Yikes!

During my long movie watching career, I've sort-of-kind-of gotten used to the occasional racist anachronism rearing its ugly head in the midst of an otherwise inoffensive film. I cringe, but shrug it off. This film has such a moment in the first minute of the film--well, actually, I shouldn't lump it in with most of the others as this was more than merely cringe inducing. My mouth gaped open in disbelief as my gorge began to rise.

The film opens with scenes from the eponymous amusement park, Coney Island, in one such scene, we see celebrants purchase two balls for what we suppose will be a game of "spill the milk" where the contestants attempt to knock three stacked wooden "milk bottles" off a small table--a game I've played and won myself. But when the guy rears back and throws, we see he isn't aiming at bottles, but a person with his head through a hole in a curtain--a person in blackface. Yikes! It was bad enough to hear, in the great film, "Casablanca" the character Sam referred to as "boy," but this! About as ugly a five second scene as ever I laid eyes upon. Toward the end of the film, there's another uncomfortable moment during a stage number with all the performers dressed as from the deep south--pre-Civil War, including four or five black men tap dancing dressed as house slaves. Oh, brother! But at least no one was throwing balls at them!!

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way.