racism in silent movies

[snaporaz]

birth of a nation aside, what are your thoughts on racism in silent films? i haven't seen a good variety of silents, but what i know of most is keaton's work. i've seen all his starring features and shorts, except for the cameraman, and have just recently rented the keaton/arbuckle collection. this shit's fucking hilarious. definately buying it when i have a little extra cash.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006IUIU/qid=1060237624/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-3810742-1886456?v=glance&s=dvd

anyways, in one of the shorts...the rough house, i believe, there is a black man walking around almost ape-like, even getting kicked in the ass by fatty. and in the next scene, i think i can almost make him out to be a white guy in blackface. so i got the feeling that this was some racist shit going on. i mean, i'm pretty sure it isn't some hateful crap, but more like the socially-acceptable "yes sir!/watermelon" funny stuff. and if you've ever seen seven chances, buster is to wed someone by seven pee-emm in order to get his grandfather[?]'s inheritance. on his pursuit, he stumbles onto a huge black lady and then almost retches in disgust or fear or something. and then, probably the most offensive thing i've seen in buster's films, there is a gag in the three ages, where, in the roman age, it depicts some wizard guy fortune-telling to buster - i think - and throwing dice with roman numerals on each side. somehow they get thrown on the floor and then some black servants run up to the dice and start to gamble, kneeling on the ground.

yeah, i found that shit funny, except for the maybe-blackface character. i ain't for sure on it...hard to tell with the shitty quality and all...but anyways...have you guys seen this stuff before?

thoughts?

[budgie]

It was probably the paranoia of the day, along with bad women and the city. I find it hard to take the line that 'at the time blah blah blah..'. Broken Blossoms is just plain offensive. As in Birth of a Nation, it's Lillian Gish's whiteness that is as disturbing as black/Chinese representation. All the God on our side stuff.

[snaporaz]

i just saw a harold lloyd movie last night...bizarre depictions of jews, chinese, and blacks all in one scene.

this stuff is wierd.

[cine]

Please do tell. Which movie was it?

[modage]

i just saw a harold lloyd movie last night...bizarre depictions of jews, chinese, and blacks all in one scene.

yeah!  i love that stuff too!  

uh oh, waitaminute.  sorry, i thought this was the Racism In Silent Movies Appreciation Thread.  my mistake.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

and in the next scene, i think i can almost make him out to be a white guy in blackface. so i got the feeling that this was some racist shit going on. i mean, i'm pretty sure it isn't some hateful crap, but more like the socially-acceptable "yes sir!/watermelon" funny stuff.

Yes, it is funny.  But moreover, there once was this routine some travelling shows had, and the performers were called the Jim Crow dancers.  (Maybe you're familiar with Jim Crow as the one who made the segregation laws a long while back)  These dancers were white men who painted their faces black, and their lips were really pouty.  They had those top hats and canes, and they sang and did that whole shuffle dance.  It was hilarious (still is) but now, I feel Jim Crow dancers would get the shit kicked out of them.

[snaporaz]

Please do tell. Which movie was it?

the harold lloyd film?

hmmmm...i forget the name, but it takes place at a theme park type place...coney island maybe.

edit: ahh, this is it.

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0011521