\tWhen asked about Karl Marx and the overall work of Marxist thought, it is reasonable to assert that the average individual will relate Marxist philosophy to economics and politics. If I were to sum it up in one word, that word would be communism. Although this assertion is not incorrect in that the main focus of much of Karl Marx\u2019s philosophical literature does in fact center on the system of communism, Marxist theory and in extension the overarching work of Marxist philosophers who followed touches upon a much greater variety of topics than many people comprehend. In works like The Communist Manifesto, Marx examines the social and cultural implications related to the toppling of capitalism and the eventual establishment of a communist system. It is through this explanation of cultural shifts that are necessary for revolutionary change where Marx\u2019s broad stroke is revealed. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx references not only alterations in the functionality of the economic and political systems, but a variety of other influential aspects of society such as religious systems, educational systems, and even the family structure. Another powerful system that Marx and the Marxist thinkers reference within their philosophical works is the media, one of the most prominent outlets for the spread of ideas and opinions. Many of these works harp on concepts like the utilization of media outlets to repress subordinate social classes as well as the spread of ideologies that further entrench the ruling class as the ruling class. Despite the negative outcomes resulting from the abuse of media outlets, it is undeniable that media is the most effective method of imposing ones opinions on the public. Since media is such an effective vehicle for spreading messages and ideological ideas, many film producers harness this power in their films in order to further extend their sphere of influence when raising awareness on cultural issues. One of the most prominent producers within this vein is Spike Lee, a well-known American filmmaker. From films like Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever, much of Lee\u2019s work examines race relations and racism in American society. Bamboozled, another prominent work of Lee, once again explores the role of racial relations in society. In addition, this movie provides commentary on the role of the media in the spread of ideologies, which reflects many of the thoughts formulated by Marxist thinkers. Spike Lee\u2019s film Bamboozled effectively analyzes and displays thoughts and ideas that coincide with the various theories put forth by Marxist philosophers such as Stuart Hall, Antonio Gramsci, and Louis Althusser. <\/p>\n
On its most foundational level, there are numerous simple connections to be made between Spike Lee\u2019s Bamboozled and the philosophical works of Marxist philosophers. Upon my initial viewing of the film, I noticed basic materializations of aspects expressed in various Marxist works, the first and most base level being that of class struggle. At the core of Karl Marx\u2019s original thought is the continued tension between classes that has existed throughout history. In the first section of Marx\u2019s Communist Manifesto, he begins by explaining that \u201cthe history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle\u201d (Simon 158). Marx, and his colleague Friedrich Engels, stress that there has subsisted a constant conflict between two major classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie consists of the upper class that controls the capital and the means of production, while the proletariats are the workers that provide the labor for the gain of the bourgeoisie. Spike Lee perpetuates the existence of these classes in his film Bamboozled. Thomas Dunwitty, the wealthy boss of the CNS television network, personifies the bourgeoisie while characters like Manray and Womack, the actors of CSN\u2019s controversial new program Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show, are viewed as the proletariat labor providers for Dunwitty. In addition to Marx\u2019s concept of the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, Lee\u2019s film also reflects Marx\u2019s materialistic mindset. His views on class struggle contribute to a larger theory of his, and that is dialectical materialism. Within this idea, Marx proposes that all historical and political events occur because of the conflict of social forces, specifically the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, but the cause of this conflict is what makes his opinion unique. Instead of immaterial ideas catalyzing this conflict, Marx claims that material needs serves as the driving force for this clash of classes. In Spike Lees film he further expresses this concept. The cause of many decisions made in Bamboozled is attributed to the pursuit of material goods, like money, clothes, and other luxuries. As Manray and Womack consider Delacroix\u2019s offer to act as the subjects of The New Millennium Minstrel Show, Manray states that as long as he\u2019s \u201choofin\u2019 and getting some loot,\u201d he will agree to act in the show. Even as Delacroix suggest that he change his name to Mantan, and more so as he describes the crude, grossly stereotypical character that Manray is going to play, he agrees to take on the role. This depiction is a clear parallel to Marx\u2019s materialistic view of the world; all decisions and changes are driven by material need. In the wise words of Liza Minnelli, \u201cmoney makes the world go \u2018round\u201d. <\/p>\n
