![]() When Dorothy killed the witch, she took posession of the cap and used it to get back to the Emerald City before setting the monkeys free. ![]() Frank Baum wrote that control of the flying monkeys belonged to whomever wore the magical “Golden Cap” - in this case, the Wicked Witch of the West. In the original 1939 The Wizard of Oz, the flying monkeys were also dressed like bellhops - but why? Deciphering the cultural relevance of their dress requires looking at the original book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, as well as taking a tiny peek at the history of the American bellhop. Let’s start with the obvious: Yes, the outfit on the flying monkey from Oz the Great and Powerful (voiced by Zach Braff) is remarkably similar to the one worn by Pharrell. More: #28DaysOfBlackCosplay is the best hashtag on Twitter Wait, how are flying monkeys racist? But there is a lot going on here that deserves unpacking if you want to fully understand Pharrell’s performance and wardrobe choice. Now, I know that discussing the ramifications of these tweets is like wading into a pool of quicksand to fetch a prize - it’s incredibly likely that I’ll sink before I get there. That!”Įlite Daily went one step further in actually posting a side-by-side comparison in this tweet: But our very complex American past is rife with similarly made (and certainly racist) black-Americans-as-animals comparisons, making this one of those moments when you want to kind of smack Braff on the nose with some rolled-up newspaper and say, “Dont. ![]() To be fair, it really does seem that Braff is just claiming his flying monkey character in Oz the Great and Powerful wore the bellhop costume better and he wasn’t trying to be a racist asshole. Grammys are time-delayed in LA (?!) but someone just sent me this: #IWoreItBetter /5R9yMJREDo Both Zach Braff and Elite Daily put out tweets comparing Pharrell to the famous flying monkeys of Wizard of Oz fame. He looks around in confusion as those words bounce around the stage, while hoodie-clad backup dancers enter solemnly.Īnd when he gets to that first “because I’m happy” line, it’s obvious that this rendition of Pharrell’s famously catchy song is anything but.īut not everyone got it. Pharrell began the song by soberly speaking the beginning lyrics to the usually (almost unbearably) upbeat track from Despicable Me 2, while his words echoed around him in multiple other languages. ![]() More: Watch Pharrell give Taylor Swift the death stare at the Grammys Let’s get this party started!Īnyone watching Pharrell’s “Happy” intro last night could tell that we were in for something different. Reactions to Pharrell’s Grammys performance have been varied, with lots of people wondering “Has Pharrell been watching too much Grand Budapest Hotel?” and, “Ooh, did he just slide a quick Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown nod into his performance?” Some people have even come under fire for trying to make light of his wardrobe choice on Twitter (we’re looking at you, Zach Braff! When will people learn that is not OK to compare people of color to monkeys, like, ever?).Īnd while the answers to those two former questions are (sigh) no and yes, respectively, there’s actually a whole lot more going on in Pharell’s performance than just a few quick nods to anything.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |