'Blacking up' / 'Blackface'

I was quite shocked watching a DVD of The Two Ronnies to see a late 1983 episode (Series 10 Episode 1) with Ronnie Barker blacked up, in the same manner as the Black and White Minstrels. I really was shocked and surprised by this, and by how relatively recently this had been broadcast.

Consulting Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface) I note that the most recent UK example of this noted there was a 1981 Are You Being Served? episode. Ignoring later (presumably ironic) examples such as Little Britain, can anyone think of still later examples of 'blacking up' since 1983? Benny Hill maybe?

C. Thomas Howell literally becomes black, via bronzing tablets, in Soul Man (1986).

Well for browning up in Summer Heights High, where Chris Lilley played a Polynesian lad.
Left me a bit torn that one, he seemed to want to inhabit the character, it was brilliant and he played every other role.

But well....

The blacking up of the 70s-80s was just a bit vile for me. Childish spiteful laughing at others and refusing to allow black or Asian performers a look in.

Soul Man is ranked alongside Battlefield Earth as one of the worst films of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkRMnD0dQ8U

Part of the problem is that what was ok 20 or so years ago is not ok now, for all sorts of reasons.

For example there is an episode of Only Fools and Horses were Uncle Albert comes in with a load of shopping and says "I have just been down the P*ki shop".

I saw him actually say this on Gold about 3 or 4 years ago (?), but now it is beeped out.

Also in Porridge Ronnie Barker talks about the "poof on E wing" (which is also beeped out, or even cut totally). In fact many of the jokes on Porridge are now totally ruined when shown on Gold as they cut whole lines, or even whole sections of the script, so as not to offend anyone.

I also saw a bit of Carry On Nurse on Gold the other day where a female doctor comes in to treat some of the male patients. She is quite attractive and has nice legs so the camera follows her legs all the way down the hospital ward, while all the men are doing wolf whistles. She plays no other part in the film.

Sorry to go off topic a bit but it is all sort of related.

This is my point really: how recently was 'blacking up' acceptable on UK TV? There are later Two Ronnies episodes (85/87) where RB is in the guise of an Indian guru etc, which is in essence just another form of the same thing.

I answered your blooming question already, Summer Heights High, 2011.

Also check out one of my fave films of last year, Cloud Atlas.

Where all the characters are played by a small group of actors to give the impression of them being connected through out time.

So black places Caucasian or oriental and vice versa. The film wouldn't be the same without it.

It's a shame to see OFAH and Porridge being censored, the shows with blacking up were generally not that great by comparison

I was thinking of UK TV (Australian TV is a law unto itself IMHO)...

Well the BBC showed it and didn't they partially fund it.
Otherwise Papa Lazarou in League of Gentlemen

Lol, that's not exactly blacking up. He wasn't playing/pretending to be a black person. You might as well say Kiss are blacking up.

That's where it gets complex, neither were the Black and White Minstrels.
Where as say the guys in Aint Half Hot Mum were.

I suppose the definition (for my purposes) is any example of blacking up where it would be assumed by the makers that the audience would find it all perfectly acceptable as 'straight' uncomplicated entertainment (which would include both It Ain't Half Hot Mum and The B&W Minstrels).

The League of Gentlemen example is an interesting one, and is actually pretty dubious on a number of levels of potential racism, but is passing itself off as ironic/politically correct. I'm guessing there can't be anything that fits my definition later than 1990, can there?

The minstrel show was on the air till 1978, so that was pretty late in the day, Lenny Henry was on it.

Yes he was wan't he? Actually, you prompt me to raise another side-question: is this Josette Simon (she of Blake's 7 fame and now quite a big noise in black theatre etc) playing a speaking but uncredited role in the same 1983 season of The Two Ronnies?

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsWX8wDG1f0 - about 2 minutes in, rotten picture I'm afraid).

If so it would almost be her equivalent of Lenny Henry's youthful indiscretion!

Quote: Robbo88 @ 7th April 2014, 6:27 PM BST

The League of Gentlemen example is an interesting one, and is actually pretty dubious on a number of levels of potential racism, but is passing itself off as ironic/politically correct.

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>_<

Quote: don rushmore @ 7th April 2014, 3:26 PM BST

C. Thomas Howell literally becomes black, via bronzing tablets, in Soul Man (1986).

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Wasn't there a film by the Wayans brothers where the two main characters were whiting up themselves to become white trash girlies?