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The Spectacle Blog
Well, I think I’ve heard everything now. All of a sudden, Billy Crystal is a racist because he reprised his Sammy Davis, Jr. bit in a skit with Justin Bieber which began last night’s Academy Awards.
Specifically, people are objecting to Crystal wearing blackface. Comedian Paul Scheer said on Twitter noted that Octavia Spencer’s win for Best Supporting Actress “shows just how far we’ve come since Billy Crystal performed in Blackface.” In a reference to Eddie Murphy (who was originally scheduled to host this year’s Oscars), another Tweeter commented, “Hey, Billy Crystal in blackface! Good thing the Oscars went with the safe choice.” Well, there have been plenty of occasions in Eddie Murphy’s career when he’s donned white makeup as in this classic SNL documentary.
Surely there is a difference between a white actor wearing black makeup and wearing blackface. Indeed, Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest both wore black make up to portray fictional Negro League players in yet another legendary SNL documentary. If this was demeaning to African Americans in anyway I seriously doubt future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield would have participated.
So let’s get things straight. Billy Crystal wearing black makeup to play Sammy Davis, Jr. wasn’t racist in 1984 and it isn’t racist today. Crystal isn’t demeaning Davis, he’s paying homage to him and as I recall Davis loved Crystal’s impersonation. If Davis thought Crystal was demeaning him he sure as hell wouldn’t have worked with him. Anyone who thinks Crystal is racist for impersonating Sammy Davis, Jr. is just plain stupid and just doesn’t know anything about comedy.
A woman named Carolyn Edgar tweeted, “The biggest problem with Billy Crystal’s Sammy Davis Jr. impersonation is that no one knows who Sammy Davis Jr. is anymore.” Well, let me see if I can rectify that. Here’s Rob Reiner interviewing Crystal as Davis in character back in 1986 for an HBO special and here’s Sammy singing “Mr. Bojangles” a year before he left us. Perhaps that will help and we can move onto something else.
View all comments (8) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/02/27/billy-crystal-is-no-racist
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Vern Crisler| 2.27.12 @ 4:08PM
Foster Brooks did a great roast of Sammy Davis Jr a few years ago. It's on You tube. That would be a good intro to Sammy.
WL| 2.27.12 @ 4:15PM
It's not even worth commenting on this crap anymore....
Let's face it...anyone who is White is a racist, and there isn't anything we can do about it...and if we think that explaining things and trying to justify it we are just as stupid as the people who throw the accusations at us just for our being alive.
The only way to stop the accusations...is to give everything we have to everyone who is not us...throw ourselves off a cliff and rid the face of the Wonderful world of our treacherous existence...then we will be rid of it...
Right until St. Peter comes and lets us know that we are being extradited back to Earth from Heaven...to face charges of Racism for leaving...and moving to heaven to get out of the neighborhoods with people not like us...
It never ends folks. The only option we have is to collectively say we don't care anymore...and we are not intimidated anymore...and we ain't paying anymore...
THEN, we might get somewhere...but until then...we make easy targets out of ourselves.
ncatty| 2.27.12 @ 4:34PM
We will never be able to move on to something else, apparently.
Skippy| 2.27.12 @ 6:26PM
Race is no longer a problem in America.
It is now an industry.
Louis Hatchett| 2.27.12 @ 7:09PM
At this rate, it's only a matter of time before the phenomenon of night is deemed somehow racist, and watermelon is a racist fruit, and black licorice is a racist candy, and after a while--if it hasn't been already--the concept of racism will be rendered meaningless. The dictionary will have over a thousand definitions.
spike59| 2.28.12 @ 6:31AM
he's also no comedian; he hasn't been funny in about 30 years
Occam's Tool| 2.28.12 @ 10:59AM
Sammy Davis, Jr. and Billy Crystal were Landtzmen together. Really, give it a rest.
Floyd Looney | 2.28.12 @ 9:22PM
He's a liberal, he is absolved of all wrong