BlackFace 2020?
With the introduction of streaming technology, cell phones and television are now in overabundance with an influx of cartoons. On every station, cartoons are coming in every color, shape, and size. As these cartoons continue to demonstrate diversity, I feel better and breathe a relatable sigh of relief noticing that these characters share the same dark complexion as me.
But then one day it all changed. As I was watching Cartoon Network, I saw this new show called Craig of the Creek. It was the story of a black boy named Craig, who carries with him a White squad of friends, and together they ‘go down to the creek’ for a series of misadventures. When I first saw the show, I was impressed. I said to myself, ‘okay, this would be good for my kids’, then for some reason I decided to look up the show’s creators and I found out that they were white. Then, an epiphany happened. Something in my soul decided to research a famous Black character that I loved and admired and spent money on for my kids and I was dismayed by what I saw….
Doc McStuffins, the famous black child ‘toy doctor’ cartoon. After looking at the show and researching their creators, I discovered that not only were the creators white, the show was also classified as an Irish-American cartoon (Made black by Disney, not the creator).
Cleveland Show – Definitely a few non-‘melanated’ individuals here: Creators Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry,
I said to myself ‘not all the Black characters created in the media had white creators’ then my heart became heavy when I looked at some of the major comic book characters:
Black Panther – Jack Kirby & Stan Lee
Black Lightning - created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden (Trevor’s Black),
Spider-Man – ‘Miles’ Morales Version’ - Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli
The first Black Superhero of DC comics John Stewart – The ‘Black’ Green Lantern which was created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams….
(Respect to these artists for creating them and while they are great to read about and look at on the screen and play in video games, their creators were White.)
Now a flashback: When I was growing up, I was always called out for talking differently. My friends and some of my family would joke about my ‘white boy’ vernacular. “Why you sounding all proper!” were common statements I grew up with as this stigma of not “sounding black” continued to be placed on me.
There’s a nickname for this…. ‘Oreos’; Black on the outside, White on the inside. To this day, I am still trying to find out how a Black person “sounds black” and as with any traumatizing event such as this, the idea of not ‘sounding black’ continued to resonate with me until my adulthood. It was only then in my adulthood that I discovered that there were other people of color who also experienced the same thing, but the cartoon world too?
These were black cartoon characters with white voices and as the term ‘Oreos’ was considered a demonizing and racial term inflicted upon and amongst the Black community, the “Oreo-ish” cartoon characters were glorified, accepted, profitable, and the norm in mainstream media.
I then started to think about the media of the past and remembered how people of color were portrayed in the movies, magazines and on television….
Black faces with White voices…. sounds familiar?
“Blackface”
Blackfaced Actor
For those not familiar, Blackface (pictured left) is a form of theater in which theatrical make-up was used predominantly by non-black performers to represent a caricature of a black person. For those ‘millennials’ who are still unfamiliar, it’s the reverse of the movie ‘White Chicks’, where two black men dressed up as two white female women and imitated their behavior. It’s like that, except with “BlackFace” you dress up as a person of color and overstereotype their behavior. And while some may think the practice of Blackface is long forgotten, obsolete to the world, it’s not…it just evolved into something nastier, uglier, and more cruel…(see below).
Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), explained.
Some countries still embrace its practice in the form of festivals and revelry and in the media, especially in the good ol ‘US of A’, the normalization of ‘BlackFace’ has become mainstream practice on media channels, but it’s more subtle. Gone is the application of black paint and the live stage using non-black actors as they physically emulate a Black character.
Now, we have cartoon imagery in which the characters are black, move black, ‘act black’ and are voiced by White actors, owned by White creators….
Am I wrong?, Let’s see…..
Jenny Smith, a White Actress who played the Black Character Missy on the Netflix Series, Big Mouth, just recently announced that she will be leaving the Black character role.
Kristen Bell, a White Actress who played the Black character Molly on the Apple TV’s Central Park has also announced that she will be leaving the role.
Mike Henry, a White Actor who played the loveable character Cleveland Brown and the eccentric Rallo Tubbs on the Cleveland Show, will be stepping down his voice from the show in an effort to support Black voices for black cartoon characters.
