MovieChat Forums > L'eclisse (1962) Discussion > Shocking racist scene

Shocking racist scene

posted 8 years ago by NomadNomadovic
10 replies | jump to latest

I am a big fan of Antonioni but I was shocked to watch this scene. your thoughts?

https://vimeo.com/19771661

Blackface in 1960s Italian Cinema: Antonioni, Pontecorvo and Pasolini
by Marco Purpura (PhD, University of California, Berkeley)

Is there an Italian way to blackface? And, if so, what is its specificity? Blackface has been traditionally understood as an American phenomenon that originated from vaudeville in the nineteenth century and then migrated to cinema in the early twentieth century. Broadly speaking, in blackface white actors paint their faces black and exaggerate their gestures to mock racial groups socially perceived as inferior, often of African descent. Stephen Johnson states that American blackface is “a consistent alteration of the performer’s body. This body had an applied black face created from burnt cork mixed with grease; it was black without shading and usually darkened to an artificial extreme. This basic makeup was occasionally interrupted by red (also white) greasepaint around the mouth, creating the appearance of artificially large lips”.[1] Two elements are therefore crucial for its definition: black makeup and the performer’s excessive dramatization of the character’s physical and psychological traits.

https://readingitaly.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/2013-sis-postgraduate-colloquium-voices/

[–] prplayer 8 years ago

that scene was indeed shocking, it was so blatant that i'm inclined to believe the director intended for it to be seen as something not to be taken seriously

so many movies, so little time

[–] kenny-164 8 years ago

I have talked about this scene elsewhere. The key it so contrast the blatantly racist things Marta says in her offhand, casual manner, with the way the scene unfolds. Vittoria then makes herself up as described, and is having great fun, as is Anita, and Anita also says something about how much Vittoria even made up is the same, looks the same or something like that. Marta eventually gets angry and turns the music off. I take this to mean Vittoria and Anita are making fun of Marta's racism, and pointing out that a common humanity remains (of course, but still) in Vittoria even as made up.

[–] Steadybox 8 years ago

Actually, the blackface dance sequence happens before Marta says anything racist, but Vittoria and Anita are definitely making fun of Marta's racism in the next scene; it is very apparent from the dialogue. And then there's the scene where Vittoria approaches the two dogs, a black poodle and a white poodle, and jokingly asks them if there are any problems between the two of them.

[–] yakushijtenzen 8 years ago

You can call it racist.
I call it normal European harmless fun that could have happened anywhere in a European party until the modern political correctness.

Is it racist? My point of view as someone who grew up in those cultures - No.
Back in the day there were barely any foreigners in Europe, and everything was seen as fun and exotic. The Japanese Samurai, the cowboys & Indians, the tribal Africans, etc. So people would have fun, without the feeling of racist hate, making fun of such things. The thought of the people who actually come from these cultures did not come one second into the mind of people doing that. Is playing cowboy & Indian racist? Is the boy choosing to be an Indian racist? Same thing/mindset really. I played numerous games as a boy where I probably made fun of other races. Typical thing would be to stretch the eyes and act like an Asian. Did we hate Asians? No. It was just done really without feeling of paranoia.

Of course nowadays because the entirety of society has changed, because some intellectual leftwing movements made thought policing normal, everyone must double check their thoughts to delete any hypothetical form of racism.

Back in the day freedom of speech and THOUGHT was much more developed than it is today.
And even then, I did notice events of American censorship happened in foreign films. American thought policing was already much stronger than in Europe or Asia in the 1930s and forward. I attribute it mainly to a rapidly multicultural society compared to monocultural societies of Europe & Asia.

Americans love to obsess about what they think is incorrect. Its a very paranoid culture (cant put it any other way). It reminds me of the Japanese director Kurosawa, who was attacked by "an American rights organization" for showing a panting dog in one of his movie. He noted something along the lines of "For the first time I realised the American occupation of Japan with this idiocy. In non-occupied Japan nobody would have blushed at this".

Its the same with this whole "racism" issue that people complain about everywhere and anywhere. Its an American phenomenon, which comes from insecurity about some topics. Paranoid insecurity.

[–] kenny-164 8 years ago

yak,

Yeah, things were so much better in Europe in the 30's compared to America. You had Hitler and the Nazis, Mussolini and the Fascists. Just great.

[–] DrCrespi (1) a year ago

Yakushijtenzen,
Agreed. This paranoia has only increased, stifling the kind of of frankness filmmakers like Antonioni were once free to express. It's the reason why the vast majority of current Hollywood films, despite their explicitness in other aspects, are nonetheless forced to comply with a political agenda. It's not dissimilar to the old Production Code (ironically initialed PC) that restricted film content from 1934 to 1966.

[–] Speeed (170) a year ago

I have to agree with yakushijtenzen. I'm also a product of the 60s and dressing up or pretending to be other races or cultures wasn't seen as an insult back then.

It was done back and forth between all cultures to pretend to be "another." Trust me, blackface was not only an American phenomenon. It's been done all over the world.

Many black Africans still pretend to be Asians by slanting their eyes. I pretended to be a Mexican by drawing a big curly mustache on my face with a sombrero on my head. But most of us did these kinds of things without any malice in our hearts. It was just good fun and I still don't think there's anything wrong with it just as long as you don't make "the other" look stupid or mentally retarded.

We have become overly sensitive and seem to have lost our sense of humor and perspective.

[–] chicagodan (1) 7 months ago

So let me get this straight — Antonioni is now being held up as a paragon of anti-wokeism? The movie in question is intended to be a left wing attack on the Roman bourgeoisie. The African scene in question was not intended as some harmless Euro-fun, but a critique of colonialist values. It’s perfectly fine to argue that the scene in question made its point by displaying racism, therefore defeating its purpose. But to argue that we’re all “too sensitive” is to display your complete ignorance of Antonioni’s work. My guess is none of you defending the scene even watched the movie.

[–] [email protected] (1607) 2 months ago

The darkened skin wasn't really very racist for me, we do this in our country to honor the black pygmies that helped our ancestors. For me what was shocking was what was said after about monekys etc.

[–] liscarkat (16476) 2 months ago

Shocking? You are so easily shocked, static electricity might kill you. Be careful not to shuffle across the carpet in your socks.