Today In class, we discussed in depth the Minstrel Show and the effect it has had on american culture. What struck me as, almost Ironic about the minstrel show is that it became one of the most iconic and arguably the first form of purely american entertainment, while simultaneously highlighting the racial stereotypes and the overarching racism present in american society.  One point that I would like to concentrate on however is the argument that the minstrel show continues today in popular culture, through the concept of having to “black up” various artists performance to make them more appealing to a wide audience.

The idea was tossed around that some artists (the class example being 50 Cent who’s “Thug Picture” was compared to his “Regular Picture”) uses the concept of “Blacking Up” to be a popular entertainer. Personally, I disagree with this idea. While I do think that many artists try to sell a particular image of themselves, it is not unique to only pop culture or to African American culture. The idea of selling an image is as old as entertainment itself. Many music stars across a whole variety of genera sell a public image which is very different from their private one. However, I will cede that it is possible the minstrel show could at least have highlighted this concept of selling an image more then ever before due to the sheer nature of its performance, where unlike an artist trying to sell an image by dressing in a particular style of clothes, or using an accent, the actors themselves blacked their faces out and would commonly advertise using pictures of their white selves and their black characters. Therefore, I would say that the minstrel show simply highlighted the fact that it was selling an image by making the distinction that its actors were intentionally changing their appearance for the show specifically.