list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Bamboozled on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Bamboozled/163955/default.aspx Title: Bamboozled
Year: 2000
Director: Spike Lee
Plot: Writer and director Spike Lee casts his satiric gaze on racism in American television and how America's racist past still impacts the present in this biting comedy. Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) is an astute, Harvard-educated African-American writer working for an independent television network who is assigned to brainstorm a new show for the African-American audience. Delacroix is the only black writer on the network's staff, and the longer he works under Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport), the loudmouthed executive in charge of programming, the more he's convinced he's made a mistake. Wanting to be fired, Delacroix writes a pilot he imagines is so offensive no network would ever dare to air it: "The ManTan Minstrel Show," in which dancer Man Ray (Savion Glover) and comedian Womack (Tommy Davidson) portray two shiftless dunderheads, ManTan and Sleep 'N Eat -- who are to be played in blackface. To Delacroix's surprise, Dunwitty gives the idea the go-ahead, and to his shock, the show is soon a massive hit. Delacroix is now stuck trying to explain his show to the African-American community, who are generally not amused, especially Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett Smith), his assistant on the staff, who has become involved with Man Ray. In order to give Bamboozled a look that would suit its setting in the world of network television, Spike Lee and cinematographer Ellen Kuras shot the entire film using digital video equipment. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 12
Number of Lists: 7
Number of blog posts: 2
Number of discussion threads: 1
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:56:03 GMTBamboozled2000Spike LeeWriter and director <a href="/players/P____99175/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Spike Lee</a> casts his satiric gaze on racism in American television and how America's racist past still impacts the present in this biting comedy. Pierre Delacroix (<a href="/players/P____75075/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Damon Wayans</a>) is an astute, Harvard-educated African-American writer working for an independent television network who is assigned to brainstorm a new show for the African-American audience. Delacroix is the only black writer on the network's staff, and the longer he works under Dunwitty (<a href="/players/P____58816/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Michael Rapaport</a>), the loudmouthed executive in charge of programming, the more he's convinced he's made a mistake. Wanting to be fired, Delacroix writes a pilot he imagines is so offensive no network would ever dare to air it: "The ManTan Minstrel Show," in which dancer Man Ray (Savion Glover) and comedian Womack (Tommy Davidson) portray two shiftless dunderheads, ManTan and Sleep 'N Eat -- who are to be played in blackface. To Delacroix's surprise, Dunwitty gives the idea the go-ahead, and to his shock, the show is soon a massive hit. Delacroix is now stuck trying to explain his show to the African-American community, who are generally not amused, especially Sloan Hopkins (<a href="/players/P____56892/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jada Pinkett Smith</a>), his assistant on the staff, who has become involved with Man Ray. In order to give Bamboozled a look that would suit its setting in the world of network television, <a href="/players/P____99175/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Spike Lee</a> and cinematographer Ellen Kuras shot the entire film using digital video equipment. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide12Tag Target (>10)7213http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t10629357jo.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Bamboozled/163955/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_20_Television/625/43216/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/21/2009 4:56:03 PM
Body: A great movie that doesn't get a lot of attention in Series 7: The Contenders. It came out during the height of reality shows like Survivor and was about a faux new television show in which seven unsuspecting people are picked by a lottery and only the last one standing gets their freedom. At the time, it seemed like an Americanized version of Battle Royale, but Series 7 focused more on the television aspect and just how ridiculous it was becoming. I know it's mushy and preachy, but I still love Pleasantville. Watching modern day kids trying to survive in a black white Leave It To Beaver like town; and it was when Reese Witherspoon was still in her slutty bad ass girl Freeway stage which is always hilarious to watch. Bolt fits the theme. A dog raised believing it is a super enhanced cyber puppy on a television show gets lost and must learn to live in the real world was decent enough. Hairspray was about a bunch of kids vying for a coveted spot on a local tv dance show. Halloween III: Season of the Witch revolved around kids putting on cursed masks and watching a television commercial that would kill them. Fun times. Galaxy Quest was about a group of washed up Strek Trek like actors that find themselves transported