Starts out with a tribe of African cannibals imitating Native Americans. After this, they do the new Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theme "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down." Then a sloppy stuttering salesman knocks on their doors, and they bring him in and put him in a pot of boiling water. The queen of the tribe wants to see the man. She falls in love with him. They get married, but when the salesman sees he has to kiss the bride, he decides he'd be better off being dinner for a tribe of hungry cannibals.
24 Nov Jungle Jitters (1938)
Bamboozled
I usually see these “banned” things and react variously. I think Amos and Andy, for instance is ennobling, and the often respected “Song of the South” disgusting in it racial typing.
This one seems pretty offensive too, especially at the beginning where multi-hued cannibals prance around in what must be a near carbon copy of a similar scene with “Indians.” It is darn upsetting. But then the other characters get introduced, a white guy and the queen who inexplicably is white. Well, maybe she’s white because having her attack the salesman romantically really would be unacceptable for the time.
As with all these, everyone seems to be stereotyped to the same extent. There aren’t any characters that are not poked fun at.
But in this case, I think it should be shelved.
Posted in 2006
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
No Comments