Remember Amos'n Andy, that television show in the 1950s with an all-black cast? Did you ever wonder what Amos'n Andy and all their friends and associates would be like if they were white?
Here they are, from both sides of the political spectrum:-
Amos ... He was always the sensible one.
Andrew Brown (Andy) ... always with a big cigar.
Kingfish ... always the big mouth with the gift of the gab.
Sapphire, Kingfish's wife. Need I say more?
Mamma, Sapphire's mother and Kingfish's mother-in-law. You can just imagine.
Calhoun the Lawyer ... incompetent sheister.
Ruby Begonia ... does her name strike a familiar note?
Here they are, from both sides of the political spectrum:-
Amos ... He was always the sensible one.
Andrew Brown (Andy) ... always with a big cigar.
Kingfish ... always the big mouth with the gift of the gab.
Sapphire, Kingfish's wife. Need I say more?
Mamma, Sapphire's mother and Kingfish's mother-in-law. You can just imagine.
Calhoun the Lawyer ... incompetent sheister.
Ruby Begonia ... does her name strike a familiar note?
But Amos 'n' Andy WERE white! Well, they were whites in blackface before they became Blacks in blackface, right? As a child, I loved my little Amosandra doll advertised on the TV show. And I don't know if I ever thought of the cast as blacks in blackface...but I'm sorta different now, blackface and all.
ReplyDeleteBut don't let me mess-up your didactic casting. I get it.
I know you're not being literal, and I'm sure you are aware of this history. But I just thought I'd mention it because of the inherent irony of whites teaching blacks to be black according to whites' conception of what black is. Sorta like Moore and Maher, et alia, trying to teach the president how to president according to their stereotypical impressions of what a REAL Black man ought to be. Perhaps even emboldened by the tacit permission-by-political-hobnobbery as modeled by Tavis, Cornel and the We're Blacker Than Thou chorus.
Excerpted from Wikipedia:
Amos 'n' Andy creators Gosden and Correll were white actors familiar with minstrel traditions. They met in Durham, North Carolina,[4][5] in 1920....
For the program's entire run as a nightly serial, Gosden and Correll portrayed all the male roles, performing over 170 distinct voice characterizations in the show's first decade. With the episodic drama and suspense heightened by cliffhanger endings, Amos 'n' Andy reached an ever-expanding radio audience....
Hired by CBS as producers of the television show, Gosden and Correll were ready to try bringing the show to television as early as 1946; the search for cast members went on for 4 years before filming began.[34][41][42] According to a 1950 newspaper story, Gosden and Correll had initial aspirations of voicing the characters Amos, Andy and Kingfish for television, WHiLE THE ACTORS HIRED FOR THESE ROLES PERFORMED AND APPARENTLY WERE TO LIP-SYNC THE STORY LINES....
Adapted to television, The Amos 'n Andy Show was produced from June 1951 to April 1953 with 78 filmed episodes, sponsored by the Blatz Brewing Company.[32] The television series used African-American actors in the main roles, ALTHOUGH THE ACTORS WERE INSTRUCTED TO KEEP THEIR VOICES AND SPEECH PATTERNS AS CLOSE TO GOSDEN AND CORRELL'S AS POSSIBLE.
I was about to post something similar as Anonymous that Amos and Andy were white but I do get the connection in your piece.
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- nospin
I know Amos'n Andy were originally white, then black actors playing to stereotype. Here is one white privilegist and the rest are racists assuming a stereotype.
ReplyDeletepointless dribble
ReplyDeleteI know Amos'n Andrew were initially white-colored, then dark stars enjoying to misconception. Here is one white-colored privilegist and the relax are racists supposing a misconception
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