Movie review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Movie Review Example Evolutionary anthropology tries to understand the past and present of the human experiences (Sevelius). Under the evolutionary perspective comes cultural anthropology, which can be explained using different scenarios from the chosen movie; it is basically the study of culture, in order to make sense of the behaviors within it, like words, concepts and symbols (Lynch). The movie is about a couple, Meredith and Everett, who visits Everett’s family, on Christmas. Here, the customs of family getting together on Christmas is shown; no matter where each member of the family works or lives, they find time to get together on a holiday. Meredith is quite different from the Stone family; however, she soon finds out that every member of the Stone family is different from one and another. Everett’s sister is a traditional mother, his father has a low key personality, his mother is the glue which holds the whole family together and his brother is gay. Everett has brought Meredith to meet his family, because he wants to propose her, with his grandmother’s ring which is also a family heirloom. This shows another behavior of human kind or custom that whenever the eldest son of the family wants to propose to a girl, he asks his mother for a family heirloom, to make the moment more special; it is also a sign of the mother’s approval. Meredith soon finds out that Everett’s mother, Sybil, is dying; this is the reason why Everett wants to propose to Meredith, so that his mother could see him married and happy, before she passes away. Even though, the movie shows how Everett falls in love with Meredith’s sister, because she is more outgoing and not uptight like Meredith, it shows the expectations of marrying and settling down, which has been part of the present and past of human kind. As Everett’s mother is dying, her wish would be to see her elder son settle down and have children of his own. Even though Everett

It's not fair Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

It's not fair - Assignment Example tion should be as anticipated, otherwise the perception will be considered to be fair or unfair depending on how the allocation and distribution is done. The theory again suggests that what a person or an individual considers to be fair is what motivates the person or the individual (Robert, 2012). It is important to highlight that the theory relates quite clearly to the executive compensation. This is so as in most of the institutions that are in the society today, the executive committee is considered to be of high priority in the institution. They are therefore paid large sums of money that is not worth what they should be given. This is not fair as they only develop policies while the employees are the ones who execute the actual tasks in the institution (Robert, 2012). In the using of another as a referent, it is therefore quite axiomatic that the women should use the men as their preferred referent. This is so because the men are considered to be quite productive in terms of delivery and execution of their duties. Actually this is some kind of male chauvinism clearly well spelt out here. The relevant input that the top executive should put into consideration is that they should focus on the payment issues (Robert, 2012). Procedural justice is taken to be the fairness of an action that is used in the ascertainment of the discerned justice. Under this, it is important to consider two fundamental concepts; process control as well as the explanations. The implications of this is that the top management has had it quite hectic as they have to strategize and for every move they make, they have to give all the information and explanations for the outcome that will be realized due to their action. According to the chapter, it can be clearly noted that these pay making decisions do not follow the procedural justice; this therefore makes the whole process to kind of seem unfair (Robert, 2012). It is important to highlight that the government being the most

Questionare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Questionare - Essay Example The descriptive phase follows, in which the demographic and statistical information on the target population and target program emulations are determined in respective forms of their completeness and efficiency. â€Å"Exploratory studies are most typically done†¦ to satisfy the researcher’s curiosity and desire for better understanding, to test the feasibility of undertaking a more careful study, and to develop the methods to be employed† (Babbie, 1995, p. 84). #12 Between Kà ¤rtnerstrasse, Graben and Kohlmarkt, which is the most popular street? Why? ________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ #13 How much would you expect to spend in a typical day of shopping? On how much designer products would this money typically be spent? ______ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Multiple choice form is optimal for diversity since it also affords anonymity and privacy while simultaneously reducing the amount of confusion often attendant upon a questionnaire interview that is evinced by so many. The survey that is given to individuals representing two different sides of the issue of the effectiveness of research into presented issues. Respondents are instructed, Please circle the letter that seems best to

