(This is another essay that I've written back in my freshman year of college that I wanted to publish. My major was in something quite different in english and my professor thought that I should at least minor in something related to literature because of my writing skills. Other people felt the same, but I didn't. I can definitely see now that they had the right idea. And this was made on November 22nd of 2019.)
If the average person were to watch a single clip of a Ralph Bakshi film, they would label the work as racist. In his animations, black people are depicted with highly exaggerated features and excessive dialect. In which, these connotations are considered as blackface, therefore, it is inarguably racist. However, it was a controversial approach towards conveying his theories of race relations in America. Moreover, the question is did Ralph Bakshi successfully enunciate these caricatures of race? Analytically, the symbolism used for these stereotypes explains how black people are victims to America.
In the opening scene, a black man is shown singing a ditty, a short music composition. The arrangement is very repetitive with lots of derogatory language such as the artist self-demeaning himself as a black man. Although, the lyrics may seem appalling, it more so done intentionally in a satirical manner. He continuously mocks the stereotypes that white America label black people by calling himself what they think he’s supposed to be. For an example, he refers himself as a minstrel man, a shoeshine man, or a “typical” African American that’s on welfare. With each verse, his tone gets angrier or sarcastic. In addition, he frequently mentions that he’s “got the devil in him”, meaning that he has some sort of fury or negative emotions that are synonymous with the devil that are set to be released, hence the change in his tone during transitions in the song. Moreover, “I’m a natural black face,” is stated in a literal context. To elaborate, black face is performed by non-black people pretending to be black people, while the artist is indicating that he’s already black and doesn’t need a costume because he will be depicted in a negative perspective anyway. Later on, in the movie, the second half of the song is repeated by a character to foreshadow his death in this following verse I’m holdin’ an ace That I won’t die in disgrace If I stop dancin’ And don’t let you blow me anymore in the wind Because I refuse to come (Scatman Crothers, Coonskin No More.) The “ace” is his stance against partaking in America’s minstrel, insinuating that he refuses to answer to terms that label him a disgrace. Unfortunately, the character gets executed after proclaiming his rebellion against America. The execution demonstrates how black Americans are subjected to follow through with being vilified or death will be their fate.Anthropomorphism is used heavily in this film to symbolize conventional prototypes of black people in America. Malcom The Cockroach represents the epidemic of absentee black fathers. The single mother in the film describes him as a charismatic individual that ends up seducing her. Malcom ends up impregnating her, then abandoning her once the child is born. Cockroaches in nature breed a lot and move to different places, therefore, this hints at Ralph Bakshi’s reason for choosing to illustrate Malcom as a cockroach, which is to provide the audience with a hint of what Malcom’s purpose in the film is. Brother Bear looks exactly like what his name is. He’s a big and strong bear, but also represents the stereotype of overly masculine black men. Preacher Fox is sneaky like any other ordinary fox. His name along with his character is the embodiment of America using religion to profit off the black community. Religion was presented in this film as a scam to get black people to donate their money to an imaginary revolution. Preacher Fox is shown to be fascinated with this idea even while knowing that it was a scheme to get his own people riled up and bankrupt. These sentiments also categorize him as not just a fox, but a coon as well. Eventually, he’s revealed as a sell-out, which idealizes black people who gained success in America by betraying the black community for their own personal motives. Last, is Brother Rabbit, the main protagonist. Although, he is clever and fast like a rabbit, it’s clear that this was not the sole reason for Ralph Bakshi’s decision to illustrate him as a rabbit. The gist was to make him stand out from all the stereotypical incarnations of black people. He doesn’t want to be an activist, or a sell-out amongst his people. Furthermore, he states, “I’m tired of trying to segregate, integrate, and masturbate anymore!” and “If we wait any longer, we’ll end up like Malcom or King”. Brother Rabbit simply wants to live his life, more so stay alive, and away from any burdens. Brother Rabbit and Preacher Fox symbolizes the black community not being able to progress in America if there is no ambition or cause that will unite the black community in which everybody will benefit.
A saying that is repetitively used is “Red, white, and blue’d on”. Evidently, this refers to colors of America. Instead of just illustrating a country walking on two legs, Ralph Bakshi’s impressive interpretation of America in Coonskin is a voluptuous and seductive white woman with the American flag printed on her body. She is known as “Miss America”. She is not only a representation of the country itself, but symbolically she represents oppression against black Americans, and a materialistic prize for black people who are driven by lust and greed to make it in America. An example in the film is a radical black person retaliating against Miss America after she rejected his sexual advances. The radical could have won this battle against her, but he fell victim to her seduction due to his greed, resulting to his death. Another example is another black man taking a stance against her, in which he repeats the second half of ditty “Coonskin No More”. She then begins to exclaim “rape!”, which also results to the death of another black man. This can be referred to the deathly punishments black men went through in the Jim Crow era where they were falsely accused of sexually assaulting white women, which is also a form of oppression.
Regardless of Ralph Bakshi’s intentions, this is truly a thought-provoking film about the trials and tribulations of being black in America. Bakshi utilizes his imagination to give his characters complexities while providing different stand points in an unbiased fashion. His way of handling provocativeness in his work, like using stereotypes to fluctuate his theories of race relations in America for an example, is what makes him unique and one of the most iconic animators in history. He creatively expresses his philosophies of American social stratification in his films and hopefully he gets more recognition for his work
