Racism Onstage and on the Screen

          Racism is an issue that appears throughout history over and over again, and it will never truly fade. There is constant debate over what is considered racism, and what is considered offensive. Obviously these ideas will differ person to person, but in my opinion, racism is all about context.
          In terms of the Minstrel Show, a white person painting themselves black and acting insane in order to ridicule the black race is definitely offensive. They are explicitly making fun of blacks, which they have no right to do. But when black people got involved in the Minstrel Shows, that is a whole new dynamic. When William Henry Lane and Thomas Dilward first took the stage as actual African Americans performing in a Minstrel Show, they were essentially making fun of themselves, and making fun of the white people that made fun of them in the first place. This transformed the Minstrel Show from discrimination into a lighthearted tease, because there is nothing wrong with making fun of yourself. For example, the song "Piece Of Me" is three minutes of Britney Spears ridiculing herself, and that is perfectly appropriate because it is a reflection of herself from her own perspective. If someone else were to make that song, it would be considered rude and derogatory.
          Considering this point, Die Antwoord's "Fatty Boom Boom" is absolutely racist. By painting herself black for that video, she is associating the black race with all the vulgar dancing and inappropriate language that she does. She is not portraying the black face in a positive light, so it is definitely racist in my opinion.
          The way a person portrays race is the main factor deciding whether something is racist of not. In class today, Julie Taymor talked about how Lion King is all about race from a black person's perspective, but in a positive way. The musical shows a black man as Mufasa, the King lion. The way the musical holds Mufasa''s status above everyone else's sheds a positive light on the black race, so therefore it is not racist; it actually glorifies African culture.