The comparison of the Macroeconomic State of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Essay

The comparison of the Macroeconomic State of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for the years 2005 and 2011 - Essay Example Services include offshore banking, Islamic banking, insurance and tourism (CIA, Bahrain). Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia hosts one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves with estimates ranging up to one fifth of all proven reserves on earth (EIA). The economy of Saudi Arabia depends in large part on oil processing and exports as well as goods derived from crude oil. Diversification is in the air but has yet to yield economically significant results. The major contributors to the GDP according to their value addition are listed in the table below (CIA, Saudi Arabia): 2005 2011 Agriculture 3.3% 2.1% Industry 74.7% 67.6% Services 21.9% 30.4% The major agricultural products of Saudi Arabia are wheat, dates, citrus fruits, barley, melons, dairy and poultry. The major industries in Saudi Arabia are crude oil production, oil refining, petrochemical industries such as fertilizers, ammonia production, caustic soda production, plastics, metal processing, aircraft and ship repair, constr uction etc. Comparison Bahrain’s GDP is markedly smaller than that of Saudi Arabia given the geographical size of both nations and the amount of oil and gas reserves. Saudi Arabia’s GDP displays more of agricultural input compared to Bahrain while it has a larger industrial sector. In comparison, Bahrain has a larger service sector when compared to Saudi Arabia. Services Bahrain’s service sector is composed primarily of financial organisations such as off shore banks, Islamic banks, insurance companies and the like. Oil production has supported the growth of such financial service sectors that link Bahrain to the rest of the region financially. In addition, Bahrain’s service sector displays public utility companies, telecommunications firms,...This paper seeks to compare the economies of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on a macroeconomic scale and to identify recent trends by performing comparisons for the years 2005 and 2011. Bahrain exhibits one of the highest GDP growth rates around the world given its small population and rich revenue streams. Mainly the economy depends on the export of processed oil and aluminium. Also, Bahrain exports finance services as well as construction materials. Saudi Arabia hosts one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves with estimates ranging up to one fifth of all proven reserves on earth.. The economy of Saudi Arabia depends in large part on oil processing and exports as well as goods derived from crude oil. Diversification is in the air but has yet to yield economically significant results. Saudi Arabia’s GDP displays more of agricultural input compared to Bahrain while it has a larger industrial sector. In comparison, Bahrain has a larger service sector when compared to Saudi Arabia. For both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the major export item is essentially mineral products (crude oil, refined and processed oil etc.) contributing to around 90% of all exports for both nations. In addition, it is noticeable that the next largest export for both nations is chemical products In terms of the import structure, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are well differentiated since Bahrain imports crude oil in order to refine and process. Saudi Arabia major import items are machinery and transportation equipment. In terms of the larger picture, Bahrain shows greater GDP per capita compared to Saudi Arabia though its macroeconomic structure is more heavily government owned, regulated and controlled.

PESTEL Analysis Indonesia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

PESTEL Analysis Indonesia - Essay Example 40% of these forests lies within protected areas (FAO 2010). Forest clearing within areas zoned for timber, logging, oil palm, and mining accounted for nearly 45 percent of deforestation in Indonesia between 2000 and 2010, (finds a new study that examined forest loss within industrial concessions). Analyzing the greenhouse gas emissions in the Indonesia, currently, paper plantations are the largest source of carbon emissions during the period, accounting for more than a third of total industrial emissions. Oil palm follows up with 28 %, logging with 22%. Nevertheless, the percentages vary from island to island. In Sumatra, fiber plantations amounted to nearly 60 percent of emissions, while the palm oil industry in Kalimantan accounted for about 40 percent. Logging concessions were the biggest source of industrial land use emissions in Papua, Sulawesi, and the Moluccas. In the future according to the study: Relative contributions of the logging, fiber, oil palm and mining industries t o forest loss in Indonesia, it is expected that forest concessions continue to grow, due to political treaties and economic investment in logging. In response to the general idea that the process of logging is illegal, corrupt in Indonesia, the new Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar imposed a moratorium (suspension) on the issuance of all new logging, by allowing issuances to be fair, accurate, clear and accountable. The moratorium is likely to last between four and six months.

