TVSquad

Although I can see two sides of the coin, I don't think it was 'this world is too PC now.' Connick's from the south, is friends with Marsalis, and has been pretty involved with Hurricane Katrina. Although they probably didn't mean it in the 1920s blackface realm of things (who, technically, did it all in good fun, themselves), it probably still hit a little too close to home and calling themselves Jackson Jive, although great alliteration, didn't exactly help. Sometimes when Robot Chicken has rape jokes, I get a little ruffled but then I shake it off. I think if it had been another American judge who hadn't grown up with the echoes of it in his culture, it would've been fine -

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HC Jr. handled it quite well. He expressed his disdain in a reasonable fashion. They took the criticism well, said they were sorry and everyone learned something.

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There are tasteless acts everywhere but blackface is pretty immature.

Ted Danson couldn't even pull it off.

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Firstly a correction for you're blog-
- Hey Hey It's Saturday is not a "talent show". That was just one segment which searches for usually the worst acts they can find with no talent. I don't know if youtube has any previous segments but if you search for "red faces" you might find some and gain an understanding for what the segment is about.
The segment was not ment as a blackface routine. It was a send up of the Jackson brothers done for a bit of fun. The only thing I can really see as offensive in this act is the blackface costuming. However, I can only speak for myself when I say I honestly had never heard of blackface or the offense it causes till the aftermath of this skit. This might be ingrained in the American culture but it certainly isn't in Australia.
Maybe this is food for thought for the American public whom are now ripping the apparent 'racist Australians' to shreds on their blogs?

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While I understand the umbrage some folks take at white actors in blackface make-up, I take equal offence at black actors/singers playing period Europeans in plays & operas: condescending multiculturalism.

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Harry Connick Jr. is such a hypocrite. I will not defend the black face skit, but Harry isn't any better. For him to say he wasn't portraying an African American preacher on SNL is ridiculous. I saw the skit and his speech and artificial darkness of his skin was definitely meant to portray him as such. He is just trying to put his name back in the news seeing as how his career is in the dumps. Come one, look at the program he was on. He's just about to hit rick bottom.

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Look, I can take a joke as much as the next guy, but I think you guys aren't familiar with the concept of the blackface. It was done in the 20's/30's as a carnial minstrelly type event. It was definitely done not out of fun or amusement but as a way to laugh and mock a whole race of people. I don't care if Australia is behind in the times. Just because it wasn't prevalent in Australia doesn't mean it's okay to do. By that logic, I guess Australia never had a concentration camps, should they have those as well?

As for the example white-face... yes that is somewhat acceptable, but it is not done as a mocking thing or even a joke it is done for the sake of an impression, there are plenty of places on tv where it's still acceptable, SNL does it when trying to portray the skintone. The australian thing was not funny. They were clearly doing it for the sake of being shocking, plus they dressed up exactly the same way as a minstrel show black makeup red lips. Absolutely inappropriate.

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Harry needs to get a life and stop being a hypocrite and a liar. There is video footage in existence showing him with a darkened face and mimicking an African-American preacher. The recent controversial act was aired in Australia and understood by the majority of Australians to be a parody of the Jacksons, not a mockery of African-Americans in general. Even numerous Aboriginals have admitted they fail to see the racism in the skit. Two of the men accused of being racist for painting their faces are Indian and one is Lebanese. In my experience those who are obsessed with finding racism in absolutely everything are usually the people who have the problem with different races.

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What about whenever Morgan Freeman plays God?

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But it's okay for the Wayan brothers to dress up as white chicks?

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"So is Connick right or was it just goofy funny and everyone's too PC now? "

So are we SERIOUSLY insinuating here that being against blackface comedy is being too PC? Really?? REALLY??

Connick was right, this stuff was never funny ever, no I'm not black and yes I am aware that people make inappropriate impersonations of different cultures/races all the time (me included) and yeah, it can be funny.

Except that blackface goes beyond a voice change or exaggerated gestures. Its purpose was, since its creation, to be belittling.

The problem is not being too PC (which personally I hate... @#%$ PC people and the horse they ride in on), the problem is people are idiots. And the idiots are starting to outnumber the rest of us.

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