Holy CRAP. You thought blackface minstrel shows were dead?

[Bicoastal]

Not on Australian TV, apparently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMAyGewq37w&feature=player_embedded

Props to (a noticeably shaken) Harry Connick Jr. for not holding anything back.

[Chulanowa]

1. One wonders what goes through some peoples' heads

[Toucano]

2. Talentless.

Connick handled it super and responsibly.

[TexasObserver]

3. Recommended! I hope all will watch the full 6 minutes.

I'm speechless.

Harry Connick, Jr. came through, though.

[rd_kent]

4. Connick, Jr. IS class!

Who could have handled that situation better?

[seabeyond]

5. when we disrespect people and it becomes norm, any group of people, no group will be

protected.

it is all out war on women, all for comedy, the laugh, the joke.... ha ha. dont be so sensitive. and no one says squat. dont expect that mentality to not feed into the jest/joke/ha ha with blacks or gays.

we want this.

just a laugh

all in good fun

quit being so sensitive.

and no.... i am posting under a lot fo assumtpions cause i just do not want to see whatever it may be. damn tired of it

[JuniperLea]

25. Spot the freak on!

I accidentally hit the wrong radio button the other night while looking for Mike Malloy... and came upon two hate spewing RWers talking about Ted Kennedy... one said, Ted was so petty and picky, and the other guy said, of course! He's Irish! And they went on for several minutes bashing the Irish and the Kennedy's. I thought I'd wandered into the way-back machine!

Humans are so disgusting.

[seabeyond]

26. "Humans are so disgusting.". not really. we are just embracing the very worst of who we are

right now. people are having a "party" with their ugly self. then the hangover of who we will become will be apparent and maybe, then, finally.... people will wake up to the damage and destruction we are creating to live in. right now. in this moment.

we are better than this.

too many just dont want to be right now and too many of us are keeping our mouth shut

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. Uh....

:wow:

Kudos to Harry for telling it like it is.

I cannot believe some of the comments from Aussies about this is just good clean fun because how they don't have the same racial issues the US does -- I think there are some folks there that might take exception to that characterization.

[bbinacan]

7. Nice job Harry. n/t

[Feron]

8. I'm glad that Harry spoke up. Disgusting. nt

[Sylvarose]

9. Reminds me of how shocked I was...

...at a Bollywood movie. My friend's really into them so she convinced me to go see one at theater in Indy. In the middle of it was sketch with the romantic "lead" and his sidekick in blackface and afros posing as fake doctors for a "comedic" scene fooling a girlfriend!

I was shocked. My friend was shocked. She'd never seen that in a Bollywood film. WE didn't find it FUNNY at all.

And the thing was this particular film was supposed to have been set in LA. It had American guest stars. You'd think someone might have clued the producers in...not a good idea. I was horrified and all I could think was maybe blackface doesn't mean the same thing around the rest of the world as it does in the US. At least that's what I hoped it meant.

sr

[Behind the Aegis]

10. That was disgusting!

The fact that so many booed because the act was gonged was even more shocking!

[theHandpuppet]

11. Holy Crap is right

Man, that was disgusting. I noticed the lily-white audience was thoroughly enjoying that shameless display.

[closeupready]

12. K&R for later.

n/t

[Jokerman]

13. Harry is a hell of a guy.

I honestly never cared that much for his style of music but I have a huge amount of respect for him.

[bbgrunt]

14. +1 for Harry.

[dmr]

15. WOW! That was insulting & disrespectful.

I gotta hand it to Harry, he is one classy and honorable gentleman (along with being incredibly talented).

That woman in the middle gave them a 7??? YIKES!

[Nikki Stone1]

16. The entire history of American theater is permeated with blackface routines--we finally

let that go. The last blackface routine in movies was 1946, The Al Jolson Story, a movie that told the life story of Jewish-American performer Al Jolson. Putting away that genre, despite its longevity and (sadly) popularity, was one of the most important things that we did in American popular culture. Blackface was a thoroughly racist institution, a way of maintaining an American apartheid. To see it done in Australia seems odd to me--it also shows a true lack of understanding of American culture and what journey we have been through in examining our sins. I applaud Harry Connick Jr. for speaking out. As a white southerner, his words carry a lot of weight.

[WonderGrunion]

18. See my post 16 below

Blackface is still common in American entertainment.

[Nikki Stone1]

19. Uh, I think mine is 16.

But I'll look.

[WonderGrunion]

21. You're right. I'm 17.

Thanks for looking.

[WonderGrunion]

17. Don't just blast Austarlia

Robert Downey Jr. donned blackface for Tropic Thunder. Sasha Baron Cohen does for Da Ali G Show. It's still all around us.

[Nikki Stone1]

20. Wow. Didn't realize it was still in American film. WTF was Robert Downey Jr doing?

Sasha Baron Cohen is "shock-schlock" so I don't put anything past him.

[WonderGrunion]

22. Link to youtube showing the basics

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbBC0KyQRzQ

Lots of racial stereotypes in this film.

[Stinky The Clown]

23. Huge props to HCJr.

He's a great guy. This proves it.

[JuniperLea]

24. The comments make my head hurt...

Justification, they think... ugh.