title: Sake

text: The origin of sake is unclear; however, the method of fermenting rice into alcohol spread to Japan from China around 500BCE. The earliest reference to the use of alcohol in Japan is recorded in the "Book of Wei" in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms". This 3rd-century Chinese text speaks of Japanese drinking and dancing.


title: Sake

text: In the Heian period (794–1185), sake was used for religious ceremonies, court festivals, and drinking games. Sake production was a government monopoly for a long time, but in the 10th century, temples and shrines began to brew sake, and they became the main centers of production for the next 500 years.


title: Sake

text: Before the 1440s in the Muromachi period (1333－1573), the Buddhist temple Shōryaku-ji invented various innovative methods for making sake. Because these production methods are the origin of the basic production methods for sake brewing today, Shoryakuji is often said to be the birthplace of (). Until then, most sake had been with a different process from today's, but after that, clear was established. The main production methods established by Shōryaku-ji are the use of all polished rice ("morohaku zukuri", 諸白造り), three-stage fermentation ("sandan zikomi", 三段仕込み), brewing of starter mash using acidic water produced by lactic acid fermentation ("bodaimoto zukuri", 菩提酛づくり), and pasteurization ("hiire", 火入れ). This method of producing starter mash is called "bodaimoto", which is the origin of . These innovations made it possible to produce sake with more stable quality than before, even in temperate regions. These things are described in (), the oldest known technical book on sake brewing written in 1355 or 1489, and (), a diary written between 1478 and 1618 by monks of Kōfuku-ji Temple in the Muromachi period.


title: Sake

text: A huge tub () with a capacity of 10 "koku" (1,800 liters) was invented at the end of the Muromachi period, making it possible to mass-produce sake more efficiently than before. Until then, sake had been made in jars with a capacity of 1, 2, or 3 "koku" at the most, and some sake brewers used to make sake by arranging 100 jars.


title: Sake

text: In the 16th century, the technique of distillation was introduced into the Kyushu district from Ryukyu. The brewing of shōchū, called "Imo–sake" started and was sold at the central market in Kyoto.


title: Sake

text: By the Genroku era (1688–1704) of the Edo period (1603–1867), a brewing method called () was developed in which a small amount of distilled alcohol (shōchū) was added to the mash to make it more aromatic and lighter in taste, while at the same preventing deterioration in quality. This originates from the distilled alcohol addition used in modern sake brewing. During this period, frequent natural disasters and bad weather caused rice shortages, and the Tokugawa shogunate issued sake brewing restrictions 61 times. In the early Edo period, there was a sake brewing technique called () that was optimized for each season. In 1667, the technique of () for making sake in winter was improved, and in 1673, when the Tokugawa shogunate banned brewing other than "kanzukuri" because of a shortage of rice, the technique of sake brewing in the four seasons ceased, and it became common to make sake only in winter until industrial technology began to develop in the 20th century. During this period, aged for three, five, or nine years, () was a luxury, but its deliciousness was known to the common people.


title: Sake

text: In the 18th century, Engelbert Kaempfer and Isaac Titsingh published accounts identifying sake as a popular alcoholic beverage in Japan, but Titsingh was the first to try to explain and describe the process of sake brewing. The work of both writers was widely disseminated throughout Europe at the beginning of the 19th century.


title: Sake

text: Starting around the beginning of the Meiji era (1868－1912), the technique for making sake began to develop rapidly. Breeding was actively carried out in various parts of Japan to produce sake rice optimized for sake brewing. "Ise Nishiki" developed in 1860, "Omachi" () developed in 1866 and "Shinriki" developed in 1877 are the earliest representative varieties. In 1923, Yamada Nishiki, later called the "king of sake rice," was produced. Among more than 123 varieties of sake rice as of 2019, Yamada Nishiki ranks first in production and "Omachi" fourth. The government opened the sake-brewing research institute in 1904, and in 1907 the first government-run sake-tasting competition was held. In 1904, the National Brewing Laboratory developed "yamahai", a new method of making starter mash, and in 1910, a further improvement, "sokujō", was developed. Yeast strains specifically selected for their brewing properties were isolated, and enamel-coated steel tanks arrived. The government started hailing the use of enamel tanks as easy to clean, lasting forever, and devoid of bacterial problems. (The government considered wooden tubs () to be unhygienic because of the potential bacteria living in the wood.) Although these things are true, the government also wanted more tax money from breweries, as using wooden tubs means a significant amount of sake is lost to evaporation (approximately 3%), which could have otherwise been taxed. This was the temporary end of the wooden-tubs age of sake, and the use of wooden tubs in brewing was temporarily eliminated.


title: Sake

text: In Japan, sake has long been taxed by the national government. In 1878, the liquor tax accounted for 12.3% of the national tax revenue, excluding local taxes, and in 1888 it was 26.4%, and in 1899 it was 38.8%, finally surpassing the land tax of 35.6%. In 1899, the government banned home brewing in anticipation of financial pressure from the First Sino-Japanese War and in preparation for the Russo-Japanese War. Since home-brewed sake is tax-free, the logic was that by banning the home-brewing of sake, sales would increase, and more tax revenue would be collected. This was the end of home-brewed sake. The Meiji government adopted a system in which taxes were collected when sake was finished, instead of levying taxes on the amount and price of sake at the time of sale to ensure more revenue from liquor taxes. The liquor tax for the sake produced in a given year had to be paid to the government during that fiscal year, so the breweries tried to make money by selling the sake as soon as possible. This destroyed the market for aged , which had been popular until then, and it was only in 1955 that sake breweries began to make again.