The Iron Lady Essay Example for Free

The Iron Lady Essay The Iron Lady BY sptke25 The Iron Lady If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you. Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to lead a major Western democracy, spoke these words. She served as Great Britains Prime Minister for more than eleven years (1979-1990), and led with an iron fist bringing down inflation in England, reviving the British economy, reclaiming the Falkland Islands, and never wavering against the Soviets in the Cold War. Born as Margaret Hilda Roberts on October 13, 1925, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, she was the youngest daughter of Alfred and Beatrice Roberts. Her father was a local businessman who operated a grocery store where the Roberts family lived in an apartment above. Thatcher was introduced to politics by her father. He was active in the town council and later became mayor. She was accepted at Oxford University where she studied chemistry, although it took second place to her love of politics. Thus, she became politically active on campus. She was elected president of the student Conservative Association at Oxford which ave way to many political connections for her future. She ran as the Conservative candidate for the Labour seat of Dartford at the General Elections of 1950 and 1951. Although she lost both times, she did win fame for being the youngest woman candidate in the country, since during the elections; she was only in her mid- Losing never deterred Thatcher. She continued her involvement with twenties. the Conservative Party in Kent where she met her future husband, Denis Thatcher. They were married in 1951. He, being a wealthy businessman, funded her studies for the bar, and she became a barrister in 1953. It was that same year she and her husband excitedly welcomed their twins, Mark and Carol into their family. Even though a new mother, Margaret Thatcher did not slow down her political rampage. She kept focus and finally in 1959 she smoothly took the election and claimed her seat in the House of Commons. She was everything from Secretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance to Secretary of State for Education and Science. She gained many supporters, as well as fueling many protesters; especially when she felt forced to make cuts in the Educational budget and tossed out free milk in the schools. This action gained her the nickname, Maggie Thatcher, milk snatcher. Her popularity and fortitude as a leader rebounded quite nicely, and she became the Conservative Leader. On January 19th, 1976 Thatcher made a speech in Kensington Town Hall. During this speech, she boldly attacked the Soviet Union. Her most famous lines were: The Russians are bent on world dominance, and they are rapidly acquiring the means to become the most powerful imperial nation the world has seen. The men in the Soviet Politburo do not have to worry about the ebb and flow of public opinion. They put guns before butter, while we put Just about verything before guns. Ministry newspaper, Red Star. Although others may have been offended by this, Thatcher took great pride in gaining that reputation from a government she held little to no admiration for. During the winter of 78/79 an epidemic of strikes broke out across Britain. The trade union was demanding pay increases. The government in place at the time, the Labours, seemed to be losing the confidence of the public, so at the General Election of May 1979, the Conservative party won. Margaret Thatcher was now the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first term of Thatchers Ministry was filled with economic pitfalls. She and her government put many long term goals into effect, which slowly proved to be successful. The economy was finally on the rise. Much political support was bestowed upon her because of this success, and re-election looked viable, yet that fate would be sealed by another event: The Falkland Islands. Argentina and Great Britain had been for years at odds with each other over the islands. The English had seized the Islands and remained in control of them since 1833. Yet on April 2, 1982 the Argentine troops invaded the island. They quickly were able to overcome the British marines stationed there. Margaret Thatcher working with the U. S. dministration hoped that a more diplomatic means would be possible while attempting to regain the islands, yet when this approach failed, she quickly and assuredly ordered military action. In doing so, Britain regained the Falkland Islands by June of 1982. The electorate was quite impressed and she swiftly won the 1983 election. Mrs. Thatcher was a staunch anti-communist and a supporter of NATOs decision to deploy U. S. Pershing and cruise mis siles in Western Europe during the Cold War. She also took a stand against anti-nuclear demonstrators at Greenam Common. The demonstrators were set on topping the delivery of the 160 missiles to be placed there. She also set the foundation for and delivered a modernized British Fleet consisting of Trident II nuclear submarines. She made her position quite clear as she stood with Ronald Reagan declaring that the Soviet Union was an evil enemy who deserved no No compromise, however, did not mean no discussion; Thatcher compromise. was not afraid to discuss the massive nuclear problem or the woes of communism with the newly elected Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. She found him to be extremely open-minded. He was willing to debate, argue his point, yet listen to the ther side. In an interview with CBS newsman Tom Fenton, she stated that he was the first person to have said: Look, all our hopes of communism are not being realized. It is not producing the standard of living, it is not producing the standard of technology, it is not producing the standard of social services. This total central control will not do, it will not do it, we have got to have more individual personal involvement. She felt that Gorbachev knew an increase of freedom was inevitable for improving his country. Thatcher found that she liked the man and was quoted as saying that she felt they could do business together.