to a real intergalactic war and must try and imitate their faux television personas to survive. I'll have to watch it a dozen more times, but I'm fairly kinda sorta maybe almost certain that Inland Empire had something to do with television. Natural Born Killers was more or less an indictment of the horrors of television on our society. I didn't really care for The Nines because I thought it was a little too too; it was trying to convey something about losing ourselves in the false reality of television. Or maybe not, I don't know. Bamboozled is one of my favorite Spike Lee movies about a television executive that tries to get fired by programming a horrifically racist minstrel show but is shocked to learn that it becomes a sensational hit. Soapdish was a stupid fun look at all the ridiculous bitching and backstabbing that goes on behind the scenes of a daytime soap opera series. Edtv came out right after The Truman Show and was pretty much trying to say the same thing. The Cable Guy. Doesn't get the credit it deserves and is probably one of Jim Carrey's best performances. American Dreamz was just __________. I don't watch American Idol so maybe I wasn't cool enough to enjoy it. Stay Tuned was one of those movies from my childhood where most of the comedy went straight over my head. Something about a family getting sucked into a sadistic television and must survive all the twisted versions of popular shows at the time. Need to watch it again.
]]>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:56:03 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme7/21/2009 4:56:03 PMA great movie that doesn't get a lot of attention in Series 7: The Contenders. It came out during the height of reality shows like Survivor and was about a faux new television show in which seven unsuspecting people are picked by a lottery and only the last one standing gets their freedom. At the time, it seemed like an Americanized version of Battle Royale, but Series 7 focused more on the television aspect and just how ridiculous it was becoming. I know it's mushy and preachy, but I still love Pleasantville. Watching modern day kids trying to survive in a black white Leave It To Beaver like town; and it was when Reese Witherspoon was still in her slutty bad ass girl Freeway stage which is always hilarious to watch. Bolt fits the theme. A dog raised believing it is a super enhanced cyber puppy on a television show gets lost and must learn to live in the real world was decent enough. Hairspray was about a bunch of kids vying for a coveted spot on a local tv dance show. Halloween III: Season of the Witch revolved around kids putting on cursed masks and watching a television commercial that would kill them. Fun times. Galaxy Quest was about a group of washed up Strek Trek like actors that find themselves transported to a real intergalactic war and must try and imitate their faux television personas to survive. I'll have to watch it a dozen more times, but I'm fairly kinda sorta maybe almost certain that Inland Empire had something to do with television. Natural Born Killers was more or less an indictment of the horrors of television on our society. I didn't really care for The Nines because I thought it was a little too too; it was trying to convey something about losing ourselves in the false reality of television. Or maybe not, I don't know. Bamboozled is one of my favorite Spike Lee movies about a television executive that tries to get fired by programming a horrifically racist minstrel show but is shocked to learn that it becomes a sensational hit. Soapdish was a stupid fun look at all the ridiculous bitching and backstabbing that goes on behind the scenes of a daytime soap opera series. Edtv came out right after The Truman Show and was pretty much trying to say the same thing. The Cable Guy. Doesn't get the credit it deserves and is probably one of Jim Carrey's best performances. American Dreamz was just __________. I don't watch American Idol so maybe I wasn't cool enough to enjoy it. Stay Tuned was one of those movies from my childhood where most of the comedy went straight over my head. Something about a family getting sucked into a sadistic television and must survive all the twisted versions of popular shows at the time. Need to watch it again. http://www.spout.com/blogs/chrismorrell/archive/2008/8/10/33815.aspx Post By: chrismorrell
Post To: chrismorrell Blog
Post Date: 8/10/2008 9:46:18 AM
Body: My faith in Spike Lee was restored by this.. The "joke" is pretty heavy-handed of course,but played out very plausibly...The digital look of the film ,we have become well accustomed to by now. At the time this only served to further add an immediacy that probably kept some audiences guessing as to how seriously they should take things. Mos Def ,(first time i remember seeing him) with his hyper-radical crew,and his insistence on a name change to "Big Black African" should leave noone in doubt that this IS a black(sic)comedy. Your funny bone will surely stop vibrating though, as the credits roll; showing, a catalogue of appallingly racist toys and "knick knacks" ,like the "money box" that Damon Wayans has in the film...
