Amos 'n' Andy
Based on Thomas Cripps’ article and your viewing of Amos ’n’ Andy this Thursday, how did the television show portray middle class African Americans? Discuss why the sitcom became the center of a hot public debate as well as the arguments offered by each side.
Amos n’ Andy was definitely an interesting show to watch. For the time it was produced, it seemed interesting to see a mostly African American cast with its own show. Personally, the portrayal of the middle class African American seemed to go back and forth from positive to negative. Amos and Andy were well dressed gentlemen and seemed to be men who had independent lives unlike Beulah in her show where she depended on her white family that she served. There was also the officer who was African American who not only seemed to be a reasonable man to go back and help Amos and Andy in the end but also appeared to be responsible and intelligent.
ReplyDeleteYet, there were a few issues that stuck out and bothered me morally. The episode of the special coin we had watched was just full of treachery and backstabbing which seemed unrealistic if the men were friends. The behavior gave the impression that this was how black men treated each other and they also weren’t intelligent enough to figure out simple solutions. Although it was for laughs it seemed too outrageous to be realistic, therefore hardly appropriate. The impression I received from watching the show was too uncomfortable for me to truly enjoy the jokes that were made. I can see how much of an issue this would have caused in the past and I’m just glad that as a society we’ve mostly moved beyond that.
After watching "Amos n' Andy" I will add that the show was definitely entertaining though it does create this representation that African Americans are to be "laughed at" and seen as uneducated individuals. Just as Clarissa mentioned above, both characters were dressed very nice and showed how successful the middle class could become, though the argument and debate arouses from the speech and education of the cast. The speech was very slurred and it posed as if African Americans couldn't speak proper English. I can understand how this would upset minority groups specifically the NAACP, and cause them to have the show removed. The "coin" episode showed the audience how African Americans can betray one another and put another down to gain riches over someone. Though the episode did show off the clothes, homes, and establishment of African American workers, it painted a negative image as African Americans being gullible and easy to fool. I believe that in today's society, due to historical events such as the Civil Rights Movement and the acceptance of the first African American president "Barack Obama" the show wouldn't be as offensive to the public today. We have progressed as a nation and I know that there are many other shows that address minorities as inferior to other races, but we tend to look past them because we have grown as a country.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Amos ‘n’ Andy is a show that can be seen in many different lights and contexts depending on your point of view. It portrays the African American middle class in various lights as well from the bumbling and scheming of Amos, Andy, and the Kingfish to the professional and respectability of almost every other character in the show, and this is the very disconnect that Cripps talks about so much in his article. If we look at this phenomena in terms of quantity, the number of characters portrayed as competent members of society and a positive display of the new African American middle class far exceeds the antics of the main characters. Here, however, is where the NAACP found fault with the show. In terms of quality (or more directly importance) of the character, the main, recurring characters are those that portray a more negative image of the scheming man who speaks some abomination of the English language. These are the people that leave the impression in the minds of the public. At the end of the episode, we could point to the judge, the policeman, the shopkeeper, and the waitress as all characters that showed the African American middle class in a positive light, but if we distill the episode down to its core characters, we are left with the very stereotyped image the NAACP was so appalled was being broadcast to Americans. I think the real tragedy of this debate, however, was how the actors in the show were caught between the prospects of opening the door for a new generation of openness and opportunity in television and film for African American actors (and even for new programs, producers, directors, etc.) and the alienation from their own culture by the NAACP who was attacking the show.
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ReplyDeleteThe middle/working class in Amos and Andy was portrayed as a novelty. The reason that this show was at the center of the debate is because that this show portrayed the working class African Americans as not only lazy, but also unintelligent and easily deceived. Any defense that the producers and directors wanted to make all of the characters in the show sneaky, gullible, and unintelligent can be countered when one looks at how African American authority figures (police, the judge, etc.) and other African Americans who aren't the main characters are portrayed. It seems that these people who had traditionally “white” roles were more educated and rational than those in working class positions. This entire television show really portrays the division of the time in both class and race, and how these fields were used to stir up humor within the audience (primarily white, upper-middle class, suburban families). Comparing and contrasting with white television of the time, these African American middle-classers are much more less relateable to the average American, of either race. They are unrelateable to whites because of skin color and perceived cultural differences, and they are unrelateable to blacks because they are irrepresentative of their culture and identity of the time.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Clarissa’s comments towards Amos n’ Andy. It definitely was an interesting show to watch because it really did go back and forth between positive and negative portrayals of middle class African Americans at the time, which made it a bit difficult to decide whether I liked it or not and if it was offensive or not because it was written as a comedic show. Like Clarissa said, they were well-dressed men who had jobs and were the main stars of a television show, however the theme of the specific episode we watched, at least, wasn’t necessarily a positive reinforcement for those with racial prejudices. The episode featured the actors lying to friends, stealing/breaking into a phone booth for a coin, and acting unrealistically stupid about common sense situations, which made people at the time think that that’s how African Americans behaved. I think overall after watching this show, it’s not that I liked it or I didn’t like it, it’s just that- that I could never really decide if I liked it or not. I think I liked the idea of the show, but it actually just wasn’t funny because what was being made fun of wasn’t funny.
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