As I dive further into the content of the film, more profound parallels between Spike Lee\u2019s story and the philosophical thought of Marxist followers arise, the first of which connects to the work of Jamaican-born British Marxist Stuart Hall. Hall focuses largely on the different aspects of media, particularly the existence and spread of ideological ideas within the media. His essay titled The Whites of Their Eyes pertains to the existence of racial stereotypes in popular culture. Hall explains that the media is \u201cone place where these ideas [about race] are articulated, worked on, transformed and elaborated\u201d (Hall 20). The media serves as an outlet for spreading certain racial ideologies that in turn shape the mind of the consumer, either by \u201covert\u201d racism which openly provides a platform for directly racist agendas, or by \u201cinferential\u201d racism, \u201cthose naturalised representations of events and situations relating to race\u2026which have racist premises and propositions inscribed in them as a set of unquestioned assumptions\u201d (Hall 20). Hall examines the stereotypical racial roles that exist within the media, as they serve as an effective example of this \u201cinferential\u201d racism. In the early days of media production, many films contained similar racial roles, from the child-like slave figure to the devoted, eye-rolling \u201cMammy\u201d. Another prominent racial character in these productions is the clown, often depicted as the entertainer. Due to the advancements in liberal thought and political correctness, \u201cthese particular versions may have faded. But their traces are still to be observed, reworked in many of the modern and up-dated images\u201d (Hall 22). For example, Hall states how \u201cblacks are still the most frightening, cunning and glamorous crooks\u2026in New York cop series\u201d (Hall 22). While Hall enlists a more conservative approach in his expression of the persistence of racist roles in popular media, Spike Lee takes a more direct, in your face approach. The plot of Bamboozled follows Pierre Delacroix as he attempts to propose a new television program that he hopes Dunwitty will agree to air. To spite his boss, Delacroix formulates the idea for The New Millennium Minstrel Show, a crudely stereotypical program that is a direct mirroring of the minstrel shows of the past. To his surprise, Dunwitty emphatically agrees to air Delacroix\u2019s show. In order to accrue more material for this show, Delacroix studies a variety of old shows that depict African-Americans in this negative, racist light. Through Spike Lee\u2019s film, he is sending the message that the racist roles that existed in the media outlets of the past persist in modern media, which directly parallels Hall\u2019s philosophy in The Whites of Their Eyes. <\/p>\n
Stuart Hall\u2019s The Whites of Their Eyes is not the only work of his that resonates within Spike Lee\u2019s film. The commanding themes of Hall\u2019s Encoding, Decoding can also be extrapolated from Lee\u2019s Bamboozled. Hall\u2019s essay explores the process of ideological distribution through the media, as well as the relationship between the systems of production and consumption. For Hall, there are four distinct moments within the distribution of ideas and messages through the media: \u201cproduction, circulation, distribution\/consumption, reproduction\u201d (Hall 91). In essence, the message must first be produced and disseminated, and then interpreted by the consumer. The most complex aspect of this theory exists within the moment of consumption. Regardless of the intended message, the audience plays a role in how the message is interpreted. In decoding a message, the audience extracts meaning in terms that makes sense to them. Spike Lee utilizes this aspect of Hall\u2019s essay in a major plot point of his film. Towards the end of Bamboozled, Manray begins to realize the error of his ways and decides to break away from his crude role as Mantan. He takes the stage as himself, refusing to dawn the racist costume and blackface of his character Mantan, and proceeds to send a liberating message against the perpetuation of racial stereotypes, concluding his speech with a dance similar to the ones he performed as Mantan. Manray\u2019s is one of positivity and liberation, but as Hall explains, it\u2019s up to the audience to interpret this message. The Mau Maus, a primarily African-American rap group, consume the message and are infuriated by it. They decide to capture Manray and publicly execute him on a live webcam broadcast. Despite Manray\u2019s positive intentions, the Mau Maus interpret it in a negative manner, a manner that makes sense to them. They oppose the crude program from the start and decide to take action against Manray, even though his final message seemingly aligns with the agenda of the Mau Maus. This disconnect between the encoding of the intended message and the decoding by the consumer is the central point in Hall\u2019s Encoding, Decoding, and is concept that is clearly existent in Spike Lee\u2019s film. <\/p>\n