]]>Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:46:18 GMTchrismorrellchrismorrell Blog8/10/2008 9:46:18 AM My faith in Spike Lee was restored by this.. The "joke" is pretty heavy-handed of course,but played out very plausibly...The digital look of the film ,we have become well accustomed to by now. At the time this only served to further add an immediacy that probably kept some audiences guessing as to how seriously they should take things. Mos Def ,(first time i remember seeing him) with his hyper-radical crew,and his insistence on a name change to "Big Black African" should leave noone in doubt that this IS a black(sic)comedy. Your funny bone will surely stop vibrating though, as the credits roll; showing, a catalogue of appallingly racist toys and "knick knacks" ,like the "money box" that Damon Wayans has in the film... http://www.spout.com/blogs/jlgdrd/archive/2007/7/2/12855.aspx Post By: jlgdrd
Post To: Wicked Fun
Post Date: 7/2/2007 3:32:00 PM
Body: Sighhhhhh. What to make of Spike Lee's film, She Hate Me ? I confess I rolled my eyes before I even left for the theatre because when a straight man purports to teach me (or anyone else) something about the lives and attitudes of lesbians, I have to wonder what he knows, or thinks he knows. Lee approached Tristan Taormino, a lesbian author and sex columnist for the Village Voice, to be a "technical consultant." Ms. Taormino tutored him in an accelerated "Lesbian Boot Camp" where Lee was required to read books, visit bars and participate in panel discussions. By the time you finish watching the film, though, you may wonder if Ms. Taormino was used as an unwitting shill. There are many things I admire about Lee. You only have to hear the lush musical cues that hark back to pre-60s to understand that the man is all heart, and though you could take exception to many of the ideas bouncing and careening off the screen in such bombastic films as: She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, Bamboozled and School Daze, the effect is intriguing, disturbing, intense and cogent. Mr. Lee usually leads with his emotions. His visual style is immediate and erratic, yet self-assured. He's not afraid to luxuriate in the filmmaking process, but neither is he averse to tying us to a runaway train. Sadly very little of his usual vigor and iconoclastic punch are to be found in She Hate Me. His usual, drumming, colloquial patter feels a bit forced and gratuitous. His caricatures of white people, Italians, and yes, lesbians lack the core truths that justify his previous films. I welcome the work of any artist that enables me to see Caucasians through the eyes of an African American, and ordinarily, Lee does this very well, but the numerous villains in She Hate Me are just too much like puppets. Or targets. As much as anything, She Hate Me is about corruption, and the power of money to corrupt. It raises a cluster of other issues: racism, ethics, moral responsibility, scapegoating, eugenics, hypocrisy, but seems to pivot on how the desire for profit corrupts white-dominated, corporate America and the desperation for money corrupts our hero, John Armstrong. John is sacked after reporting the unethical tactics of the firm where he works, and forced to find other methods of gainful employment when his assets are frozen. His ex-fiancée', Fatima, comes to call, and offers him $5000 a pop (hehehe) if he will agree to impregnate her and her female partner, Alex. She quickly realizes that John's ability to inseminate makes him a "cash bull" and offers to broker his services to lesbian couples who wish to start a family and crave his genetic pedigree. In retrospect, John says he's ashamed he's earned money this way, but never explains exactly why. It's suggested he resorted to prostitution, but surely the fact that he provided a valuable service, without the emotional perils of artificial insemination and adoption, overshadows this. Lee treats this endeavor as satire, with lukewarm results. Some of it is relatively amusing and not all of it is offensive, but it's surprising to see how much of it just runs down like a broken clock. It's funny to see John wash down a Viagra with a can of Red Bull, or his animated sperm racing to penetrate an eager ovum, but it feels so slight. So pitiful. Lee gets a lot of mileage out of the diesel dykes and how the women revel in their opportunity to diminish and degrade John. But while there may be some accuracy in his depiction of the lesbian community, a lot of his material is unconscionable. He takes stabs and swipes at the reasons why women sexually attach to other women, and sincere as he may be, a lot of She Hate Me is blighted by pure ignorance. The women in Lee's film are decidedly non-nurturing and the lesbian women kind of strange. Even if we account for natural human curiosity, they seem awfully impressed by John's penis, and more than a little receptive to him in bed. John confronts Fatima about her sexual ambivalence in a key sequence. We backtrack to a devastating scene where John discovers Fatima in bed with another woman not long before their wedding day. I do not want to downplay John's legitimate sense of betrayal, but frankly I resent Lee's disingenuous implication that Fatima (while not completely honest) was playing fast and loose with her fiancée's feelings. Can he really be this stupid? People of both sexes often conduct same-gender affairs for years, only to walk away in favor of heterosexual romance. And because so many of us are raised to assume we're straight, sometimes sexual orientation doesn't become clear until after we're married. It happens all the time. Almost 20 years after breakthrough films like Lianna and Desert Hearts , Spike Lee is still clinging to the sweet, ridiculous myth that the right man (i.e. caring, tender, sensitive) can "cure" lesbianism. Maybe the right guy could cure his heterosexuality.
