I actually ignored a suggestion from YouTube that I watch a Harlem Shake Video... It looked pretty silly to me.
But after running across a Melissa Harris-Perry link, I checked it out...
(beat)
Seriously...
(clearing throat)
My guess is that I'm not supposed to be offended by this and that it's all in "good fun"... right?
Shouldn't I just lighten up?
That's what one side of my brain is telling me - while the other side is ... appalled - offended - maybe even horrified.
I'm apologizing for being on a soap-box (Catholic Guilt again....), I don't want to be the person who rants all the time.... on the other hand, this "Harlem Shake" business looks absolutely ridiculous.
I'm just going to pretend that the Producers of the "Today Show" and every other news channel and show that spent airtime promoting this nonsensical display of 21st Century Blackface were the ones who forced their anchors to behave in such a manner.
To the college students on the airplane that made it on ABC news... I might have to just brush it off as college student behavior...
But to watch professional adults shake their bodies in a manner that seems to be mocking the real dancers of Harlem / Urban areas, I just can't watch. It's too much...
Looks like Blackface to me...
Even if there are white dancers in Harlem doing this dance, they surely embody it's spirit, whereas the non-urban and predominantly white versions (except for the Miami Heat version YouTube promoted) seemed like jerky versions of the original. It was awkward and as bad as when I let people call me an OREO...
I can't dignify this with more space on my blog... time to go read a board-book!
No comments:
Post a Comment