The Simpsons, America’s longest running cartoon show, has also acknowledged that they will not be using white actors to voice their non-white characters.
And this just happened in 2020…
Now, while these individuals have acknowledged their ‘privilege’ and are making amends in the media, we have to acknowledge the fact that
1) These characters are just a few of the Black characters created by White individuals.
2) Black characters are continuously being created by White individuals in the corporate boardrooms.
These characters are the ones that come from the decisions of board members by people that are similar in racial demographics (White) and as they create characters of color, the ownership of them are still held by White individuals, with the ownership of them held by predominantly White owned media companies.
And while some actors and actresses have acknowledged the issue and respectfully withdrew from these “BlackFaced” roles, to date the continued formation of Black characters by White creators/writers is a practice that’s as commonplace as air and water to a human being.
And now, it's normalized, acceptable, practiced behavior and depending on the channel you’re watching, to have an “Oreo-based” character on your show is now a potential cash cow…..
Allow me to introduce the following equation:
The White Creative Financial Formula:
(Media Company x (White Creator + White-Created Black Character ) x Black People Who Spend Money to Support Black Character and Show = White Creator and White Media Company Makes Money off the Viewership of Black People.
Eventually this also means money from collectibles, toys, and other character related items.
Don’t believe me, all you need to do is look at Good Ol’ Doc McStuffins.
Legendary Doc McStuffins
Mentioned before, Doc McStuffins is literally characterized as an Irish-American children’s television show that was created by Chris Nee, who was the executive producer. In the beginning, it was acknowledged by Disney that the show’s protagonist be a person of color, to which Chris Nee agreed.
As a result, when that show was released, “Black Girl Magic”, too was released onto the black populace……
Voiced by the wonderful and marvelous Kiara Muhammad, Doc Mcstuffins and the ‘black girl magic’ that took place on the show led to over half a Billion dollars in revenue for Disney. By focusing on African Americans and researching how they were able to create Black based characters and loyalty branded merchandise, Disney discovered how to keep African Americans watching the series while generating revenue from them as they left them absent in the creative boardroom and as they made their final decisions on Black created characters.
Original Voice Actor of Doc McStuffins: Kiara Muhammed
And while the formula mentioned above was working for the company, everything was great for Disney until….
Kiara Muhammad fought back. She sued Disney in regards to the usage of her voice and her likeness for the character that generated some of the half a billion dollars in revenue.
It gets worse….
During that time, as Deadline reports, she was hired and fired during those beginning shoots and was paid a flat rate of $5000 for her voice…. Sweatshop by another name perhaps? As a result, she didn’t stay long and was replaced by Laya DeLeon Hayes, another talented African-American actress ….. all the while Kiara and her team continued to fight for her rights and money for her likeness…..
BTW, Chris Nee left Disney for Netflix. Good Call. Doc McStuffins was canceled 5 years later…
I use this example to identify a few things:
1. DocMcStuffins is Black in cartoon imagery only, she was originally never made to be black….she’s actually Irish.
2a. While Chris Nee is a phenomenal writer who has inspired millions of children with cartoons of diversity and while her work has generated millions in revenue, there are countless writers of color and content creators of color who too are just as talented and can create similar content, if not better.
2b. For example, did anybody see the cartoon short ‘Hair Love’ by Matthew Cherry? I do believe it won an Oscar. If one episode did that, imagine what an 8-year series could do.
3. Diversity makes money as long as the faces who control it are non-melanated.
BTW….Pixar is releasing a Black protagonist movie called Soul…could someone check who created the movie, how many writers of color they have on the script and how long the black protagonist is shown as Black before they change him into a ‘non-black entity’?
‘cough’…….Princess and the Frog anyone?…’cough’….check the writers…’cough’
Pixar’s Soul Official Trailer
Although the ‘on the surface’ racism has subsided slightly in US media, its making a radical comeback in the guise of “Oreo-based” characters, which, when viewed by the audience might be misinterpreted as ‘good comedic writing’, an ‘epic series’, or better yet a ‘win for Black American imagery’. Image representation is great, don’t get me wrong, but the creation of cartoons of color by White creators, voiced by White actors is signifying a startling fact:
White creators can create characters of color for green-lighting….. and that is about as wrong as raisins on potato salad.
