[interesting trope]Jokes about blackface that avoid actually doing blackface

[u/DifficultHat]

1. In Zoolander when Hansel and Derek are in disguise, they are played by other actors. Derek removes his face makeup off screen so Ben Stiller is never seen in blackface except for his neck and ears

2. In The Neighbors the Weaver family is picking a Halloween costume. During the montage of them trying on options the parents and both daughters are wearing semi formal clothing (business suit, pantsuits etc) looking in the mirror looking disappointed, while Max is dressed as a dog. After a beat one of them says “No one is going to be able to tell we’re the Obamas”. The youngest daughter innocently suggests painting their faces and the parents immediately tell her no. (I hate that I couldn’t find a clip or a picture of this)

3. One episode of Ellsbeth included a plot point about a model being blackmailed with the negatives from a “cultures around the world” photoshoot where she was in makeup to portray multiple races. The photos are discussed but never seen.

4. In an episode of the Dick Van Dyke show, Rob and Laura accidentally dye their hands black the morning before attending a gala for “The Committee for Interracial Understanding”. They wear fancy gloves to hide it but then reveal their predicament when Rob is giving a speech.

5. Similar to Zoolander, in Master of Disguise when Fabbrizzio is disguised as Michael Johnson, he is played by Michael Johnson & his exit from the disguise is covered in a camera flash as he holds up the constitution he just stole.

[u/Helota_Keksz]

There's a Zulu on my Stoep - as the most convenient way of infiltrating their nemesis' neonazi gathering without being recognized, a black and white pair of friends do an elaborate full rubber mask race switch makeover.

[u/DifficultHat → u/Helota_Keksz]

This doesn’t fit the trope, that’s blackface

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/DifficultHat]

Nah. They are not doing some half assed makeup for mockery, it's a high effort disguise.

[u/DifficultHat → u/Helota_Keksz]

The quality of the makeup is not what makes it blackface. If a white person uses makeup to look like a black person, that’s blackface.

It’s also doesn’t have to be intended to mockery. White actors painting their face to play Othello weren’t trying to mock Black people, but they were still doing blackface.

[u/Arimm_The_Amazing → u/Helota_Keksz]

Do you know the origins of blackface? Minstrel performers put a lot of effort into their mockery. It being high effort is completely irrelevant, and it being a disguise is not sufficient to separate it from the ongoing history of the mockery