Analysis 7: Uncle Ruckus' Sermon

                The above clip from the television series The Boondocks is from the episode “The Passion of Uncle Ruckus” where the Uncle Ruckus, a recurring character that hates black people and claims to be white but he believes he has “re-vitiligo, the opposite of what Michael Jackson got,” finds out he has cancer and claims to be called to the cloth by “White Jesus” who is depicted as Ronald Reagan.  In this clip is his final sermon where he eventually goads the white people in the audience to beat the black (sin) out of the black people which incites a massive brawl.  This clip aligns well with what Langston Hughes was saying in “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” with Aaron McGruder, the creator of The Boondocks, and his recognition of a self-hatred or self-shame in the face of whiteness.  This is reflected throughout Ruckus’ entire sermon but most notably in the line “If you are black of skin and full of sin come forward so I may lay my hands on you. (Slaps black audience members) Black, begone!” but this is most notably reflected through the reaction of Tom. 

                Tom is the blue-suited lawyer who is half black and half French (white).  He is a talented member of society by virtue of his intellect and law skills yet he, like the Negro poet Hughes referred to, show that they want to be white but more importantly that they don’t want to be black and have a hatred of the self with all of its blackness.  However, there is a positive element that subverts the hatred of this scene which is in McGruder’s recognition and satirizing of the issue of self-hate within the black community.  Hughes wanted to communicate that there is a beauty in your own individuality that is reflected through your being and your art.  Although, the scene is all that the audience gets to see, it’s worth noting that this is McGruder’s art and an expression of his thoughts and his individuality.  The Boondocks exist as the work of a proud black artist with all of his expressions of blackness and his concerns for its well-being.   

In Your Own Skin

Langston Hughes in his essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” speaks about racial insecurity black people have and the desire to be white.  He begins by mentioning a talented black poet that said “I want to be a poet –not a Negro poet” to which Hughes interprets as a desire to become white and an internalization of the idea that whiteness is a symbol of all virtues.  He conjectures that black middle class families never learn to appreciate their own people because they experience enough of what white America has to offer and allows white America to define their values.  They become ashamed of blackness and fetishize and desire whiteness and all of its perceived virtues. 

                Such circumstances are problematic when it comes to artistic endeavors because artistic mediums facilitate individuality yet the desire for the Negro poet to be white directly contradicts the power of a work.  Hughes believes that there is beauty in that individuality and that there is beauty is your own experiences as yourself.  That being said, Hughes shows his disappointment towards those such as the Negro poet whose minds work under the assumption that their own racial experiences are less relevant and interesting to other races, particularly whites.  The main message of the piece is that shame and fear have no place in the beautiful art of African Americans and anyone else’s. 

Analysis 6: Black Swan and Feminist Theory

(there is no clip due to youtube and copyright crackdowns, etc.)

          The ending of “Black Swan” which I cannot provide a link too because it is not on Youtube is an example of Susan Bordo’s notion of the body being a discourse or a text for our culture.  She believes that the body is a cultural statement in the sense that the many of our actions and activities are determined by the cultural climate, our cultural expectations for our behaviors.  Susan Bordo believes this to be particularly true of for women and their obsession with enhancing their appearance to match ideal cultural expectations.  She believes this idea of bodily discourse in females to be particularly true of anorexics, hysterics and agoraphobics because these disorders are indicative of taking practices related to enhancing their appearance to an extreme.  Women are expected to live up to a standardized appearance but they take that to excess and become anorexic.  The damaged body of an anorexic is indicative of the flaws in the dominant prevailing logic of society’s expectations. 

           Such is the case with Black Swan where the main character Nina is pressured by conflicting ideals of purity and perfection imposed by her mother and her role as the White Swan while simultaneously being pressured to tap into her dark side, her reckless nature and raw sexuality, in order to play the Black Swan.  Nina’s body becomes a text of her cultural climate because the outside pressures that compose that climate manifest themselves within Nina’s body.  The pressure is reflected by her masochistic habit of scratching herself as well as her hallucinations and general mental instabilities.  The illusion of power she gains by scratching herself is similar to that of Bordo’s analysis of the hysterical woman’s sense of power.  Power for Nina and other hysterics takes the form of the effect their actions and cries for attention has on the outside world that has so deeply affected them.  Nina easily brings her mother into deep concern and pain when she arrives home late from her night with Lily.  The end of the movie where Nina is seen bleeding after she has achieved her “perfect” performance is also indicative of the body as a discourse for the cultural climate and in this case, the pressure that society imposes on beautiful, talented young girls.