don’t like the easy out of “I’m going to make my way to stardom by being offensive, clueless, ignorant, slightly racist (whatever that is) and racist then apologize for it).
BTW to the posters upthread, black people are and were offended when Beyonce appears in whiteface ala Revlon just as we were offended when she appeared in blackface for some French ad. And for the person who posted that their “black friend” came to a party in white face and with her eyes taped back not only was that not funny, clever or cute it was unneeded and offensive as hell. Her “friends” and the people around her should have let her know that but then they are perhaps like-minded too.
Sigh…SMH at some of these comments. Must be nice to be able “dress up” like Black, Brown, Asian, Native/Indigenous, etc.. person once year and immediately WASH off the COLOR and the HARDSHIPS that come along with it. SMH..White privilege is something else I tell ya. SOME of you are flat out idiots. You can do a costume WITHOUT painting your skin to match the race of the character. For fluck sakes people, dig a little DEEPER and THINK please.
THIS!!!
Yes! This! For many, unfortunately, examining what’s beneath the surface is limited to taking off their clothes and/or make-up.
Though I just realized… didn’t Prince Harry dress up as a Nazi soldier awhile back and then apologized? I find that just as offensive as this instance. It was a major scandal but it seems the public has more or less forgiven Harry for it and equated him to being young and stupid. I think it’s the same for Julianne.
I hope people aren’t more harsh towards her just because she is a woman (and I didn’t want to pull that card, but the Nazi costume incident never gets mentioned anymore which I thought was interesting). Just some food for thought.
Don’t feed the troll
Dressing up like a Nazi is not even in the same universe as this. Then again this and black face are not in the same universe either. She obviously dressed up as a character who happens to be black compares to black face which is a character of a black person ans obviously is extremely racist.
Is it racist for a black person for put tiing on white makeup and be a white character for Halloween? Of course not, its silly and stupid just like this but not racist. Hell the Wayon Brothers played a character of a couple “white chick sones”. Was I supposed to be offended by th
Again people are
Was I supposed to be offended by that? Because I wasn’t just like this.
Hough though should be smarter then that and realize people today can get offended over anything.
Yeah. Imma just say it:
White girls: too soon! its not cool. Do we really still have to deal with this shit? Oh yeah, thanks, keeping-up-with-joneses-frat-boy-loving-Mindy-Kaling.
Sorry ; I fed the troll but I take it back. Thanks Danskins.
We don’t celebrate Halloween really in Aus, even though retailers have tried to make it a “thing” for the past few years. I’ll leave the comments on blackface to others. I originally thought she’d overdone the fake tan as a way to impersonate someone…until I read the comments.
Julianne had a dream PR run since splitting from Seacrest. And now she’s wrecked it. Unless she was trying to gain attention in the first place.
I don’t buy that It’s ignorance. To dress like a blackfaced female prisoner?.!
Just unkind. Nothing to do with information or lack…she’s just an insensitive person…and a theater girl knows about or has seen blackface. I’m not buying her innocence on any level.
blackface has such a racist history i do not understand why anyone thinks its still okay/a good idea
Haha. Slut o ween. It’s just about fantasy time. Who.cares. its a symbol of repression that leaks out.
I’m not sure I.agree with GS that women play the man game by dressing sexual. I.feel the burque is the extreme of man game. Our culture has been repressive of smart women’s sexuality. So let it shine on slut o ween!
John Stamos as Kris Jenner – haha! Good one. (Not being familiar with American history I’m gonna stay out of the primary discussion).
Yes this was dumb and racist. The character is nicknamed Crazy Eyes. It was in no way necessary to apply ANY color to dress as Crazy Eyes. Anyone familiar with the show would recognize her by costume, hair style and, OMG, the crazy eyes. Blackface was unnecessary. If I chose to dress as Miley Cyrus did for the VMA Awards I would not need to color my black skin white because my outfit, hairstyle & horrible dancing would be enough for people to understand.
Some of the comments on this thread and Hough just prove that those who don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
Haha, John Stamos as Kris Jenner!!!
suspicions confirmed: she is dumb as rocks and desperate to be a star, including pulling base stunts for PR.
she showed her hand -no mercy for her now.
You never, ever do blackface for any reason-period.
This is a famewhore’s publicity stunt.
How can you portray a black person, without a black face? Now, the hair connection, though, defies logic. For crumb’s sake! Why is It denigrating to dress up as a black person? Cross dressing, for Halloween, is no different: a male dressing as a woman, or vice versa. Why play the race card? Yes, she screwed up by not painting her hair black…simple as that.
Santa Claus wasn’t upset when I dressed my daughter as him.
Zoe Saldana darkened her color to play Nina Simone. I think we need to criticize the white part of her genes for being so offensive, and yet, totally accept and understand the black part of her genes for just wanting to pay homage to a brilliant black artist.
WHEN WILL THE MADNESS END?
There is no disputing that blackface was and is an embodiment of racism. Hard to believe but well into the mid 20th century blackface was a popular form of entertainment. It was not uncommon well into the 1950s for high school, fraternities and local theatre groups would perform in blackface. The real Mad men of Madison Ave. had no compunction utilizing blackface in their advertising. Take a look http://wp.me/p2qifI-1LM