Blackface is never okay and Chevy can still get erections.
Over the June 27th weekend, Netflix and Hulu removed the #AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons episode of #Community from their streaming services for its use of Blackface. This move is understandably controversial, as some would say it allows these companies to paint themselves as advocates to the Black community without devoting any actual resources to combat racism.
Either way, this is censorship and erasure – one of the worst forms of content control.
But let’s focus on what Community actually did. I love this episode. It’s one of the best in television, let alone the series. And the episode in question is ultimately not about race. It is about bullying, depression, suicide, and mental health. It’s about a group of people who see someone in need and their efforts to support him.
The argument for why this is “acceptable” Blackface is that it is actually drow-face – that it’s not a portrayal of Black people but of a fictional race of elves from a game. Whether or not you agree with this argument for its acceptability – and, spoiler alert, I don’t – this gives us an opportunity to talk about dark elves in fantasy games.
Dark elves were originally created with the Dungeons & Dragons by TSR in the 1970s. They were created as a separate type of elf with dark skin and silver hair, just as Chang portrays them in the episode of Community. In their descriptions within the game of D&D, this is an entire race of people with dark skin who are evil and meant to be feared. The original artwork of dark elves shows them with short, curly hair, further separating them from “normal,” and “good” light-skinned elves who have long, straight hair.
We need to acknowledge that racial biases have informed the creation of the drow in fantasy games, that there are problematic racial overtones in portraying an entire community of dark-skinned people as being evil while light-skinned people are not. To say otherwise is to be willfully ignorant.
Even if Chang was not portraying Black people but a fictional race of elves, this is still a portrayal of something with connotations to anti-Black sentiments.
And the fact of the matter is that the writers of Community chose Blackface for a reason. Blackface was picked because it’s offensive. Because it has shock value. Community took something ugly and demeaning and exploited it for a cheap gag.
We cannot condone the exploitation of Blackface, however satirical the intent. We can’t make the people who wear Blackface look like harmless idiots. We need to acknowledge that Blackface is unacceptable and then just not do Blackface.
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Be educated on racial justice! Find out how anti-blackness has affected black people of the United States, decide what support in your capacity looks like to you, and be willing to have difficult conversations with people about racial justice. And, of course, donate to #blacklivesmatter
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Sources:
"Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux" | Community © Sony Pictures Television
"Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Episode 2 with Matthew McConaughey" | Emmanuel Acho | [ Ссылка ]
"Tom and Jerry - Bonus - Introduction by Whoopi Goldberg" | benjamin cotan | [ Ссылка ]
"Dan's Admission" | Super Junker | [ Ссылка ]
"Episode 19 - Virtual Reality" | The Darkest Timeline with Ken Jeong & Joel McHale | [ Ссылка ] | [ Ссылка ]
"'The Office' Blackface Scene Edited Out, Netflix Pulls 'Community' Blackface Episode" | Variety | [ Ссылка ]
"Megan Ganz on Dan Harmon's Apology: 'I Felt Vindicated'" | The New York Times | [ Ссылка ]
"Diversity and Dungeons & Dragons" | Wizards of the Coast | [ Ссылка ]
#sixseasonsandamovie