Black Identity In Bamboozled

Black Identity In Bamboozled African Americans have for a long time been represented in American cinema in discourses of white realism. With the emergence of black directors, there has been a struggle to detach the black community from the traditional, negative stereotypes attached to them. Bamboozled (Spike Lee, 2000) is a dark satire on race representation and assimilation and the ways in which the dominant hegemonic power structure is able to divide and rule those it subjugates. This paper will first explore the history of cinematic representation of African Americans, which will be discussed in line with the issue of misrepresentation in Bamboozled (2000). This paper will also explore African-American identity dilemma as presented in Bamboozled (2000). Introduction I want people to think about the power of images, not just in terms of race, but how imagery is used and what sort of social impact it has- how it influences how we talk, how we think, how we view one another. In particular, I want them to see how film and television have historically, from the birth of both mediums, produced and perpetuated distorted images. Film and television started out that way, and here we are, at the dawn of a new century, and a lot of that madness is still with us today. Spike Lee. The debates over race and representation of African Americans in films have been highly contentious for over a century. Blacks have generally been perceived and stigmatized, throughout history, as trouble makers, incapables, intellectually limited, inferior, lazy and irrational, amongst the many other demeaning labels attached to them. These labels are connected not only to the history of colonization but also, importantly, to the exploitation, perpetuation, and careful maintenance of stereotypes through cinematic clichà ©s which have imposed themselves easily and significantly on the popular imagination. As rightly stated by Wijdan Ali, the projection of harmful and negative stereotypes onto marginal or ineffectual groups within a society has always been an easy and useful method for making scapegoats.Effectively, films form the ideal space to circularize and preserve the labels which the mainstream audience desires to attach to the black community. Five decades of the Civil Rights Movement have gone by, and the degree of change in the black community, though undeniably real and noticeable, remains perplexingly complex and inadequate. Although the fact that we now live in a time in history where Americans have voted in a black President, where blacks now occupy positions of power and are ostensibly less subject to institutional discrimination than in the past, the black community nevertheless remains inadequately poor, unemployed, undereducated and negatively labeled. Adding to these, portrayals of African Americans in cinema are still, to a great extent, marked by buffoonery. Therefore, adopting a writing-back style in Bamboozled (2000), Spike Lee satirically attacks the way in which African Americans have historically been misused and misrepresented on screen. Through Bamboozled (2000), the director attempts both to entertain and to educate his audience about the history of African American representation within popular culture, with the word bamboozled itself indicating the state of having been cheated or conned. Bamboozled (2000) presents American mass entertainments history of racial discrimination through abasing minstrel stereotypes, which first started to be performed in musical theatres and which were later brought to cinema with films such as The Wooing and Wedding of a Coon (1905), The Sambo Series (1909- 1911) and D.W Griffiths controversial The Birth of a Nation( 1915). Consequently, the purpose of this study is to explore African American evolution in the American film industry and to analyze the effects of stereotypes and misrepresentation o n African American identity using Cornel Wests theory of Alienation (1993) and Du Boiss theory of double consciousness (1903). These will hopefully in turn help to understand why the integration of African Americans is considered as a problematic issue even in a sophisticated era where racism seems to be a thing of the past, and where people are supposedly no longer judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. But before getting to what Bamboozled (2000) actually brings to the table of African-American films, it is important to look at the history and evolution of black representation in Hollywood cinema, which the following paragraphs are going to deal with. II. African Americans in American Films: A Brief Retrospective African Americans first started to be represented in minstrel shows in the late 1820s and later on television in the early 20th century. Through blackface minstrelsy, a performance style where white males parodied the songs, dances, clothing and speech patterns of Southern blacks using blackface makeup and exaggerated lips, Americas