Maybe once upon a time - not even that long ago - it might have been "accepted". And I say that being from the country that had "The Black and White Minstrel Show" on primetime television until as recently as 1978.
But I'm not sure any country has any excuses today. That said, there are still versions of shows like Stars in Their Eyes that have had blackface contestants frighteningly recently. I would suggest that various countries' ignorance of the issue is dependent on the racial makeup of that country. Poland, from what I can tell, is not the most ethnically diverse country in Europe, and certainly not non-white ethnicities. No excuse though. The actor David Harewood (Homeland, Supergirl amongst many others) presented a really good BBC documentary on the whole subject a couple of months ago. If you've got a way to watch BBC iPlayer then it's here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001p474/david-harewood-on-blackface Very much from a British perspective. Adam Adam On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 3:17 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > 25-years-ago when we did Your Big Break in tandem with the company that > produces Stars in Their Eyes, I learned that blackface was considered less > offensive in Europe than it is here in the US. We had a few non-POC > portraying African Americans, but there was deliberately no > pigment-altering makeup applied. > > During a production meeting it was discussed, and it was agreed that a > white personal could impersonate a black person. But when somebody > kiddingly asked if a Christian could portray a Jew, our producer replied > “F*ck no!” > > On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 7:08 AM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> The Polish version of the format "Your Face Sounds Familiar" (claimed as >> originating in Spain in 2011, although it sure as hell sounds like the UK's >> "Stars in Their Eyes," which goes back further and is owned by the company >> owning this show, the French format factory Banijay) recently featured a >> white man impersonating rapper Kendrick Lamar in blackface and cornrows and >> repeating a "nigga" from the lyrics of Lamar's "Humble" (the video's in the >> link) AND a white woman impersonating Beyonce in blackface--controversy >> ensued and Banijay's home office in Paris said they would conduct an >> investigation: >> >> >> https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/12/polish-tv-talent-show-contestants-use-blackface-for-kendrick-lamar-beyonce-performances >> >> HOWEVER, this is not the first time--in 2021 a contestant won with a >> blackface impersonation of Kanye West and there have been other instances >> of blackface in the Polish version's history (perhaps before Banijay bought >> the original format owner Endemol Shine) and the Czech version out-and-out >> banned blackface in the same year. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/27c5e7bf-ea3e-4222-a2ae-3cc3ea565397n%40googlegroups.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/27c5e7bf-ea3e-4222-a2ae-3cc3ea565397n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4BSAkuE2jYSpM-6jaWvz5TbefqF3%2BtXn%3DzsVE%2BT6txKdw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4BSAkuE2jYSpM-6jaWvz5TbefqF3%2BtXn%3DzsVE%2BT6txKdw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGCtFyWSPKzDO_muUjwb1ei8rNH8H05WQSp3zuJ%3Dsyx1wQ%40mail.gmail.com.
