Fox Sports Suspends Broadcasting Buffoons

I couldn't help myself from piggy backing on Globe and Mail columnist Jeff Blair's current bloggage regarding the suspension of NBA broadcasting tandem Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith by Fox Sports Prime Ticket.   Last Wednesday, Lawler and Smith referred to Memphis Grizzlies' centre Hamed Haddadi, the NBA's first Iranian-born player, as 'Borat's older brother'.  (Catch the clip here.)  These two buffoons are expected back on the air Monday night when I'm assuming they will be issuing a formal public apology at some point during the Clippers' game with the Timberwolves. In any case, good on the L.A. Clippers and Fox Sports for sending the right message quick and decisively.

The NBA plays out on a global stage and if people want to encourage the growth of basketball abroad, it's important that xenophobic elements such as Smith and Lawler are snuffed out immediately.  Nobody wants to hear old White guys uttering racial slurs disguised as jokes anymore.

Here's their exchange as posted by Jeff Blair:

Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith are apparently how you say “Don Cherry” in American. The Los Angeles Clippers suspended the announcers for a game Friday after an insipid exchange Wednesday night focusing on Memphis Grizzlies Iranian centre, Hamed Haddadi. Courtesy of the L.A. Times, here is the latest instalment in Stupid Announcer Tricks:

Lawler: “Hamed Haddadi. Where’s he from?”

Smith: “He’s the first Iranian to play in the NBA.” (Smith pronounced Iranian as “Eye-ranian,” a pronunciation that offended the viewer who filed the initial complaint with the Clippers Fox affiliate.)

Lawler: “There aren’t any Iranian players in the NBA,” repeating Smith’s mispronunciation.
Later in the 40-second exchange, Smith asks Lawler:

Smith: “You’re sure it’s not Borat’s older brother?”

Smith: “If they ever make a movie about Haddadi, I’m going to get Sacha Baron Cohen to play the part.”

Lawler: “Here’s Haddadi. Nice little back-door pass. I guess those Iranians can pass the ball.”

Smith: “Especially the post players.

Lawler: “I don’t know about their guards.”

Black Face Reflects Sad State

Mad Men's Roger Sterling singing in black face.

 









French Vogue toe testing minstrelsy with runway models covered in black makeup.

Ted Danson, or should I say 'Sam Malone', has yet to escape infamy for his turn in black face in the 90s.

American Apparel says 'why not' and tries their hand at it.


 








The use of black face has been prevalent in a variety of media over the past year.  While some examples are clearly more flagrant than others, I found the diversity of its recent use something worth discussing.  Above, I have posted four very different uses of the offensive performance trope; three current examples and one older one...


1. Mad Men's head advertising honcho Roger Sterling performing at his wedding;

2. French Vogue's controversial photo spread, which subverts traditional notions of minstrelsy by associating it with European aristocracy;

3. Ted Danson's turn in black face in 1993;

4. American Apparel, once again tasteless.

Since Mad Men is a representation of American history on American television, its use of black face, though shocking, was effective and meant to remind people of this awful past.  Just as Mad Men inventively reinterprets sexism in the workplace, it is doing the same here in the form of a tragic racial faux-pas.   

French Vogue meanwhile, is completely subverting the traditional use of black face by associating it with European aristocracy, rather than American minstrelsy or Southern performance. It is a take that is certainly aimed at provoking people's sensivities but, I am not sure it is quite as offensive as people have made it out to be.  There is nothing in particular that links it to African-American culture.   Still, couldn't French Vogue have found some hot models of colour instead?

Finally, the most offensive interpretations of black face posted here have to be Ted Danson's and American Apparel's.  Both are American entities and both are performing in jest.  But how does one see the humour in using dark makeup to demean both skin colour and racialize performance.  The strangest part of white supremacist interpretations of minstrelsy is that deep down, there appears to be a love affair with African-American culture.  This infatuation expresses itself through perpetuation of Black Face in White American culture.  Unfortunately, the underlying affect is shameful.  Moreover, whatever sympathies for Black culture White Americans feel they reveal in Black Face are done so in a mocking and disrepectful fashion and will therefore, always be hollow.

So no, I do not "see the humour in it" as Danson declared back in '93.

The Chemical Shipment Has Arrived...

The chemicals have arrived, I repeat, the chemicals have arrived!

I received my first batch of Platinum/Palladium chemicals late last week and I'm preparing to begin printing with them very shortly.  The package, which I ordered from Bostick & Sullivan in Santa Fe, New Mexico, should produce up to 35 8"x10" prints for my upcoming Chicago project.  This project will respond directly to my earlier boxing book In This Corner and will employ the iconographic prestige of the Platinum/Paladium print to counter the boxing cyanotypes featured in my piece last winter.

