Mad Monday...

[FlowersByIrene]

I heard a Brisbane Lions player (Lisle) did a 'blackface' impersonation of Lebron James ..

How stupid can you get ?

I personally don't understand the issue with black face. I can understand the issue with putting fake lips/noses etc on to make yourself look like an obviously racist charicature.

But simply putting black face paint on is no issue in my mind. What else would Lisle have done? Put an NBA jersey on - is he supposed to be lebron or is he supposed to be a kid down at the shops?

Over sensitivity and white man's guilt at it's abssssolute finest.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

A St Kilda player won't go to jail for having sex with a schoolgirl. This has been established

Facts are Terlich (apparently) dressed up as a pedophile for mad monday. And Georgiou (apparently) dressed up as a child who had been raped by an old man. It's pretty gross

Don't believe there was everactuall any rape proven or even suggested by the victim, but maybe i'm wrog

 

[Father Jack]

2010's sort of purple and rotting.

I doubt it, it wasn't like he was made out of biodegradable materials after all.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

But seriously, people sticking up for blackface? Are you serious? It's ridiculous, it's completely undermining the volume of an entire race for a usually stereotypical joke or position that mocks their existence. Black people are maligned, oppressed, and in history are the ones to lose their land, their language, their culture, their history, and each other – it's not even the same to say they're being offensive to us crackas. This whole "but black people do it!" reeks of typical drivel of scumbug, common denominator, Channel 7 watching mouthbreathers in Holden jackets who hate Lumumba.

You are taking it compeltely out of context.

There is a different between black face - and using make up/body paint to change your skin colour to become a certain individual.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

I think there's a difference in using blackface to ridicule or humiliate blacks and dressing up as someone who happens to be black.

Like, LeBron James is black, right, we all accept that? Is that racist?

If a person who happens to be white dresses up as black person but leaves their skin white its going to look pretty stupid, in this case I dont see it as any different to dressing up as say, a bald person and wearing a swimming cap.

It's simply making yourself look like the person you're trying to impersonate. IF you try and draw racial hate from this particular situation you're just looking for an excuse to get offended.

Exactly

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I personally don't understand the issue with black face. I can understand the issue with putting fake lips/noses etc on to make yourself look like an obviously racist charicature.

But simply putting black face paint on is no issue in my mind. What else would Lisle have done? Put an NBA jersey on - is he supposed to be lebron or is he supposed to be a kid down at the shops?

Over sensitivity and white man's guilt at it's abssssolute finest.

I was along the same lines, until I saw the picture of it. From the picture that I saw, it looks like he's just smeared himself with Vegemite or something, which is pretty ordinary. If he'd done it with like a fake tan or something, people would get the idea and it would have been fine.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

maybe I've missed something and been living under a rock, but why are people referring to Rolf Harris as a rapist?

Because people don't actually read the news or the reports, they just see the headline, and chinese whisper themselves into a frenzy

 

[FlowersByIrene]

I was along the same lines, until I saw the picture of it. From the picture that I saw, it looks like he's just smeared himself with Vegemite or something, which is pretty ordinary. If he'd done it with like a fake tan or something, people would get the idea and it would have been fine.

Yeah I only just saw the picture. Obviously went the $5 tin of black face paint at the shops as opposed to anythign a bit more accurate.

Would have been much better had he got a very dark tan and put some black tattoos on.

 

[Silent Alarm]

You are taking it compeltely out of context.

There is a different between black face - and using make up/body paint to change your skin colour to become a certain individual.

Nah, there isn't.

Blackface is 'blacking up.' It was offensive when it was black paint and big white lips painted on top for 1920s comedy. It's no better to paint your skin black.

These things were at the jurisdiction of the people it imitated. It's not white people being uptight because they don't like it or want to be offended. Black people find it uncomfortable. Who is any white person to tell them to toughen up; it's a joke? Come on

 

[yeahmate]

Surely if you wanted to dress up as Michael Jackson you'd paint your face white?

But if you do the black version then you get to offend everyone by both donning blackface and going as a pedo..

 

[Silent Alarm]

Don't believe there was everactuall any rape proven or even suggested by the victim, but maybe i'm wrog

He was fondling the genitals and touching the bodies of underage kids. Even if they were of age, no one has the right to touch anyone. It doesn't have to be vaginal to be sexual victimisation. The effect is still pretty intense... people go through their entire lives unable to do normal things – they're scared, they can't have proper relationships, they struggle to maintain friendships, and certainly having sex won't be easy. He's a prick and to call him a rapist is fair

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

So Robert Downey Jr's character in Tropic Thunder was 'racist'?

 

[Bennett.]

So Robert Downey Jr's character in Tropic Thunder was 'racist'?

an American playing an Australian playing a black American.

Epic!

 

[Personman]

Your not taking into account the historical significance of blackface.

I'm sick of this argument. Do all non-black people all over the world have to be held forever accountable for the actions of idiotic, ignorant racists from the past (granted there are still some today, but it's a lot better), when they are simply aiming to imitate the appearance of a person who is actually black, and are in no way racist themselves or implying any racism in doing so?

 

[Richard Pryor]

Think about this. Think about this historically; think about this from a power play perspective; think about this from the perspective of a people that have been marginalised constantly throughout the course of modern history.

Complaining about 'white-face'. Man, we whites sure have it bad.

Hence ill-advised. Unless he was consciously trying to evoke Al Jolson, I'll classify it as insensitive and ill-advised as opposed to racism.

I think a distinction needs to be made between "blackface" and "painting your face black". You shouldn't do either, but one is mocking a race for laughs, another is no different to any other costume apart from connotations relating to blackface.

