A sketch involving a white cabaret artist dressed up as a fictional Black dictator prompted backlash. Social media users decried the portrayal as racist, criticizing the public service broadcaster as well for airing it.
Helmut Schleich's blackface character prompted sparked a wave of criticism on social mediaImage: BR
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A satirical program on local public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) is facing harsh criticism after a segment aired featuring a comedian performing in blackface.
The criticism comes amid a growing backlash in Germany over repeated instances of blackface and all-white panel discussions on racism in German television shows.
What happened in the sketch?
In the show "SchleichFernsehen" on Thursday evening, cabaret artist Helmut Schleich mimed a Black despot.
The character Maxwell Strauss, head of the fictitious state of Mbongalo, gives Germany advice on how to deal with the pandemic. He calls for the opposition to "shut up."
The sketch is a parody of Franz Josef Strauss, a former leader of Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union (CSU). Strauss, who died in 1988, was also known for his coarse pronunciation and for telling critics to keep their mouths shut.
Wearing a made-up uniform meant to resemble a dictator and wearing dark makeup, the character proclaims that he would make a good chancellor candidate.
"But I would be a really good chancellor. The first really black chancellor of Germany," Schleich says, after waving a stuffed baby crocodile.
How did people react online?
The sketch sparked outrage online, spreading widely after journalist Malcolm Ohanwe posted a video of the show on Twitter.
"Before having a Black man host a show on Bavarian television, the editorial department prefers to paint themselves black and make fun of African countries. Do we have to understand this?"
Youtuber Rezo also criticized that the sketch was produced by a public broadcaster, writing: "Boy wtf? This is ACTUALLY public service broadcast.... Blackfacing in 2021 paid by fees."
A different user wrote: "Seems like they didn't learn from their past mistakes." The account is referring to a radio host for the Bavarian station Bayern3, who insulted the Korean pop band BTS. He had compared the band to the corona virus and called them different names.
What's 'Blackfacing'?
Blackface has a long history of using negative, racial stereotypes for the entertainment of historically largely white audiences.
Most commonly it's a white person painting their face darker to resemble a Black person.
The practice came into fashion in the 19th century with so-called minstrel shows in the US, which trivialized slavery. White actors portrayed Black slaves in a stereotypical manner, painting themselves in dark colors and drawing exaggeratedly thick lips.
Performers will often engage in exaggerated impressions that are considered highly offensive, particularly for people of color — for example, mocking "African" accents.
'Gone with the Wind' and other stereotypical depictions in film
The current Black Lives Matter protests have also brought the issue of racism in film to the forefront. "Gone With The Wind" was temporarily removed from a streaming platform. But many other works are problematic.
Image: Imago Images/Everett Collection
The 'Gone with the Wind' controversy
Following the global Black Lives Matter protests, will there be a reassessment of film history? The popular classic "Gone with the Wind" was temporarily removed from WarnerMedia's streaming platform, HBO Max. The film's depiction of the slaves' lives was idealized and not representative of their reality, admitted the company.
Image: Imago Images/Everett Collection
Soon with a critical intoduction
But "Gone with the Wind" will soon return to HBO Max with an introduction by a film expert providing more historical context on the film. Still, the case raises more questions, as many other movies from the past portray ethnic and racial prejudices that were widespread at the time.
Image: Imago Images/Everett Collection
A mythmaker: 'The Birth of a Nation'
The most famous and innovative film of the American silent film era was "The Birth of a Nation" by D.W. Griffith. The three-hour historical epic from 1915 depicts episodes from the US Civil War. The representation of African Americans is grossly distorted in this film, too: They are either depicted negatively, or they voluntarily comply with the ideas of white Americans.
Image: picture-alliance / akg-images
Blackfacing: 'The Jazz Singer'
And how should we deal with this film in the future? "The Jazz Singer" from 1927 is one of the most famous works of film history, as it was the first feature film with a synchronized soundtrack. Main actor Al Johnson, who was a renowned white singer and entertainer, performs in "blackface" in the movie — a practice which was common at the time, but is now widely considered to be racist.
