BAMBOOZLED

Q: What is Bamboolzed about? What's the main story?

Bamboozled is a satire about the history of film, the film and television industries. I really want to stress satire, that's why the beginning of the film, the char-- the main character Pierre Delacroix gives a Webster definition of the word satire so people have no excuse we say right up front what the film is about, it's a satire.

Q: Why is that so important for you?

Well I think that satire was the best approach towards this very difficult and sometimes painful subject matter. And one of my good friends has really been-- Meter Mark Twain. And we even put that line in the film. As Mark Twain said, satire is the way to go, I mean that's not a direct quote but paraphrasing.

Q: So what is the painful stuff?

Well the painful-- the pain comes from looking at the images. How people of color in this case specifically African-Americans have been portrayed since the inception of film and also with radio with the Amos and Andy which was on film, radio and television.

Also we have to look at the way we portray black collectibles, when you see the dolls and the toothpaste and all the other things. You know-- we're viewed as less than human sub-human and that stuff is painful.

And one of the things I knew going in was even cemented more in showing a film-- there's a lot of stuff in this film when you're an audience member whether you be black or white it doesn't matter there are... there are certain things in this film where you want to laugh but at the same time you don't want to laugh because it's not funny. And it's... it's a very interesting phenomenon that happens with this film.

Q: I'm assuming you wrote the screenplay in '98 or '99.

'99.

Q: Are there vestiges of minstrelsy in entertainment today?

Oh I think that one of my main points about Bamboozled is that minstrel shows are still with us today.

It's just that there's no blackface. But they might as well put blackface on it. And it could be a minstrel just go ahead and do it, don't put another... don't hide under the pretense of whatever it is you're doing, just be, you know, out front about it, say "Look I got a house, I got a car", you know. "I gotta make my way in this career. That's all I'm... these are all the roles I'm getting", you know, so say "Here's what I gotta do". I think people - and I'm not just by myself - but people got a lot more respect for you. I think that you look at a lot of these shows in television you know especially on the UPN and WB. A lot of them shows are border minstrel shows, again what's the difference?

Well the performers aren't in blackface, in this movie they are in blackface. And the name of the show is called Mantan, the New Millennium-- the New Millennium Minstrel Show. And it becomes the rage. Called a sensation across the nation.

Q: When you were doing the exhaustive research did you see some stuff that you hadn't seen before, did any of that stuff have an affect on you? Did you start off with an idea about the film and then go somewhere else after you saw materials?

No. I don't think I changed my vision of the film at all. I think it was always the same from the beginning. But in doing research what hurt me was the depth that I saw. The hatred of us as a people. We saw the songs, when I see Bugs Bunny in blackface. I mean... I love Bugs Bunny.

I had never seen him in blackface before. And Warner Brothers buried that, you know. And we wanted to include it the in the film but they wouldn't let us. Bugs Bunny is an institution so they said hell no. But to see the depths to which America showed its hatred via radio, film, television, songs, Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben. You know Niggerhead Cornflakes, whatever you want to... you know. It's just amazing.

Q: With that in mind, what do you hope the audiences overall reaction will be or what do you hope that they will go away with?

I think any time you do a film I think it's very hard to predict in my experience how an audience will react.

And as an artist you just gotta put it out there. And it's very hard I've found. You can't police people's life experiences when they come to the theater. They all come with a life and they're gonna take things out of the film that you know mean more to them. So there's nothing you can do about that. What I do hope for this film, like a lot of other films, that it will, you know, initiate dialogue and also maybe a deeper more probing look at this history of images in the media. To make us confront what we're doing today. And where we're gonna go. I mean it was funny for me that this film came about because we were coming to the end of the millennium, to the end of the 20th century.

And film roughly is 100 years old and now we're the beginning of a new century. And what will the next hundred years bring? You know as far as us... the TV camera and the film camera?

Q: Do you remember any particular scene in the film that you think is gonna end up being your favorite?

You know it's very hard for me to say what are my favorite scenes in the film. But I think that what has the most impact on me is the whole ending. When things just unravel and then we end with this montage of cartoons and film clips of just how we were portrayed. Which is really not just indictment of the studios but also the actors, you know.

I don't think it's an indictment of the actors then because they didn't have a chance. I think it's really pointing it up to African-Americans today because we don't have to do this stuff. Step and Fetchit. Mantan Warren, Butterfly McQueen, Hattie McDaniels. They had to do it. They had an excuse. We don't have excuses.