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So, the more informed and aware we can be, the less likely we will fall into racist thinking. Racist cultural values from the media, gone undetected, can do a number on our values.
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However, if there is one thing I know from being a therapist, cultural notions imbed themselves in our psyche and can easily influence our behavior, especially if we are unreflective. So, what should we do? Add Mary Poppins to the “Cancelled” list along with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke? Cutting ties with Mary Poppins won’t topple white supremacist structures. Why? The context.Īdmiral Boom called the dark-faced people on the roof Hottentots, and Bert was an unidentifiable black-faced man in the culmination of the three scariest things Jane and Michael faced when they ran away. Let’s take sooty-faced Michael when he was caught by George Banks trying to escape with the chimney sweeps.
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I’m not saying that the simple fact that Bert and Marry Poppins put soot on their faces makes them minstrels in blackface.
#Chimney sweep mary poppins movie#
Now, looking at the sequence, I wonder if the movie was flirting with the idea of the frightening black man who preys on white girl children. When I was younger, I simply thought the children were afraid because he was a stranger trying to abduct Jane. It’s no wonder the blackfaced man is the pinnacle in the triumvirate of frightening encounters faced by the two small children. However, the fear of black men preying on white girls and women is an evocative cultural fear. Of course, we may never know exactly why this scene featured Dick Van Dyke with a face painted completely black. The man takes out a cloth, and wipes off the blackness, letting them know he is their ol’ friend Bert, the harmless chimney sweep. Micheal shrieks and tries to pry his sister from the man’s grasp, “Leave my sister alone!” he wails between strikes. They face three frightening events: A disheveled, toothless woman, wearing rags tries to grab them, a barking German Shepherd launches at them, and finally, a man with a black face grabs Jane by the coat. In the panic, the children run out into the dirty London streets, trying to escape Mr. I was thinking about the scene after Jane and Michael caused the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank to crash. People can debate whether the rooftop scene where Mary Poppins blackened her face is blackface, but that’s not the scene that came to my mind today. “ ‘minstrel history’ associated with blackface and racial commentary is not limited to ‘Mary Poppins.’ says it is ‘a mainstay’ of Disney musicals, including the jiving blackbird in the 1941 film, ‘Dumbo,’ and a 1933 Mickey Mouse short, ‘Mickey’s Mellerdrammer,’ which parodies ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ ”(D´Angelo, 2019). “We are being attacked by Hottentots !”Īnd orders missiles fired over those “cheeky devils” (Shephard, 2019).Ī disheveled, toothless woman, wearing rags tries to grab them, a barking German Shepherd launches at them, and finally, a man with a black face grabs Jane by the coat.ĭaniel Pollack-Pelzner, a professor of gender studies and Shakespeare studies is quoted in a piece by Cox Media Group, Sure enough, there were many articles arguing that blackface characterizes the scene where chimney sweeps leap from rooftop to rooftop singing “Step In Time.” Mary Poppins puts soot on her face and joins in the revelry. I stopped, frothy-mouthed, and gargled, “Wow! Maybe that was blackface!”Īs many of us do, I turned to Google. As I brushed my teeth this morning, a scene from Mary Poppins flashed into my mind. I could probably recite every line and sing every melody. Mary Poppins, the 1964 Julie Andrews version, was one of my favorite movies growing up.
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