Image: picture-alliance/akg
Redfacing in Westerns
Similarly to blackfacing, "redfacing" refers to non-Native Americans wearing feathers, warpaint, etc. and perpetuating stereotypes, which was often the case in Western films, such as in "Taza, Son of Cochise." The 1954 film was directed by Douglas Sirk, born Hans Detlef Sierck, a German who had fled the Nazis in 1937.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
Cult film: 'The Searchers'
"The Searchers" is another prime example of the conflicting evaluations of a movie based on morality, aesthetics or history. John Ford's Western from 1956 is described as a masterpiece and one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. On the other hand, it also propagates racist stereotypes — should the work also be reassessed?
Image: Imago/Entertainment Pictures
Racism in Vietnam War films
Many other influential, award-winning films have been criticized for being racist, and not just against African Americans. The 1978 war epic "The Deer Hunter" was criticized for its one-sided portrayal of all the North Vietnamese as sadistic racists and killers. Other critics pointed out that the film's focus on white US soldiers was not representative of the situation during the Vietnam War.
Even though it's an acclaimed cinematic masterpiece, Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (1979) also focused on the portrayal of its white characters, while the Vietnamese were simply nameless stereotypical figures. How should we address such films in the future? And beyond the influential works, there are a bunch of very bad Vietnam War films — what should happen to them?
Image: picture-alliance/KPA Honorar & Belege
The Japanese man in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'
Racist humor was very common in Hollywood films in the early 1960s — and depictions of Asian characters were particularly stereotypical. One famous example is in the film classic "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Mickey Rooney's "comic" portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi, the upstairs neighbor of Audrey Hepburn's character Holly Golightly, has since been condemned as offensive anti-Japanese propaganda.
Latinos make up 18% of the total US population — the largest ethnic minority in the country, according to a recent DW study. This also leads to stereotypical representations. The rom-com "Maid in Manhattan" (2002) stars Jennifer Lopez, who falls in love with a politician (Ralph Fiennes) staying at the hotel where she works. Are the clichés of the lower-class sexy Latina girl acceptable today?
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Germans in Hollywood
Many Austrian and German actors who fled the Nazis lived in exile in Hollywood, where they were mainly offered roles as Nazi characters — like Conrad Veidt as Major Strasser (left) in the film classic "Casablanca" (1942). Even years after the war, German-speaking actors were often cast in these clichéd roles.
This cliché can still be observed today. A relatively recent example is the German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who portrayed an SS leader in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" (2009). It was definitely a brilliant acting performance, but one can still wonder why German-speaking actors are still given so many Nazi roles in the new millennium...
Image: imago/EntertainmentPictures
Restricted screening conditions for Nazi propaganda films: 'Jud Süss'
Some films directed under the Nazis with the direct goal of spreading anti-Semitic propaganda have been removed from distribution. For example, "Jud Süss" (1940) can only be viewed for study purposes with an introduction explaining the historical context and the intended impact of the film.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
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How has the channel responded?
The BR said it was aware of the criticism sparked by the sketch, but defended the performer.
"The editorial team was aware of the discussions on the topic of 'blackfacing' and the problems associated with it, and that's why there were intensive discussions with Helmut Schleich about this feature in the run-up to the broadcast," the station responded to a query by German newspaper, the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
"In a satire format, however, the artist must also be granted a certain amount of freedom for satirical exaggerations."
BR went on to say that artistic freedom sometimes tests the limits. The character Maxwell Strauss is a caricature and "cannot be judged separately from the text." The content of the sketch is making fun of an "authoritarian understanding of power" and "absolutist" claims to power.
The cabaret artist recently spoke with the Münchener Merkur newspaper about his character Maxwell Strauss: "Suddenly you ask yourself if you can still play this character with your face painted black."
He added that giving a lecture on colonialism "is by no means funnier" than portraying the character.
In recent weeks, an all-white panel discussion on racism prompted a wave of backlash.
The Westdeutsche Rundfunk Köln (WDR) talk show "Die letzte Instanz," featured a panel of exclusively white personalities discussing whether it was still permissible to use racist slurs.
The panel participants more or less all agreed that the terms should still be used, downplaying the impact the terms have on black people and people of color.
The reaction to the show on social media was swift, with many especially younger viewers delivering a clear message: They don't want to put up with racism - especially on primetime German TV - anymore.