conceptions of blackness and whiteness were shaped by these mocking caricatures, for, as pointed out by bell hooks, there is power in looking. While whiteness was posited as the norm, every black face was a statement of social imperfection, inferiority, and mimicry that [was] placed in isolation with an absent whiteness as its ideal opposite. Consequently, for over a century, the notion that colored people were racially and socially inferior to whites was ingrained, internalized and accepted both by white and black minstrel performers and audiences. The caricatures took such a strong hold on the American imagination that audiences naturally came to expect any person with dark skin, irrespective of his/ her background, to fit in one or more of the following stereotypes; Jim Crow, a dull-witted and subservient plantation slave; Zip Coon, a lazy, gaudily-dressed man from the city representing the proud newly- freed slave; Mammy, the contended, happy, loyal and ever-smiling female slave (as evidence of the supposed humanity of the institution of slavery,); Uncle Tom, the good Negro; submissive, hearty, faithful no matter what, stoic, selfless, and oh-so-very-kind, Buck, the proud and menacing Black man always fascinated by white women; Jezebel the temptress; the mixed race Mulatto, and Pickaninnies, who have bulging eyes, unkempt hair, red lips and wide mouths into which they stuff huge slices of watermelon. As time moved on, black appearance in mainstream films became more and more frequent, as well as the increase in the number of independent black directors, from Oscar Micheaux to Daniels Lee and Spike Lee. Since The Birth of a Nation, which marked a change in emphasis from the pretentious but harmless Jim Crow to the threatening savage Nigger, black filmmakers have responded by creating race movies and blaxploitation films which were tailored to black audiences . The 1970s witnessed a resurgence of the blaxploitation genre with films such as Sweet Sweetbacks Baadassss Song (1971), Shaft (1971), Black Caesar (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974). Since such films were themselves in turn accused of using the negative to hyperbolize issues pertaining to blacks, this genre saw its end in the late 1970s to give way to a new wave of black directors, such as S. Lee and John Singleton, who focused on black urban life. However, we cannot afford to simply celebrate the achievements of black filmmakers for the so-called ethnic arts. And as Stuart Hall remarks, we have come out of the age of innocence, which says that its good if its there. The mere fact that such films have had a considerable increase does not mean that the status of and opportunities for black people have dramatically improved although it may be true that the level of clear-cut racism has known an important decrease, or even a disappearance. This can be backed up by Appiahs statement that changes in the representation of blacks do not ipso facto lead to changes in their treatment. III. The Issue of Misrepresentation in Bamboozled (2000) In Bamboozled (2000), Spike Lee directly addresses this issue of African American representability as being a discourse of white essentialism. Through Bamboozled (2000) the director invites his audience to realize that although nobody goes around in blackface anymore,it does not entail that Hollywood has altogether abandoned/given up essentialist discourse. The director satirically uses very symbolic icons and elements throughout the film in order to highlight racism and misrepresentation. The beginning of Bamboozled (2000) itself generates the intended theme; Stevie Wonders Misrepresented People, a song which encapsulates the historical, political and social adversities faced by blacks, is carefully and cleverly set as the background music, which powerfully and heavily impacts upon the content of the film as well as upon the audience. Spike Lee makes it blatantly clear that Bamboozled (2000) sets out to illustrate White American ideology and discourse within contemporary public sphere. Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), the protagonist of the film, is a network executive working in a company which is specialized in black matters. Ironically though, during the meeting in which Delacroix is reproached for his lateness and reminded of CP time, it can be noticed that the only Black person present is Pierre himself. His boss, Dunwitty, clearly does not want to see Negroes on television unless they are buffoons. He even cancelled one of Pierres brilliant shows because it starred blacks as dignified people and goes on to complain that the latters written materials are too clean, too white, too antiseptic, which according to him merely portray white people with blackfaces. He urges Delacroix to keep it real, that is, he reminds him of the humiliating position of blacks in cinema; blacks are only entertainers. The depiction of the struggle endemic to the African American experience of