Unintentionally Racist Showtunes — Page 2

I posted the Oscar Hammerstein lyrics because I find it endlessly fascinating that his writings are often interpreted in contemporary contexts as containing racial slurs.

When he wrote Show Boat, his intention was to criticize racism. The characters of Queenie and Joe were not intended as racial stereotypes, although they were intended to be dignified archetypes.

But as time went on, the dignity in the archetypes faded from view, and the language, the uses of the N word and references to being "shiftless" began to seem like racial slurs.

I'm sure this was distressing to Oscar Hammerstein, who was a lifelong progressive.

So, in that way, it is unintentional racism, because it was never his intention.

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Some people think that Miss Saigon has some racism, like "Why was I born of a race that thinks only of rice and hates entrepreneurs?" The song "Sacred Bird" was also taken out of the show for being too "stereotyped," though there are other examples throughout the show of Kim saying things that could be construed as reflecting a stereotypical Western view of how Asians talk.

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Listen kooks, if something isn't racist it can't be unintentionally racist either.

Let's not get word snobby or GO DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK and find the references yourself.

How would "White Boys" be racist?

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"Listen kooks, if something isn't racist it can't be unintentionally racist either.

"Let's not get word snobby or GO DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK and find the references yourself."

nomdelaine, that doesn't mean if something isn't unintentionally racist it isn't racist. Just that the person who created it wasn't intentionally setting out to make a deliberately belittling or insulting statement of some sort. For instance, the jury is still out about whether the racism in your letter to the New York Times criticizing the Chinamen who delivered take out on their bicycles was unintentionally racist or not. That it was racist is not in dispute, but whether you meant to be insulting seems to be up for some debate. I prefer to not give you the benefit of the doubt, but that's just me.

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I think it was specifically the Chinese ones. And maybe it's because an hour later she's horny again? "Wok Boy, He Delivers," right nom?

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Make sure you understand the difference between racism, racial sterotypes, and racial slurs.

Most of the examples here aren't racism.

I think you get what the OP is saying, and making a distinction between racism and racial stereotypes is really splitting hairs. I'm pretty sure racial stereotypes fall under racism in this context. (Racist slurs don't necessarily, depending on who is using them and the intention they're used with.)

If "White Boys" is racist, then so is "Black Boys"... but given what the songs are saying, it's laughable to even consider that they could be even misinterpreted as racist.

Though it's obviously intended to be positive, racial fetishism can be pretty offensive to some minorities. While it's hard to call something complimentary something so strong as "racist", it's a certainty that the Otherness and Exoticising in Black Boys/White Boys is somewhat questionable. (Keep in mind, I can't say I personally find it offensive. I think of it as a naive and harmless product of its era, and I love it. I'm just saying that I think the mention in this thread is appropriate.)

The Disney cartoon feature, PETER PAN, contains a song, "What Makes the Red Man Red?," that undoubtedly would not be included in the score today.

You might consider "Spanish Rose" from Birdie...although you can say that a lot of it is intentional, the original lyrics might be a bit too offensive to some now.
Vanessa Williams sang a slightly more PC version in the 1995 film, and I would bet something similar is done in the current Broadway version.

"Chop Suey" from FLOWER DRUM SONG is a list song but the way it's written and performed has an unintentionally racist quality to it. That show wasn't done for decades because many Asian-Americans found its stereotyping offensive.