tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2074838946965393539.post4899994833979548211..comments2023-10-31T08:19:54.708-07:00Comments on Five by Five: AFI Top 100, #90: "The Jazz Singer" (1927)balyienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13785839636620293326noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2074838946965393539.post-27827648006948094982015-05-30T08:33:13.708-07:002015-05-30T08:33:13.708-07:00I was honestly rather surprised by how sympathetic...I was honestly rather surprised by how sympathetic it was toward the Jews, solely based on the time period it's from. I expected gross caricatures and saw none. Of course, this movie is pre-Code (as in the morality codes), as they say, and I've noticed a stark difference between the pre-Code movies in the and the post-Code ones up until everyone started unclenching in the 1960s. Film was really stifled by the Code. It's sad to see.<br /><br />I read online that Jolson really enjoyed performing in black face because he identified with the plight of blacks. He felt it was similar to the plight of Jews. I appreciated the sentiment, and it makes the black face performances sting *slightly* less. Only slightly because it made sense for the first song he sings. In the second song performed in black face, he sings "Mammy," which is racist no matter how you look at it IMO.balyienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13785839636620293326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2074838946965393539.post-84233306616189877932015-05-21T19:21:09.256-07:002015-05-21T19:21:09.256-07:00I didn't realize that Neil Diamond's versi...I didn't realize that Neil Diamond's version so closely followed the original. Because I can't actually imagine them making a movie about Jewish people in the 1920s. Holy cow!<br /><br />Amusingly, Neil Diamond also does a number in black face in his version. But it's okay, because his friend asks him to. The friend has a soul band and needs Diamond to fill in, but it's not going to go over well to have a white dude playing soul. So Diamond wears makeup and the band rips it up with Diamond singing "You Baby" and it goes over really well until the end when Diamond points or something, and he has forgotten to put makeup on his hand. A riot ensues. On the soundtrack, you can actually hear movie dialogue, someone saying, "That ain't no brother, that's a white boy!" Which I always said along with the soundtrack for years, not understanding what was going on until I watched the movie as a young adult.<br /><br />I'm sure your life is much better by that fact. And also that you know that I now have "Love on the Rocks" in my head.Patriciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07967372439743853589noreply@blogger.com