]]>Mon, 02 Jul 2007 19:32:00 GMTjlgdrdWicked Fun7/2/2007 3:32:00 PM Sighhhhhh. What to make of Spike Lee's film, She Hate Me ? I confess I rolled my eyes before I even left for the theatre because when a straight man purports to teach me (or anyone else) something about the lives and attitudes of lesbians, I have to wonder what he knows, or thinks he knows. Lee approached Tristan Taormino, a lesbian author and sex columnist for the Village Voice, to be a "technical consultant." Ms. Taormino tutored him in an accelerated "Lesbian Boot Camp" where Lee was required to read books, visit bars and participate in panel discussions. By the time you finish watching the film, though, you may wonder if Ms. Taormino was used as an unwitting shill. There are many things I admire about Lee. You only have to hear the lush musical cues that hark back to pre-60s to understand that the man is all heart, and though you could take exception to many of the ideas bouncing and careening off the screen in such bombastic films as: She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, Bamboozled and School Daze, the effect is intriguing, disturbing, intense and cogent. Mr. Lee usually leads with his emotions. His visual style is immediate and erratic, yet self-assured. He's not afraid to luxuriate in the filmmaking process, but neither is he averse to tying us to a runaway train. Sadly very little of his usual vigor and iconoclastic punch are to be found in She Hate Me. His usual, drumming, colloquial patter feels a bit forced and gratuitous. His caricatures of white people, Italians, and yes, lesbians lack the core truths that justify his previous films. I welcome the work of any artist that enables me to see Caucasians through the eyes of an African American, and ordinarily, Lee does this very well, but the numerous villains in She Hate Me are just too much like puppets. Or targets. As much as anything, She Hate Me is about corruption, and the power of money to corrupt. It raises a cluster of other issues: racism, ethics, moral responsibility, scapegoating, eugenics, hypocrisy, but seems to pivot on how the desire for profit corrupts white-dominated, corporate America and the desperation for money corrupts our hero, John Armstrong. John is sacked after reporting the unethical tactics of the firm where he works, and forced to find other methods of gainful employment when his assets are frozen. His ex-fianc&eacute;e', Fatima, comes to call, and offers him $5000 a pop (hehehe) if he will agree to impregnate her and her female partner, Alex. She quickly realizes that John's ability to inseminate makes him a "cash bull" and offers to broker his services to lesbian couples who wish to start a family and crave his genetic pedigree. In retrospect, John says he's ashamed he's earned money this way, but never explains exactly why. It's suggested he resorted to prostitution, but surely the fact that he provided a valuable service, without the emotional perils of artificial insemination and adoption, overshadows this. Lee treats this endeavor as satire, with lukewarm results. Some of it is relatively amusing and not all of it is offensive, but it's surprising to see how much of it just runs down like a broken clock. It's funny to see John wash down a Viagra with a can of Red Bull, or his animated sperm racing to penetrate an eager ovum, but it feels so slight. So pitiful. Lee gets a lot of mileage out of the diesel dykes and how the women revel in their opportunity to diminish and degrade John. But while there may be some accuracy in his depiction of the lesbian community, a lot of his material is unconscionable. He takes stabs and swipes at the reasons why women sexually attach to other women, and sincere as he may be, a lot of She Hate Me is blighted by pure ignorance. The women in Lee's film are decidedly non-nurturing and the lesbian women kind of strange. Even if we account for natural human curiosity, they seem awfully impressed by John's penis, and more than a little receptive to him in bed. John confronts Fatima about her sexual ambivalence in a key sequence. We backtrack to a devastating scene where John discovers Fatima in bed with another woman not long before their wedding day. I do not want to downplay John's legitimate sense of betrayal, but frankly I resent Lee's disingenuous implication that Fatima (while not completely honest) was playing fast and loose with her fianc&eacute;e's feelings. Can he really be this stupid? People of both sexes often conduct same-gender affairs for years, only to walk away in favor of heterosexual romance. And because so many of us are raised to assume we're straight, sometimes sexual orientation doesn't become clear until after we're married. It happens all the time. Almost 20 years after breakthrough films like Lianna and Desert Hearts , Spike Lee is still clinging to the sweet, ridiculous myth that the right man (i.e. caring, tender, sensitive) can "cure" lesbianism. Maybe the right guy could cure his heterosexuality. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/racism/MemberTagFilms.aspxracism
Number of films tagged: 800