representation, which Lee throws to the audience in a very obvious yet complex way, can be seen in Extract 1. It can be observed in this scene that Delacroix has no other option than to portray blacks as entertainers if he is to respect his contract. This scene is also important because it does two things; first, it shows Delacroixs struggle to promote the black community by attempting to fight misrepresentation, and second, it shows a well-educated Delacroixs willingness to dissociate himself from other African Americans. The name of the blackface show in Bamboozled (2000) is in itself very symbolic; Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show. Here, Lee suggests that minstrelsy has not disappeared in the new millennium. In his-own words therefore, it has only gotten more sophisticated. Gangsta rap videos, a lot of the TV shows on UPN and WB- a lot of us are still acting as buffoons and coons. The issue of black-white relations resurfaces in Bamboozled (2000) and the role of the Other is made explicit through Lees intended message. Black stereotyping and Otherisation becomes the necessary evil in the construction of white identity and is needed to reassure white audiences of the stability of their identity. With this comes the implication that black films are successfully marketed only if they appeal to mainstream audiences. Clearly, Spike Lees aim in this provocative film is to show that even today, the American film industry is still concealing essentialist discourses within contemporary films. Consequ ently, as essentialism involves ongoing human and social interaction as well as limitation, identity regulation and enforcement takes place within this kind of racist discourse, whereby blacks have to undergo identity dilemma while trying to seek approval. As we have seen, cinema has an important role to play in the construction of identity. History, cinema and black identity are intricately intertwined. The association of these three in Bamboozled (2000) communicates to the audience how blacks are identified and how they in turn identify themselves. As a marginalized group, most of the black characters in Spike Lees film forsake their identity so as to gain approval, to be successful, or to get out of black poverty and the result is shown to be a disastrous one for the black soul and community. The next section is therefore going to be an exploration of identity dilemma in Bamboozled (2000). IV. Identity Dilemma in Bamboozled (2000) I have heard all my life that White people dont have to change who they are, how they talk, or how they behave. Therefore, I was left with the impression that it was everyone elses responsibility to attempt to adopt the cultural and social personalities of White people. Ronald, L Jackson. In order to tackle this issue of identity in Bamboozled (2000) Cornel Wests theory of alienation(1993) will be used in parallel to DuBois theory of double-consciousness (1903) .Wests theory of alienation (1993) explores the identity crisis faced by the black diasporan community in modern day America. Natal alienation, which has been created by the history of colonization, is an irretrievable damage to black identity. Since the Black is rendered into an inferior being through history and representation, and this inferiority further reinforced by both descriptive and prescriptive stereotypes in cinema, blacks as a result experience a severe identity dilemma, a double consciousness. Alienation in Wests theory exists on two intricately related levels: firstly as an ideological system of oppression and discrimination and secondly as a black existentialist struggle. In Bamboozled (2000), this powerful system of oppression forces the black characters to forsake their black soul and identities. Unlike Delacroix, Womack (Tommy Davidson) and Manray (Savion Glover), two homeless street performers, are forced by their unfavorable economic conditions to become de-rooted and senseless performing dolls. Both are stripped of their names and imposed with the abasing and stereotypically racist names of SleepnEat and Mantan respectively. Alienation here produces the modern black diasporan problematic of invisibility and namelessness, whereby Womack and Manray are forced to look at themselves through the eyes of others, of measuring [their] soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. Impelled by societal and survival pressures, both of them are forced to assimilate in order to be accepted by the white community as well as by the assimilated black people. It becomes clear that David Llorenss (1968) two types of blacks are present in Bamboozled (2000). Delacroix and Sloan represent the chosen ones while Manray and Womack represent the fellah. The former is familiar with the streets and the black vernacular, while the latter is culturally refined has assimilated into the white community. Alienation and white essentialist discourse creates such a situation where the chosen one feels embarrassed