Thursday, March 29, 2007

collage

My collage is based on the article "The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies in the Media" which claims that no character played by a person of color is accurately portrayed, rather they are playing the “clown… putting on a show for the Others.” To clearly portray my point, I used pictures of Flav dressed in his flashy costumes juxtaposed with racist cartoons and Jim Crow images from post Civil War propaganda. He, of course, is at the center of the collage, surrounded by his women, whom I juxtaposed against images of the "Hottentot Venus", Sarah Baartman, who was paraded around Europe during the mid-1800s as a way to display the "hyper sexuality" of the "Other." The other images dispersed among pictures of the former contestants are from "Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarfs" a racist cartoon created by Merry Melodies and later banned. The theme of the women is one of hyper sexuality, Flav less than exudes erotica, but the women from the show are scarcely found more than scantily clad, focusing mostly on their posterior, much like the posing of the Hottentot Venus. Flav's job on the show is to act as the showman, the entertainer, while the women are forced into gender roles of battling each other to prove who is truly there "for their man, Flav."

2 comments:

Amanda Ganza said...

Nice collage, I agree that Flavor of Love shows the images as described in "The Whites of Their Eyes." :)

Unknown said...

I love your collage and the choice of reading is really well-suited for the purposes of the assignment, the show, and your images.
Great work!!!