Everyday I'm Shuffling

Finally a movie I have not seen yet! Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle really played with every level on my emotional scale. I mean there was laughter, there was anger, there was sadness. I couldn't deal with all the feels. I really enjoyed with how Townsend portrayed the stereotypes he saw in media and in Hollywood through comedy. I'll admit, being white I wasn't sure if it was okay for me to be laughing at some of the jokes that Townsend was making. But I think that is why this film works, these jokes are supposed to make you question and think and with comedy you're seeing how absurd these stereotypes are and you're breaking them down with laughter.

In the reading Ellen Seiter notes, for example, "that Brechtian aesthetics has encouraged arguments "that the deliberate use of stereotypes may be preferable" to the supposedly neutral style that pretends to an absence of stereotypes. In this scenario, the deliberate use of stereotypes triggers audience recognition of the directors strategy and adds to an appropriate response." (pg. 12) Townsend is throwing you into the deep end with his bombardment of the stereotypes Black actors face in a media filled with predominately white people. This in your face attitude works because it makes you laugh. There's no room to question what Townsend is doing because it's comedy. There is no way this film could be considered racist or prejudice because Townsend foregrounds the stereotypes leaving the audience able to watch the film in its entirety in no doubt as to how Townsend intends us to read the images he has put onto the screen. These stereotypes aren't be jammed down our throats to the point where we're rolling our eyes. Townsend used comedy to keep the audience engaged and to show that these stereotypes are very real and absurd and they should be laughed at because of how absurd they are.  

All though I laughed a lot in this film its ending still made me really upset. As someone who is moving to LA in the fall to follow my dreams I had real hope for Bobby Taylor to achieve his dream, but then the age old question comes into play of how much are you willing to compromise to obtain your dream. I took what both Bobby's Uncle and Grandma said to be valid points and I still don't know what the best choice was for Bobby to do. Yes, the film Bobby was in was super stereotypical of what black people are portrayed in films, but it was his first acting job. You have to get your foot in the door somehow. And after time maybe he would be getting the roles that Eddie Murphy was getting back then. But is compromise good when it is portraying your entire race in a negative light? Was it good for Bobby to get everything he loved to go work a shitty Post Office job? I don't know what the right choice was, but I guess both was would have lead to a sad ending. I guess I'll just have to watch Zombie Pimps to get my spirits up.