Do you really think that he darkened his skin so that he could speak in broken english and portray Lebron James as a racial stereotype? now, I haven't actually seen any pictures or anything so I may in fact be talking out of my ass and he was doing that, but if he simply darkened his face and nothing else, I don't see his act as "racist" simply because others darkened their faces for a different purpose in the past.

I'm not defending blackface, or advocating doing it, but unlike calling someone an "ape", there are non-racist reasons for doing it, now they aren't paticularly good reasons considering the historical context (American history, but it's in our culture as well now either way), and you shouldn't do it but it doesn't make you a racist just because you're ignorant/an idiot.

The difference is there are more innocuous (albeit ill-advised) reasons to paint your face black, than calling someone an ape (as there are very few reasons to actually do this in a non-racist contexts, certainly not enough to outweigh the reasons it is racist, of course, it's debatable whether the racist connotations of blackface outweigh the non-racist connotations, but I would hope as a society we move towards phasing out racist connotations for acts which otherwise are not offensive.) All that said, I don't know what the intentions behind the Lebron costume, so take this as more general musings than commentary on this paticular costume.

 

[Silent Alarm]

It essentially evokes a time in the US where white people dressed up as black people, and the punchline was essentially a black guy falling over, speaking poorly, or being mocked by his actions – it's basically a reminder of that. We're not related to the people who did it, but it's still a sensitive topic, and surely it's better to err and save your joke (which, to be honest, isn't even funny) than to bring up a reminder of a pretty nasty time

 

[Richard Pryor]

It essentially evokes a time in the US where white people dressed up as black people, and the punchline was essentially a black guy falling over, speaking poorly, or being mocked by his actions – it's basically a reminder of that. We're not related to the people who did it, but it's still a sensitive topic, and surely it's better to err and save your joke (which, to be honest, isn't even funny) than to bring up a reminder of a pretty nasty time

My point is that, is the sole intention of darkening ones face to evoke this time period? Yes, evoking this time period is a racist thing to do, as is the original context, but the simple act of blackening ones face is not racist in and of itself without those connotations, is it not better longterm to phase these connotations out? I'm not even really of the opinion that it is as the benefits of phasing out these connotations is minimal, and I don't think it's something anyone should consciously try to do.

At the end of the day I agree that there really isn't much benefit to it, and it's better not to do it for everyones sake. So it's more rambling than anything.

 

[I am Jack]

How ******* angry are you? I know I'm angry. Those fools condoning paedophilia make me so angry. How dare anyone dress up as a sex offender and under age girl. Unless they're Jimmy Bartel, because we can't hate Jimmy.

I mean, **** me. Is this where our media is at? Roll out the 24 hour bulletin - two average footballers whose names most people don't know dressed up in a stupid costume on the day they're meant to but overstepped the mark.

I'm not saying it's right, but the media getting up on their high horses just makes me feel dizzy.

Perhaps MFC could've went a step further and had Geelong bending them over a free agency table - while the AFL look on with admiration.

 

[djrossie16]

Should have done dinosaur face instead with chris bosh miami number

 

[Silvagnis]

Bump.

Dawes is the one in the Geelong jumper...

Would it be racist if Carlton's white players wore a WC jumper and dressed up as Jeff Garlett who is going?

 

[FlowersByIrene]

Nah, there isn't.

Blackface is 'blacking up.' It was offensive when it was black paint and big white lips painted on top for 1920s comedy. It's no better to paint your skin black.

These things were at the jurisdiction of the people it imitated. It's not white people being uptight because they don't like it or want to be offended. Black people find it uncomfortable. Who is any white person to tell them to toughen up; it's a joke? Come on

There is no point in arguing with someone who has such clear social guilt and lack of logic.
If I stopped doing everything in life that may or may not make another person uncomfortable, well then, you may as well stop life.

And if you can't see the difference between putting on make up to look like a specific individual and painting yourself black with white lips in a racist caricature... then you are irrational.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

It essentially evokes a time in the US where white people dressed up as black people, and the punchline was essentially a black guy falling over, speaking poorly, or being mocked by his actions – it's basically a reminder of that. We're not related to the people who did it, but it's still a sensitive topic, and surely it's better to err and save your joke (which, to be honest, isn't even funny) than to bring up a reminder of a pretty nasty time

It doesn't "essentially evoke" that at all - you are evoking that.

it's a costume.. of LeBron James, who happens to be black.

You are reading racial connotations into it

 

[drummond2fevola]

zzZZzzZZ

 

[Quivorir]

White people were never legally the property of black masters in the countries in which such face painting is being used as a comedic device.

I haven't seen pictures of Lisle, but personally I don't have an issue with him painting himself a darker complexion, if he's put some effort into the rest of the outfit. It's hardly the same thing as Sam Newman smearing himself with black shoe polish during an commerical break and pretending to be Nicky Winmar. Jimmy Kimmel used to regularly do a skit on his show pretending to be Karl Malone.



As a genuine satire of specific individuals, I think it's accepted and the Lisle thing would (and should) probably fall into that category. But just doing the blackface and rehashing the old stereotypes of a specific race (especially when that race has been a persecuted minority throughout history) is not ok. I think it's a pretty clear distinction.

Holy s**t, I never ever clicked that was Jimmy Kimmel when I was younger. Knew it wasn't Karl Malone but didn't even pick up it wasn't an actual black person. How young and naive I was.

 

[Mningasimisonda]

It's moments like this you remember that many footballers are totally clueless. There's bad taste, and then there's this. Before anyone trolls me about Bartel a few years ago, I thought that was crass too.

It's obviously inappropriate, but I'm wondering who it would do more damage to. You'd think the victims wouldn't see what had happened to them as a joke, but they might not mind that image of Rolf in popular culture rather than the old one.