Largely a retread of August's New York Times piece on black women in advertising, today's Detroit News has published a feature on the use of Aunt Jemima imagery on TV today. The piece sticks mainly to commercials, but this type of criticism has also come down on Weeds' creator Jenji Kohan for giving us the kitchen-bound, dope-dealing Heylia who proclaims herself a member of the original NPR - "Negroes Preachin' Right."The article asks if Aunt Jemima is back. They probably should be asking if she ever went away.
For those of you who haven't seen Bamboozled, the mammy character being discussed here is stereotypically full-figured, smart-alecky and powerful. Her purpose in life is to solve white people's domestic problems by hawking products or using her sassy attitude to make things right, and according to the scholars quoted in both articles, to emasculate black men.
The critical mass of ads that spawned the original New York Times and today's Detroit News piece include televised spots for Universal Studios, Meijer, Pine Sol, Dairy Queen, Ex-Lax and McDonald's.
The ad agencies responsible for the offending commercials claim that they weren't consciously using the historical "house-slave" figure in their campaigns. Most reported just wanting to find the best person for the ad regardless of race.
Are you offended by these ads? By Weeds' Heylia? Are performers like Mo'Nique reclaiming the image for more empowering purposes? Or, do you think the Times and Detroit News have gone off the PC police deep-end?
Giveaway Monday: How I Met Your Mother season three DVD
Oops! Newspapers around the world use SNL pic as official Palin one - VIDEO
The evolution of TV Squad
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-02-2006 @ 8:27PM
nova said...
I find the articles alarmist. Of course we can magnify every nuance of representations in the media and find something offensive. Just think if these women were the opposite, someone would complain that there are too many thin, white, passive women on television. If there is indeed a "problem", I think it would be better handled by qualified civil rights groups as opposed to someone looking for an angle to meet their word count.
Reply
11-02-2006 @ 11:25PM
Toby OB said...
Strange... I posted something on my blog yesterday about the latest Pine Sol commercial and how it could be theoretically be linked as a crossover with "Lost". (TV crossovers are part of my blog's focus.)
Just googled the actress for these commercials. Her name is Diane Amos.
My feelings is that as long as the actor or actress involved is making money, leave 'em alone. It's a tough enough business as it is without them having to worry about carrying the weight of their race's woes on their shoulders. Let them earn a living without worrying about what they represent as well.
But I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
Reply
11-03-2006 @ 9:46PM
dwacon said...
As Robert Townsent said in "Hollywood Shuffle," there is work at the post office if you don't want to play demeaning characters.
I think most of the harsh history behind icons like Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima is lost to today's consumers. Even Colgate-Palmolive changed the name of "Darkie Toothpaste" (sold outside of the USA) to "Darlie." Still has the buck-toothed character on the label... but hey, that could be a job for Flava Flav.
--
dwacon
http://dwacon.blogspot.com
Reply