by the fellah and seeks at all times to show that they are two different kinds, and to please the Guardian, that is, the white man. Manray and Womack are, through the eyes of Sloan ( Jada Pinkett Smith) and Pierre, African Americans who share similar traits to the primitive African. Delacroix points this out by looking down on them and recommending that they be given deodorant s, toothbrushes, toothpastes and underwear. He also attempts without success to dissociate himself from the fellah black category by desperately explaining to Dunwitty that blacks are not a monolithic group, and that middle class black does exist. These words are representative of the African American communitys desire not to be identified only through blackness. For Dunwitty, Delacroix is only trying to wear a whiteface, which is not a mere fabrication or a mere racist comment. Dunwittys words carry an important truth. We see from the beginning of the film, that Delacroix eagerly and desperately seeks recognition and visibility from his white co-workers when he walks his way to his office. He also rejects the black vernacular for Standard English so as to make a clear cut difference between the educated and the uneducated black. This, to an important extent, reifies the superiority of whites and serves to alienate blacks in American society, as, according to West (1993), alienation is part of a whole system of language. Once a cultures language is alienated from the mainstream populations language, the cultures identity is similarly taken away and starts to dissipate. Delacroix himself unconsciously embodies several of the blackface stereotypes, although he tries to portray blacks in a positive light. He can be viewed as a Zip Coon, with his pretentiousness and his implicit disregard for the fellah blacks during the auditioning for the Alabama Porch Monkeys, and his dissociation from the black vernacular. Furthermore, he embodies the Uncle Tom stereotype several times in the film, especially in the scene where he acts as the loyal, faithful and subservient black while insisting on handing off an award to Mathhew Modine (playing himself.) Delacroix is therefore himself caught in this whirlwind of Europeanization. In his relentless effort to assimilate into white culture, he gets himself a Harvard education and a penthouse, dresses professionally, and speaks the right language. Even when he sets out on his mission to deconstruct stereotypes and raise public awareness on modern day racism, he is himself unable to resist the misrepresentation and cari cature of the terms set by uncontested nonblack norms and models. Delacroix therefore also contributes both consciously and unconsciously to the dominant discourse of alienation of blacks from the white community by setting up a Coon show which idealizes a simpler time, a time when men were men, women were women, and Negroes knew their place. Some black folks are consequently outraged by his racist show and accuse him of selling out his own community. But what has actually happened to Pierre Delacroix is that he has been experiencing the split-self- disease, what Du Bois calls a twoness an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body. Aware of the fact that the popular American view has consistently dehumanized African Americans through negative representation, Delacroix does not want to be among those blacks who are despised by the European American population. He does not want to be invisible and formless. Therefore h e aspires to be both Negro and American, two identities, which, according to Du Bois (1903) are often in conflict. Delacroixs wearing of the blackface by the end of the film iterates the inescapability of the imposed mask of blackness. Realizing that he is unable to appear as anything but black in the eyes of others, he compromises with his black self and resigns himself to the mask. What Lee is actually showing is that in modern day America, and even for sophisticated and well- off black Americans, the merging of the American and the African is one very difficult (if not impossible) thing to happen. The impact of stereotypes and alienation on black identity causes one to have a keen sense of awareness about his or her various selves and how they are perceived. Often, blacks in Bamboozled (2000) have to negotiate their identity. Through this act, they inevitably reach a self-realization of twoness. Womack for instance realizes that he will always be looked down upon as a second-class American citizen, no matter how famous and successful he has become. He becomes conscious of the fact the he had been bamboozled insofar as believing that he could be an equal citizen. His success lies only in the fact that he is able to entertain white America, to always keep em laughing, a quality which Delacroixs father Junebug (Paul Mooney) believes is essential for the black American to achieve success. As shown in Extract 2 therefore, when Womack experiences double consciousness, he