Did anyone see "Black/White" on F/X tonight?

[Behind the Aegis]

This would seem like a Lounge question, but considering the nature of the program, I thought I would post it here. The show (started Wednesday night, has several more air dates) follows two families, one African-American, one White. The families are transformed into the other 'race.' They then go out into the world to experience life as another 'race.' During the evening, they all live under one roof to discuss their day and experiences.

The make-up jobs are OUTSTANDING! The people are very interesting. The issues raised are topical to the world at large. This looks to be a VERY interesting series.

Did anyone happen to see it?

[IsItJustMe]

1. I heard this was actually done years ago (maybe the 40's) by a news paper

reporter and he then wrote a book about it. Could just be an urban legend?

[KnaveRupe]

2. "Black Like Me".

From the early 1960's.

http://www.wingspress.com/Titles/Black_Like_Me.html

[Name removed]

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[TreasonousBastard]

3. "Black Like Me" Don't remember the author, but...

should be easy enough to find.

Read it back in the '60s. A reporter stained himself to look black and travelled the South to see what it was like, then wrote the book.

What sticks in my mind was his description of the "hate stare" he occasionally got. And how he felt about knowing he would be white again after the adventure, but there were all too many who would see that stare their whole lives.

[MADem]

6. John Howard Griffin wrote the book, they made it into a film

that was nothing short of DREADFUL. James Whitmore tried valiently in the role, but he just couldn't cut it--between the script, which (unlike the tightly written page-turner of a book) was overbroad, there's only one thing I can say about the makeup for the effort: that one deserved that year's Razzie Award (if they had them back then) for the very worst makeup, bar none, in a feature film. The guy looked like he was ready to go out in the limelight for a cheesy minstrel show.

The book was quite good though. It may be dated nowadays, but the author relates rather vividly what he went through trying to assimilate into the black community (with little preparation and understanding) and the treatment he was accorded at the hands of the white community.

Here is the real author, with and without his skin darkened:





And here is the hapless James Whitmore in the excruciating and disappointing film adaptation of the book:

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Never saw the movie, but I'll take your word for it...

that it sucked.

The book was powerful, though. But maybe being pretty young and just starting to get involved in the civil rights movement had a lot to do with my impression of it.

[MADem]

8. I think it holds up fairly well--here is a book review written on

the 40th anniversary of the publication of it: http://archives.cnn.com/2001/books/news/01/11/black.like.me/

It really was, as the article notes, more of a primer for clueless whites, but it was a start.

[Zookeeper]

14. That's what the white guy, "Bruno,"

looks like in his black makeup in Black/White, at least to me.

[DarkTirade]

4. I also saw something a couple years ago...

some british TV show did this same idea, turned a black man white for a day and he actually marched in a skinhead march as a white man. He was a little scared, for obvious reasons, but it was a good makeup job. Nobody woulda guessed. :)

[sandnsea]

5. There was a film too

Although, as usual, the book was better. But the film was still rather good, as I recall, maybe a little forced. Maybe the people making the movie didn't quite know how to deal with the truly harsh racism the book exposed, I don't know. But check it out some time.

I missed this tv program and wanted to see it. I'll have to remember next week.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Teacher had us read it in high school..... good time to read it, when

you have not been too preprogrammed by the world. Thought it was an excellent book btw.

[Brewman_Jax]

10. Black Like Me '94

A college student tried to recreate John Howard Griffin's book for the '90's. His experience is recorded here at www.mdcbowen.org/p2/rm/white/solomon.html

[squarepants]

11. i saw it

but, I only watched about a half hour of it. (i was torn between this one and another show that were on at the same time. lol). Much of what I saw of it was interesting, enough, although, there were some moments where I got a little upset with the black people (the real ones) for some things they were saying. I am a black person, and I was a bit offended at times when the ones on the show were saying about how things are for them in life as black people, like getting watched whenever they go into a store or being held back from certain jobs, etc. Personally, I have never in my life had those kinds of problems, and neither have any of my black friends. I know things were like that for people my parents age, but I just don't see those kinds of things happening these days. I guess it's not to say that it DOESN'T happen to somebody, but it's not like things were in the 50's and 60's for blacks. I just worry and wonder if maybe other races who are watching that show who are listening to what the black people on the show are saying, they may get the wrong impression. That's just my 2 cents. Lol, I gotta say though, the white people who had the black make-up on just looked REALLY weird. Not because of THEM, but because the make-up didn't look like natural skin color. It really looked like they had been painted. The white make-up on the black people was done pretty good. It looked fairly natural. I'd believe they were white if I met them on the street or something.

[Brewman_Jax]

12. None of that has ever happened to you?

really? I wish I lived in your world.

[squarepants]

13. well not happened to me that i've

ever noticed, anyway. Maybe it does happen and I don't notice, being too involved in whatever I happen to be doing at the time.

[Zookeeper]

15. I've watched it every week with my kids.

I'm a native of Detroit, so these issues are familiar to me, but I wasn't sure how aware they would be.

I'm happy to report that they are pretty aware and all of us are finding the show thought-provoking. When Bruno did his middle-aged man rap, full of hostility without actually mentioning race, we all just gasped.

Bruno drives all of us nuts. When the show started, I was incredulous that they chose a white family who lives on the beach in Santa Monica...pretty much guaranteed to be clueless. And I cringed when the white woman barged in on the poetry group with her spontaneous piece which included calling a black woman, "a beautiful CREATURE." However, she really seems to be getting it now in a heartfelt way, and is so distressed by her husband's attitude that I wonder if their marriage survived the experience.

The white daughter is amazingly bright and sincere. The black people (not the housemates) who have talked with the white couple have been very generous and patient. The black man is patient as well, however his son initially seemed almost as clueless as Bruno, without the hostility.

I do think the tension between the adults is somewhat exacerbated by regional differences. Atlanta vs. Santa Monica. Even if they were the same race, there would be a few cultural differences right there.

[jeffrey_X]

18. The wife is great and is on a journey....

very similar to what I went through after meeting my wife. I have a lot in common with her.

[NMMNG]

16. I just saw the most recent episode in a repeat on Sunday night

Bruno did this "rap video" where he spent a good deal of time talking about how he "don't do" all sorts of stuff. Essentially he dissed everything that black rappers do up and down, and branded himself one racist POS. Even his wife was ragging on him afterward.

[Imzadi47]

17. I Missed It This Week

I usually see "Black/White", but missed it this week. The experiences those families have are ONLY THEIR EXPERIENCES. Not all Black people "talk Black". I found that very insulting! I don't talk like that, and neither do my relatives. We are college-educated.
There is a class/economic difference between me and the Black people on that show. Age difference, too.
This really hits me in an odd way, because every time I look in the mirror I see a stranger. I can remember when I was a kid, I was called n-----. Now, people don't believe me when I identify myself as "Black".
I saw that movie, "BLACK LIKE ME" when it was in the theaters. (I'm telling my age.) As I recall, the man took pills that darkened his skin.
My color was changed genetically, as an experiment....without my knowledge. ;) :tinfoilhat: