The first several comments on that thread are all variations on "But Sammy Davis Jr wasn't just black, he was JEWISH!" Which I guess is supposed to imply that white Jews can impersonate him without being racist? Or something? My head hurts.
Well, clearly. Because that makes perfect sense. (And I want to put in some long involved thing about The Jazz Singer now, but it's too early in the morning to get those thoughts into any kind of order. So, Al Jolson. Father wants him to be a cantor. Mammy. Blackface. Blackface symbolizing becoming American rather than Jewish? Maybe someone else can get some order out of those thoughts.)
I'm so sorry about the cat, Burrell.
Many easy surgery vibes to Grace, and Kat.
Burrell,
since I confused the amys around here for what, a decade, I think adding another Nora/h should be just fine.
Oh, yeah, I was going to say that too, le nubian. Burrell, you can do whatever you want, but we'll be fine with Norah if you'd like to change.
It is snowy and windy here this morning. We're on tentative 2 hour delay, but it's one of those days when if it was just the SO he'd go and if it was just me, I wouldn't. So we'll see.
I am so sorry about the kitty, Burrell. And Nora, in my mind, is Nora Dierdre, and I get her confused with NoiseDesign!
All sympathies, Burrell.
Hil, for what it's worth, blackface/minstrel shows were very popular in 19th century America. By the time Jolson made The Jazz Singer, mainstream white America would have thought "kind of old-fashioned" more than "racist." Even into the 1940s, Holiday Inn included a blackface number without apology (although in that one, there was a plot reason given, for what that is or isn't worth).
White Christmas has one, too, doesn't it?
Is there an NYCista around who could school me on where KGBbar is and what it's near? I'm trying to figure out an adventure, and a Bolt bus may be involved - all new territory for me where New York is concerned.
I don't remember -- what was the reaction to RDJ doing the black character in Tropic Thunder?
White Christmas has one, too, doesn't it?
Yes, and apparently it is cut from most of the DVDs. I also understand it is one of the worst numbers in the movie.
I have not seen it.