Bamboozled by Oppressive Culture

Assimilation is a tricky word, especially for colonized regions or peoples. Using the official psychological definition of the word, Google states that “assimilation is a term referring to another part of the adaptation process initially proposed by Jean Piaget. Through assimilation, we take in new information or experiences and incorporate them into our existing ideas.” The need for assimilation, thus, comes from the need to adapt, or change, to new circumstances. Fanon, a witness and victim of colonization, discusses the cultural impact it causes. During the process, the best case scenario is a contamination of the native culture by the social norms of the oppressing peoples/country/race/etc. Worst case scenario: the culture of the native people is completely mutilated beyond recognition and forced to morph into something new, driven by either rebellion of the oppressors or a blend of both cultures. Within the native people, however, there are different reactions to the dominant forces. Some may rebel, some may assimilate, and some may find a new culture or form of expression. Often these divisions cause contention which is only to the benefit of the oppressors, who then profess that they know what the natives’ “real” culture is (for example, the white man’s purist view of jazz). In the difficult film, Bamboozled, Spike Lee addresses these exact occurrences head-on. It’s clear to see through the actions of Pierre, Sloan, Mr. Dunwitty, and others the various ways in which an oppressed culture reacts to the pressures of oppressors and how it never ends well for them.

Pierre, the story’s protagonist and plot instigator, is a black man living in the United States at the turn of the millennium. Over 100 years after the abolition of slavery, almost 40 years after the march on Washington, racism is still running rampant in American culture especially in, and perhaps perpetuated by, media. Pierre represents Fanon’s “native intellectual” who assimilates to white culture. His accent is over enunciated and almost European while his vocabulary and mannerisms mimic those of a stuffy college professor or historian. He is the only black man working at his station and does everything he can to keep that fact unimportant. His behavior, his pitches, even the way in which he organizes his office and home are in accordance with the dominant white ideal of a successful business man. As his show is created, he overlooks the offensive material and sees only the profit, another quality of that successful business man. He visits his father and decides that he is better than where he came from. His father is happy and is telling jokes specific to his culture and his people. Pierre acknowledges how funny he was during his act, but then confesses in narration that he is better than his father because he’s risen out of that low culture and become a “god” in the dominant society. His actions, naturally, cause a lot of contention amongst the black viewership. Some love the show, and others are horribly offended. His neglect of the feelings of his own people ultimately lead to the loss of his sanity followed shortly by his life.

Sloan knows from the beginning that the show is horribly offensive. She is also sucked in, though, by the show’s success and appeal. Her morals are challenged significantly by her brother, Julius who prefers to be called Big Blak Afrika. He and his crew refuse to be culturally dictated to by the dominant white culture. Their choice of response, then, is aggression and an exaggerated new culture of offensive rap and extreme violence, which is quickly commodified by white-run capitalism in the form of the beer they drink. Instead of channeling their aggression towards the white patriarchy that is actually oppressing them, they brutally and cruelly murder Manray because he is a puppet being controlled by the oppressive system. They don't realize that they are too. 

The oppressor is represented by Mr. Dunwitty. Not only is he a white man, but he is actually placed in the position of Pierre’s boss. He works in a giant office, covered with photos of black men who have been turned into nothing more than objects for him to own and display. They are kept behind glass, in frames: caged almost. When discussing the prospect of a new show with Pierre, he claims to be “blacker” than him. He uses the n-word repeatedly in their conversation and asserts his expertise of black culture multiple times throughout the film by indicating how many black athletes’ posters he has hanging on his wall. Throughout the entire film he has no concern for the number of inappropriate acts happening on the sound stage and even ends the film in blackface. When the idea is first introduced he claims that it’ll be fine since racism is a thing of the past, which is exactly what the dominant oppressor wants the oppressed people to think so that they can continue living in the same situation they’re in.

The only character that seems to recognize the hypocrisy of the show is Womack, or Sleep’n’eat.  He knows from the very beginning that the degrading light in which he will appear is not a statement on racism, but an embrace of it. He tries to buy into the white man’s world and play along in order to succeed. For a while he is making excellent money and signing autographs in the street. But after a while, instigated by Manray’s change of personality, he realizes that he can’t succeed as a black man in this constructed white man’s world and leaves. He is not directly affected by the terror that closes the film. Manray is brutally murdered, Big Blak and his crew are then massacred by the police, and Sloan, who has lost her brother, snaps and kills Pierre. Of course as Manray’s best friend he is deeply affected, but his admittance of the white man’s world and his refusal to play along or to channel revolution the wrong direction keep him safe from the worst of it.

Aside from being a film that is difficult to watch, it is a film that doesn’t sugar coat or shy away from pressing topics. Fanon was very clear in his opinions that imposing and oppressive cultures that colonize are never a positive thing. Neither Fanon nor Lee offer any kind of solution from within the colonized state aside from not colonizing or overthrowing the opressors. As suggested by Fanon and graphically shown by Lee, a natural evolution of a people and their culture is reasonable, but any time a people are forced into the cultures and norms of an oppressive group, the outcome is dismal.