If race relations can be thoroughly examined through interpretive dance, and message-movies like Crash, why not through make-up?
I'm sure Tyra Banks, who in recent months has been made-up as a fat person and a stripper to investigate states of being that are not "model with a talk show" (her conclusions: being fat is, like, waaay different than being a model, and, despite the nudity involved in both professions, being a stripper is also totally different than modeling) is thinking the exact same thing right now. But, unfortunately, FX and Ice Cube have beat her to the punch.
Behold Black.White., a new reality show that falls somewhere between Wife Swap and the classic C. Thomas Howell blackface movie Soul Man.
(The Zack Morris wig on the black son is a nice touch.)
I haven't seen this show, so I can't really judge it…but I definitely can judge its
promo trailer, which is impossible to watch without laughing (my favorite part is when the white dad sees his wife as a black woman for the first time and practically pops a boner while stroking her mini-fro). Black.White. also has a MySpace page, you know, to maximize its keeping-it-realness. (Which probably means that there is a person at FX whose sole responsibility is to approve comments like "yo….this is the most realest t.v show that i know that ever hit t.v…………….it is gonna be the best show eva….comment me back." )
There's also an MP3 of the show's theme song, Ice Cube's "Race Card," that you can download as a ringtone. That way, every time your phone rings you can be reminded of the socio-political ramifications of changing one's race––while thoroughly irritating everyone of every race around you.
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