I will be making my way to Woolfits Art Supplies on Queen St. West to pick up a stack of Arches Platine paper in order to begin.  Though I am certainly anxious about learning how to print Platinum/Palladium, the challenge it presents is very exciting.  And of course, I am greatly looking forward to being back in the dark room for hours on end...

Big Crowd at XPACE for Foucault project opening!

I feel very fortunate to not only have been able to attend my opening, but also to have such great friends and family supporting me through it.  I must admit, I was a bit concerned last week when my bout with swine flu dragged me closer and closer toward opening night on November 20th.  But, it all worked out and I had a great time sharing it with all of you!  Big Thank-you to Sabrina for keeping up with the cold compresses, advil, gravol, soups, and long nights, and thanks so much to everyone who came out!!!

[Plus, I'm pretty sure XPace made a killing at the bar, making them a happy bunch as well!]

EDITORIAL: Get your H1N1 Vaccine!!!

With all the talk these days surrounding the overall effectiveness - and potential side effects - of the H1N1 vaccine, Defending Champions Editorial is siding with Health Canada and suggesting Canadians get themselves vaccinated for swine flu.  Our very own Marc Losier contracted the virus last week, and although he survived it and is now back up on his feet, it did keep him in bed for an entire 7 days before he could attend his own gallery opening for his artwork Foucault en valise.

On Wednesday November 11th, Losier woke with a fever, migraine, and body aches.  His symptoms would worsen over the course of the week as he developed severe dizziness, nausea, and diarrhea.  Because he was not aware that he contracted the virus until the following Saturday, it was too late to administer anti-virals, forcing Losier to fend off the flu at home with healthy doses of chicken soup, Advil, Gravol, and Gatorade.

Though this post falls outside the usual boundaries of a Defending Champions post,  the editorial staff here felt compelled to stress the importance of the H1N1 vaccine, not only as a means for staying healthy, but also as way of containing any further spread of the swine flu.  It is only November and the real flu season does not begin until after Christmas, at which time it is expected that over 30% percent of Canadians will contract the virus.

While Losier was advised by Telehealth Canada that he contracted a non-threatening case of H1N1, it did knock him out for a whole week, caused him to lose 6 pounds, and pushed the deadline for Defending Champions' surprise incarnation at semester's end.  Suddenly, it makes one understand why severe cases of H1N1 have been so perilous, and reinforces the necessity for an effective vaccination protocol and responsible decision making on behalf of the general public. Please, choose wisely. 

With files from Marc Losier and editorial staff 

Say it ain't so Sammy

 


"It's a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some," Sosa said. "It's a cream that I have, that I used to soften (my skin), but has bleached me some. I'm not a racist. I live my life happily."


Sammy Sosa showed up to the Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas last week raising more than a few eyebrows.  The lovable former Major League slugger, shunned for his use of performance enhancers a few years back, was always more amiable than his one-time big-boppin' counterpart Mark McGwire; another PED abuser.  Still, the condition he came to Nevada in was completely bizarre.  A European company has asked Sosa to 'try out' their new skin bleaching product, which they claim functions as a skin moisturizer to lessen the effects of sun damage and soften the skin. What they forgot to mention was that it would considerably lighten the aforementioned slugger's face, giving him an almost Casper-like quality; "mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of..." Okay okay, we got it already. 

Interestingly, it does not appear as though the European company has any interest in selling or promoting their totally racist product outside of Sosa's native Dominican, since laws governing both beauty products and procedures in parts of Latin-America are not nearly as strict. And even though Sosa acknowledges he is using a 'skin bleaching' product, he does not see a problem with it, claiming "I'm not a racist". Say it ain't so Sammy.  What are the millions of your fans back in the Dominican gonna think of you when come home looking like some French Count?  They are going to think you've been had.

Sosa is free to do as he pleases and accordingly, he is apparently in negotiations to become the skin product's chief spokesman.  Anything for money I guess.

Coming Attractions...

  FOUCAULT EN VALISE

Installation by Marc Losier

Opening Friday November 20th @ 7pm

Drinks from 7-10pm!!!

XPace Cultural Centre, 58 Ossington Ave.

(On display until December 12th, 2009)

Transported within a vintage grey suitcase is an unusual assemblage of seemingly everyday objects; a stack of postcards documenting a dialogue between two men, a rotary telephone, a container of microscope slides, a series of manila envelopes, an office stamp, and a portable light box. This display of items has combined to create Foucault en Valise - an installation that documents a fictitious time in the life of French theoretician Michel Foucault, through his dialogue with real life documentary media professor and artist, Edward Slopek.