Number of people who tagged: 69

Number of times used: 136

]]>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:59 GMT80069136Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/satire/MemberTagFilms.aspxsatire
Number of films tagged: 170

Number of people who tagged: 55

Number of times used: 120

]]>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:27:25 GMT17055120Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/writer/MemberTagFilms.aspxwriter
Number of films tagged: 869

Number of people who tagged: 41

Number of times used: 89

]]>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:37:08 GMT8694189Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/television/MemberTagFilms.aspxtelevision
Number of films tagged: 945

Number of people who tagged: 34

Number of times used: 91

]]>Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:28:57 GMT9453491Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/fame/MemberTagFilms.aspxfame
Number of films tagged: 610

Number of people who tagged: 17

Number of times used: 36

]]>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:38:57 GMT6101736Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/slavery/MemberTagFilms.aspxslavery
Number of films tagged: 584

Number of people who tagged: 15

Number of times used: 23

]]>Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:27:19 GMT5841523Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/dance-art/MemberTagFilms.aspxdance-art
Number of films tagged: 1505

Number of people who tagged: 10

Number of times used: 12

]]>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:13:22 GMT15051012Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/ignorance/MemberTagFilms.aspxignorance
Number of films tagged: 31

Number of people who tagged: 8

Number of times used: 14

]]>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:42:12 GMT31814Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/complicated/MemberTagFilms.aspxcomplicated
Number of films tagged: 8

Number of people who tagged: 5

Number of times used: 8

]]>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:25:46 GMT858Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/blackface/MemberTagFilms.aspxblackface
Number of films tagged: 5

Number of people who tagged: 4

Number of times used: 5

]]>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:50:59 GMT545Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/racerelations/MemberTagFilms.aspxracerelations
Number of films tagged: 144

Number of people who tagged: 4

Number of times used: 4

]]>Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:08:15 GMT14444Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/tapdance/MemberTagFilms.aspxtapdance
Number of films tagged: 44

Number of people who tagged: 2

Number of times used: 2

]]>Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:54:44 GMT4422Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/minstrel-show/MemberTagFilms.aspxminstrel-show
Number of films tagged: 1

Number of people who tagged: 1

Number of times used: 1

]]>Wed, 28 May 2008 05:54:14 GMT111Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/minstrelsy/MemberTagFilms.aspxminstrelsy
Number of films tagged: 1

Number of people who tagged: 1

Number of times used: 1

]]>Wed, 28 May 2008 05:54:14 GMT111Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/network-television/MemberTagFilms.aspxnetwork-television
Number of films tagged: 1

Number of people who tagged: 1

Number of times used: 1

]]>Wed, 28 May 2008 05:54:15 GMT111Tag