When Professor O’Malley started the class by pointing out right up front that minstrel shows were “weird” I had no idea of just how weird and creepy that episode in human history really was. I knew a little about minstrel shows, and the book Segregation of Sound goes into the genre pretty extensively. But as we tried to untangle the whole concept during class, it just got more and more strange, and harder and harder to understand. It completed pervaded our culture for a long time, even down to cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, as Professor O’Malley pointed out. I’m an old movie buff, and when I think about some of the old movies, I see more clearly how certain black characters were portrayed just as whites portrayed them in minstrel shows. All these black characters were missing was the exaggerated “black face” with the huge mouth. The way these characters talked and moved, their exaggerated expressions, the way they were treated by white people, it’s all the same thing. I’ve always cringed during these scenes. I think this is the same reaction Professor O’Malley was talking about when he described it as being “queasy” even while laughing. And, as Professor O’Malley also pointed out, this kind of uncomfortable humor still goes on (his example was a Dave Chappelle skit). The question was brought up about whether 50 Cent’s tough guy persona was a form of black face. That’s an interesting point – I can see how the term “black face” could have become a way of describing any kind of black stereotype. I can’t help wondering how African Americans view this. Do they think that a tough-guy persona equates to those “black-face” minstrel shows, and is perpetuating stereotypes of African Americans? These are very strange human phenomena, ones that have deep psychological implications. It’s also very disturbing!