decides to stop acting in the minstrel show. This scene is significant in that it highlights the self-realization which is made possible only through a double-consciousness. Womack at this particular moment realizes that outside of the character of Sleepn Eat, he is simply invisible, a nobody. Through the eyes of others there is no other possible identity for him. Mantans own identity grows in conflict with that of Womack following this conversation; clearly he is still unaware of the complexities of the disjointed nature of identity in this scene. A few scenes later however, he also becomes afflicted by the same double consciousness experienced by his friend. In Extract 3, after discovering that he has been hoodwinked and led astray, Manray refuses to be further associated to Mantan. He realizes that it is fundamentally wrong to negotiate his identity through the medium of blackface. Although Lee might be suggesting that Manrays realization occurs at too late a time, his message clearly goes in line with Du Boiss (1903) argument that double consciousness is the realization that identity is mu ltifaceted. According to him, at one point or the other, black Americans develop a conflict with the different identities that they need to embody in order to be accepted by the mainstream, a conflict which is inexistent among white Americans. On the other hand, Sloans brother, Julius, who forms part of the Mau Mau revolutionary underground gang and who does not go through double consciousness because of his refusal to be seen through white Americas eyes, is juxtaposed to the blacks who try to assimilate white culture, thereby denying their own roots, language, people, and culture. Julius constantly affirms his black identity, unlike the other blacks we encounter in the film. Extract 4 shows how he refuses to be a representative of de-rooted, disenfranchised blacks. In the perspective of revolutionary blacks such as the Mau Maus therefore, Manray needs to be executed because he is a nuisance to the black community; he is a Judas, an Uncle Tom, one who contributes to the demise of his own race. The murders of Manray and Delacroix show to what extent alienation and double-consciousness can be detrimental to African Americans. They create inter-ethnic conflict and a heavy malaise in the black community. Alienation as an ideol ogical racist discourse therefore divides and rules those who are marginalized in a society that looks on in amused contempt and pity. Through the Mau Mau gang, it can be seen that those who accept and affirm their black identities are ineffective in society. They are in no way in a better state of being than those who experience double-consciousness. Since they do not master the mainstream language and do not believe in the ideological discourses of the inferiority of their race, they are forced to retire to the underground world. The fact that the imposition of history and alienation results in double consciousness in many cases in Bamboozled (2000) is destructive to all. Accepting white essentialism as culturally representable not only creates a fatal division between assimilated and un- assimilated blacks; it also kills the spirit of the black man. V. Conclusion Although the situations and the characters in Lees Bamboozled (2000) are all fictitious, and although the director does not choose the medium of docudrama to convey his important messages, he manages to successfully reconstruct blackface minstrelsy. African Americans have been freed, but only physically. There has been neither a consistent attempt to make up for the mistakes of humanity of the past nor to reshape identities. His argument in Bamboozled (2000) is that the identity dilemmas faced by the characters in the film are no different from the identity issues faced by African Americans in post-racial America. Although blacks do not find themselves as being represented in blackface or as victims of blatant segregation anymore, they are nevertheless always reminded of their blackness, and of what it implies to be a black in America. Whether Lee is genuinely successful in renegotiating a stigmatized identity or in deconstructing stereotypes by dismantling the false normativity of w hite authority remains highly debatable. On the one side, his use of satire and his engagement with the history of racism and representation impact heavily on the audience. However, the frustrating ending of Bamboozled (2000), as well as the inter- ethnic conflict between the revolutionary and the assimilated blacks, display a contaminating and intense sense of helplessness and hopelessness in regards to humanitys chances to ever get rid of the veil which separates whites and blacks in America, as well as in any other parts of the world. Lees message, considering his role as an auteur, seems to reflect Du Boiss words that the black man must not bleach his soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that [his] blood has a message for the world.