Musical ADD

It's harmful because you cannot disconnect blackface from it's larger cultural and historical context. Blackface has become a symbol of racism, not unlike the confederate flag has. Today you can't put a white person in black makeup, even without the other exaggerated features that were traditionally part of blackface, because it is viscerally connected in many peoples minds with the original racist sentiment. (For instance, when UofT students decided to go as the characters from Cool Runnings for Halloween.) I'm not going to say that filmmakers must absolutely avoid it, but to use it successfully would require thoughtful engagement with that charged historical context that I don't feel was in play here and thus it was inappropriate and offensive. Please keep in mind that I'm not saying, nor do I believe, that Gilliam was intending to be racist. In fact, I think it worked against Gilliam actual intentions because it was so shocking to see the blackface unexpectedly that I just sat there going WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK and missed the commentary that you pointed out he was trying to make about the commodification of third world children. But good intentions don't keep the end result from being racist.

You are always welcome to pursue conversation with me if you want to know why something is offensive. (It's not welcome if the actual point is to try and convince me it it's not offensive and I'm just being over-sensitive. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that's not your intention, but it's a good general rule to keep in mind when you're talking about social justice stuff.)

Re: Sherlock Holmes, I haven't seen it yet. The reviews from my (admittedly slash goggle wearing) flist have all been very good so far.