http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2SFDm_zBzw
The above clip is a skit from MadTV, entitled “Inside Looking Out,” in which Pat-Beth Lamontruse and Dontell Lamontruse are an interracial couple who sing and speak against racism and bigotry. However, Pat-Beth is very racist, but despite this, they seem to love each other. In this particular installment of “Inside Looking Out,” they sing a song from their album in which they try to convey that it doesn’t matter if your “skin tone is white or other.” At one point in their song, Pat-Beth sings that Dontell “looted her heart.” This combined with the stereotypical references made by Pat-Beth (referring to suspected criminal activity by Dontell and his hair pick) connects well to Lee’s argument about the Orientalized male.
Lee claimed that the Asian-American male could only “extort sex from the white women” (p. 124) as is seen in the film Broken Blossoms. This idea of an Asian man only being able to seduce a white woman through force seems to extend African-American men. Additionally, Dontell is depicted as dangerous in the skit, through Pat-Beth’s repeated comments. Similarly, Lee addresses the image of Asian-Americans in early cinema as a people of villainy and to be feared. “Inside Looking Out” is one of the more popular comedy venues that addresses interracial marriage and still speaks to the observed power-dynamics of such a relationship.
Clearly, the MadTV skit is satirical, but it connects to early cinema in its depictions of people of color. In what ways is “Inside Looking Out” effective in opening discourse on interracial marriage? Does it over-step its bounds? Or is the level and manner of satire acceptable?
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What immediately struck me about the interaction of the couple was the way that Pat-Beth is so patronizing to her lover Dontell and continually engages in unabashed racist stereotyping of him. One of the messages I drew from this satirical piece was the implication that many white people, who think that they are politically correct/ liberal/defiant of oppressive social expectations (anti-miscegenation, gender spheres, etc) really just don’t get it. In her lyrics Pat-Beth suggests that cafe employees were frightened by Dontell (presumably because he is black man out in public at odd hours of the day), that he is inherently criminal: he “looted her heart” and is “always on the run”, etc. I was also intrigued by the displays of power throughout the skit. It seems that the white Pat-Beth, despite her gender categorization as female (historically stereotyped as docile in comparison to men), is the more powerful and dominant character. This representation leaves me wondering where we are supposed to find the satire in this aspect of the skit. It’s clear to me that Pat-Beth’s lyrics are a satirical exaggeration of PC, artistic white people, but how is a white person trying to have power and control over a black person an exaggeration? Isn’t American history and media full of devastating examples of the lengths that white society will go to to maintain their dominance and notions racial superiority? By showing how Dontell struggles for authority within his relationship to a white woman, is MadTV actually perpetuating the stereotype of non-white male = weak, effeminate that was presented to audiences in early 20th century media (i.e., Broken Blossoms)? Are they suggesting that nothing has changed?...even in seemingly loved filled interracial relationships? I don’t think this skit “crossed the line” as Liz asked because the material provokes interesting dialogue, which is always appreciated. Nonetheless, the overall intent of the producers is unclear to me; the muddled presentation of such complex issues leave me confused about what I should laugh at and what I should somberly contemplate.
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