The term whiteness embodies more than simply the act of being white. It is more than a race and more than just a contrast to blackness. Overtime the idea of Whiteness has become synonymous with power, privilege, and normalcy. In The Matter of Whiteness, Richard Dyer argues that “in western representation whites are overwhelming and disproportionately predominate, have the central and elaborated roles, and above all are lapses as the norm, the ordinary, the standard (Dyer 541) .” Whiteness automatically grants persons who identity as (or resemble) the white race access to resources, advantages and power that are not shared by people of color. These institutional benefits are known as White privilege. Spike Lee’s film Bamboozled uses the performance of Whiteness by its Black protagonist (Pierre Delacroix) to satirically contradict its main white character (Tom Dunwitty) and his stereotypical/racist characteristics. In doing this, the film aims to highlight whiteness and critique institutionalized white privilege in the media industry specifically.
Bamboozled opens with Pierre Delacroix defining satire. By opening the film in this manner Spike Lee immediately alerts audiences that this film (as implied in the definition of satire) is meant to “ridicule” or critique a system/institution. However, viewers quickly learn that Lee aims to critique multiple “systems”: Whiteness, White Privilege, and the media industry.
Although Pierre Delacroix is physically Black it is evident that he is intended to be performing whiteness (or the stereotypical idea of being white.) He is a Harvard graduate, and the only person of color who holds a high position at CNS Network. His speech, dialect, and mannerisms are meant to resemble that of a “White person”. His experience of identity and social crisis drives the film’s plot. Delacroix is constantly trying to fit in and prove that he is not like the stereotypical Black person. He does everything in his power to distance himself from that identity. He is well-educated, speaks proper english, dresses in suits, and does pilates. How could he possibly be Black? He even goes as far as changing his name from Peerless Dothan to Pierre Delacroix. Delacroix's constant struggle to assimilate into white culture is reflected in his show pitches to the network, which primarily focus on the middle class black and are considered too “white bread”. Because they do not promote the stereotypical view of Blacks, they are constantly rejected by his boss, Thomas Dunwitty. This consistent rejection is ultimately what inspires Delacroix to create the pitch for most absurd, stereotypical, watermelon patch, black face dancing New Millennium Minstrel Show which becomes a smash hit.
Thomas Dunwitty is the white label executive of CNS broadcasting studios. Dunwitty is the ultimate representation of whiteness and white privilege. Contrary to Delacroix, the mannerisms, dialect, blatant ignorance, and oversexualization of his character are all racist and stereotypical attributes of Blackness. When viewers are first introduced to Dunwitty his power (white privilege) is established immediately. It is evident that he is the boss. In this same scene we also see the first traces of his racist demeanor. He suggests that Delacroix is on “CP (colored people) Time” when he arrives late to the staff meeting. Additionally, Dunwitty insists on using the derogatory and offensive word “nigga”. He justifies his use by saying “I grew up around black people. I probably know more about niggas than you. I have a Black wife and two biracial kids so I feel like I have a right.” This statement although seemingly racist and rude is Spike Lee’s artistic display of whiteness and the sense of entitlement felt by whites to exploit black culture at their leisure. Dunwitty’s character crosses the line from being appreciative of the Black culture to being a blatant example of exploitation and appropriation of the stereotypes of the Black culture. Dunwitty’s character is a textbook example of Dyer's claim that because whites are considered non-raced they have a freedom to cross racial boundaries that raced (colored) people do not have. Dunwitty believes that speaking and acting a certain way makes him “more black” than Delacroix. He uses slang, curses heavily, and has afrocentric paraphernalia and decor filling the walls of his office. Once again substantiating Dyer’s claim that Whiteness allows white people the opportunity to to ignore their whiteness. Dyer asserts that whites prefer to ignore their whiteness and focus on other parts of their intersectional identity (gender, class, sexuality). As opposed to taking this approach in the film with Dunwitty’s character, Lee’s uses satire not to erase or ignore Dunwitty’s whiteness, but attempts to replace it with this self-proclaimed Blackness.
In a sense both of these characters are aiming for the same goal; to be the other. Yet, because one has the privilege of whiteness and the other does not, their goals are achieved and received very differently. Because he is white, no one directly challenges Dunwitty’s racist attributes (or performance of Blackness). He is free to make racist comments and remarks and goes unchallenged. On the other hand, Delacroix is critiqued not only by whites and blacks, but himself for his performance of whiteness.
Spike Lee’s use of satire brilliantly and humorously draws attention to the ideology of Whiteness and White privilege addressed in Dyer’s essay. Bamboozled is an example of a racial project created to challenge, and provoke discussions and critiques of the superiority of whiteness and racism. The film achieves exactly what Dyers proposes in the piece. Dyer states that “White people need to learn to see themselves as white, to see their particularity. In other words whiteness needs to be made strange….We won't get there until we see whiteness, see its power, its particularity and limitedless, put it in its place and end its rule (Dyer 541)”. The juxtaposition of Delacroix and Dunwitty’s characters highlights this “particularity” of the dominance of Whiteness and its privileges and forces viewers to see its absurdity. Although Delacroix is obviously better educated and qualified to lead the network, the white man (Dunwitty) holds the position of power and makes all of the decisions regarding the show and network overall. Because he is white, he has the power; meaning he controls what and how the world sees. In Spike Lee’s mind this is an exact representation of the world on a larger scale. Whiteness and White Privledge gives white people the power and control, while others are like Delacriox or other black characters in the film trying to seek approval or fit in, or change the system all to no avail.