Hall\u2019s philosophy is not the only Marxist work that resonates within Spike Lee\u2019s film; Louis Althusser\u2019s theories, a prominent French Marxist, can also be applied to Bamboozled. In his essay Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses Althusser ventures to explain how various societal systems advocate a sense of \u201cfalse consciousness\u201d, a concept first introduced by Marx and Engels. The distribution of ideologies by numerous state apparatuses, like the media, serves to instill ideas into the minds of the public, driving the consumer to accept these ideologies as fact. The bourgeoisie control these state apparatuses, causing the ideologies that they put forth to be in favor of the ruling class and further entrench the ruling class as such. In order for the proletariats to gain control in overthrowing the bourgeoisie, it is imperative that they infiltrate these systems so that they can extend their personal ideologies. Althusser claims that \u201cno class can hold State power over a long period without at the same time exercising its hegemony over and in the State Ideological Apparatuses\u201d (Althusser). This idea of a State Ideological Apparatus rings true within Spike Lee\u2019s work. CSN, the television network that is the focal point of his film, represents Althusser\u2019s concept of State Ideological Apparatuses. The white-dominated broadcast station distributes The New Millennium Minstrel Show, sharing ideas surrounding the black community that are implicitly harmful towards the African-American social class. The product of sharing these ideologies with the public is the repression of the African-American, or proletariat, further increasing the power of the dominant white class, or the bourgeoisie. Althusser\u2019s concept of the malicious influence of the Ideological State Apparatuses reverberates through Bamboozled, as the media, specifically CSN, spread ideological ideas that serve to subdue the African-American community. <\/p>\n
Louis Althusser\u2019s concept of hegemony, or the domination of one social class over a subordinate class, is a popular topic touched upon by many Marxists. Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist, references the role of hegemony within the communist movement in his Prison Notebooks. In a section titled The Intellectuals, Gramsci outlines what he views as the two forms of intellectual in society, the \u201ctraditional\u201d intellectual and the \u201corganic\u201d intellectual. He defines the \u201ctraditional\u201d intellectual as \u201cprofessional intellectuals, literary, scientific and so on\u201d while the \u201corganic\u201d intellectuals are \u201cthe thinking and organizing element of a particular fundamental social class\u201d (Gramsci 131). According to Gramsci, in order for the proletariat to overcome the oppression of the bourgeoisie they must form organic intellectuals, and infiltrate the sectors controlled by bourgeoisie organic intellectuals in order to enforce counter-hegemony upon the dominant class. Once again these ideas hold true within Spike Lee\u2019s Bamboozled. As Pierre Delacroix meets with the writer of The New Millennium Minstrel Show, he rendered essentially voiceless due to the fact that he is the only member of the writing board who is a person of color; every other member is white. He is left to sit back and yield to their decision-making on the script, as they implement thoughts and ideas into the show that they have gathered from other media sources. Gramsci\u2019s essay proposes that in order for Delacroix to gain power over this dominant white group of writers, other organic intellectuals must rise from the African-American community, so that they may overpower the rule of the white writers and enact counter-hegemony. Antonio Gramsci\u2019s work in The Prison Notebooks serves as yet another example of Marxist thought that resonates within Spike Lee\u2019s film Bamboozled. <\/p>\n
Spike Lee is an incredibly profound and influential screenwriter and producer. Many of his films utilize an unorthodox yet effective approach in expressing the apparent issues of racism and race relations in the modern world. His striking statements in Bamboozled serve to enlighten the audience about the influence held by the media, and how it is controlled to spread harmful ideas about the African-American community. Many of the concepts and philosophies brought upon by the followers of Marxist thought resonate throughout Lee\u2019s work, including those of Stuart Hall, Antonio Gramsci, and Louis Althusser, as well as Marx\u2019s original theories. Not only would I recommend this film to movie-lovers, but lovers of Marxist philosophy as well. Bamboozled is a fantastic movie that proffers the influence and role of the media in the perpetuation of racist ideologies that harm the black community, and it is well worth the watch. <\/p>\n\n
When asked about Karl Marx and the overall work of Marxist thought, it is reasonable to assert that the average individual will relate Marxist philosophy to economics and politics. If I were to sum it up in one word, that word would be communism. Although this assertion is not incorrect in that the main focus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7235,"featured_media":0,"parent":78,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386\/revisions\/411"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/78"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/pl314-spring19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}