For example, in a particular Family Guy Episode -‘Barely Legal’, when all of the Quahog Police went to South America, a news reporter went to a ‘non-melanin’ individual for comment, within the first 20 secs of the interview, when it was mentioned that all the police were gone…..everyone who was white pulled their imaginary zipper down and became black:
Disrespectful?!, Shameful?!, Interesting?!, or Better Yet ‘Good Comedic Writing’?! It could any of these categories depending on your take of the episode. No matter, the facts remain quite clear: People of color are not in the boardroom making decisions to create characters of color and while Corona-Con-2020, ‘BLM’ and other Civil Rights groups are taking precedence in 2020, it looks like a change might be taking place that could altering the boardroom and media industry. Hopefully.
The proliferation of police brutality has inspired major companies to contribute to the cause by donating to major civil rights groups and while these companies are donating close to half a billion dollars to various groups and organizations,
I ask this...
‘Will these major companies allow these creators in the door as well and if they do, will they let them go when they feel ‘the movement’ is no longer necessary?’
I need to be careful here with what I say so I’ll say it in a different way….
‘Are these companies willing to change the ‘implicit bias’ within their companies and incorporate diversity at all levels of their institutions?’
There, that’s better.
Allow me to explain…..
Approximately 1% of America’s fortune 500 companies hire CEOs of color. That’s about 4-5 people total and as these companies are on a national/international stage protesting and acknowledging ‘Black Lives Matter’ are they really for the cause or are they just throwing money to the matter in the guise of ‘Brand Activism’? Swaying their brand to Black America, so we can start and continue to spend our money on their products?
Are they supporting our causes or are they supporting the longevity of their businesses?
While multiple industries have contributed to the fight against police brutality with totals reaching half a billion dollars, I have yet to hear that these same Fortune 500 companies are hiring more African Americans on a more corporate, decision-making and/or creative/creator level. Although there are some who have placed their money and ideas forward; like Google and Apple making a promise to endorse and hire African Americans, I’m concerned about the ‘other’ media companies that continue to endorse the creation and usage of African American characters designed by White creators and voiced still by White actors. Are they sitting by or are they too going to open the doors to Black and Brown creatives?
WWDC 2020, Apple's online developer conference, Keynote by Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
In America, allegedly the ‘Land of the Free and Home of the Brave’, Fortune 500 companies are dominating and I’m skeptical about how many qualified creatives, executives, and/or CEOs will be at the forefront practicing what they preach, endorsing these great minds of color and/or hiring content creators of color and as these companies are assisting in donating, they’re going about it in ways that I think are missing the mark:
For Example,
While Disney decided to change one of their rides, Splash Mountain, to resemble the movie, Princess and the Frog. A better idea would be to use those same engineers of color to design a brand new ride, on new ground that encompasses the theme rather than build on the old one. The foundation of the Jim Crow south is still present. Are we not worth a new attraction with new features rather than a revamped model of a racist one?
Another idea, as statues of the confederacy are coming down, hire creatives of color to create and design ‘revolutionary and visionary’ based statues of people who fought to see a more diversified America.
Harriet Tubman on a $20 bill, no complaint there, let’s put her on a $100 Bill (This has been postponed).
Incorporate more creatives of color to promote their own work on major media channels and publish more of their content at major publishing houses. Place them in control.
These are my thoughts anyway and while money is great to fight the cause for the improvements of Black communities and institutions, changing the dynamics within these same companies inspires even greater change and opens the doors for the creation of new Black content by creatives of color, diversified ideas and and more unified company.
And now…. back to the issue of this ‘New Age BlackFace’. The media’s practice of BlackFace has just evolved as major voice actors are speaking life into black characters while at the same time providing a false voice and narrative and as some of them are starting to realize it and resign, it’s very sad that it took a major revolution to inspire the change, after they received those checks in the process.
My only hope is that just as these actors have realized their positions, major media companies, who made millions to billions off these characters realize it too as well or are we just still N***s to them that they can just throw money at to appease us? Lets hope its not the latter….
BlackFace 2020