title: Sake

text: When World War II brought rice shortages, the sake-brewing industry was hampered as the government discouraged the use of rice for brewing. As early as the late 17th century, it had been discovered that small amounts of distilled alcohol could be added to sake before pressing to extract aromas and flavors from the rice solids. During the war, large amounts of distilled alcohol and glucose were added to small quantities of rice mash, increasing the yield by as much as four times. A few breweries were producing "sake" that contained no rice. The quality of sake during this time varied considerably. Incidentally, as of 2022, so much distilled alcohol is not allowed to be added, and under the provisions of the Liquor Tax Act, 50% of the weight of rice is the upper limit for the most inexpensive sake classified as "futsū-shu".


title: Sake

text: Postwar, breweries slowly recovered, and the quality of sake gradually increased. The term (), which means carefully brewed sake, first appeared at the end of the Edo period, and the term (), which has the same meaning, first appeared in 1894. However, "ginjō-shu" (), which is popular in the world today, was created by the development of various sake production techniques from the 1930s to around 1975. From 1930 to 1931, a new type of rice milling machine was invented, which made it possible to make rice with a polishing ratio of about 50%, removing the miscellaneous taste derived from the surface part of the rice grain to make sake with a more aromatic and refreshing taste than before. In 1936, Yamada Nishiki, the most suitable sake rice for brewing "ginjō-shu", became the recommended variety of Hyogo Prefecture. Around 1953, the "Kyokai yeast No. 9" (, ) was invented, which produced fruit-like aromas like apples and bananas but also excelled in fermentation. From around 1965, more and more manufacturers began to work on the research and development of "ginjō-shu", and by about 1968, the Kyokai yeast No. 9 began to be used throughout Japan. In the 1970s, temperature control technology in the mash production process improved dramatically. And by slowly fermenting rice at low temperatures using high-milled rice and a newly developed yeast, "ginjō-shu" with a fruity flavor was created. At that time, "ginjō-shu" was a special sake exhibited at competitive exhibitions and was not on the market. From around 1975, "ginjō-shu" began to be marketed and was widely distributed in the 1980s, and in 1990, with the definition of what can be labeled as "ginjō-shu", more and more brewers began to sell "ginjō-shu". The growing popularity of "ginjō-shu" has prompted research into yeast, and many yeasts with various aromas optimized for "ginjō-shu" have been developed.


title: Sake

text: New players on the scene—beer, wine, and spirits—became popular in Japan, and in the 1960s, beer consumption surpassed sake for the first time. Sake consumption continued to decrease while the quality of sake steadily improved. While the rest of the world may be drinking more sake and the quality of sake has been increasing, sake production in Japan has been declining since the mid-1970s. The number of sake breweries is also declining. While there were 3,229 breweries nationwide in fiscal 1975, the number had fallen to 1,845 in 2007. In recent years, exports have rapidly increased due to the growing popularity of sake worldwide. Sake exports in 2021 were six times larger than those in 2009. As of 2021, the value of Japan's liquor exports was about 114.7 billion yen, with Japanese whiskey first at 46.1 billion yen and sake second at 40.2 billion yen. Today, sake has become a world beverage with a few breweries in China, Southeast Asia, South America, North America, and Australia.


title: Sake

text: More breweries are also turning to older methods of production. For example, since the 21st century, the use of wooden tubs has increased again due to the development of sanitary techniques. The use of wooden tubs for fermentation has the advantage of allowing various microorganisms living in the wood to affect sake, allowing more complex fermentation and producing sake with different characteristics. It is also known that the antioxidants contained in wood have a positive effect on sake.


title: Sake

text: The oldest known sake brewery is from the 15th century near an area that was owned by Tenryū-ji, in Ukyō-ku, Kyoto. Unrefined sake was squeezed out at the brewery, and there are about 180 holes (60 cm wide, 20 cm deep) for holding storage jars. A hollow (1.8 meter wide, 1 meter deep) for a pot to collect drops of pressed sake and 14th-century Bizen ware jars were also found. It is estimated to be utilized until the Onin War (1467–1477). Sake was brewed at Tenryū-ji during the Muromachi Period (1336–1573).


title: Sake

text: The rice used for brewing sake is called () ('sake rice'), or officially () ('sake-brewing suitable rice'). There are at least 123 types of sake rice in Japan. Among these, Yamada Nishiki, Gohyakumangoku (), Miyama Nishiki () and Omachi () rice are popular. The grain is larger, stronger (if a grain is small or weak, it will break in the process of polishing), and contains less protein and lipid than ordinary table rice. Because of the cost, ordinary table rice, which is cheaper than sake rice, is sometimes used for sake brewing, but because sake rice has been improved and optimized for sake brewing, few people eat it.


title: Sake

text: Premium sake is mostly made from sake rice. However, non-premium sake is mostly made from table rice. According to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, premium sake makes up 25% of total sake production, and non-premium sake () makes up 75% of sake production. In 2008, a total of 180,000 tons of polished rice were used in sake brewing, of which sake rice accounted for 44,000 tons (24%), and table rice accounted for 136,000 tons (76%).


title: Sake

text: Sake rice is usually polished to a much higher degree than ordinary table rice. The reason for polishing is a result of the composition and structure of the rice grain itself. The core of the rice grain is rich in starch, while the outer layers of the grain contain higher concentrations of fats, vitamins, and proteins. Since a higher concentration of fat and protein in the sake would lead to off-flavors and contribute rough elements to the sake, the outer layers of the sake rice grain is milled away in a polishing process, leaving only the starchy part of the grain (some sake brewers remove over 60% of the rice grain in the polishing process). That desirable pocket of starch in the center of the grain is called the (, ). It usually takes two to three days to polish rice down to less than half its original size. The rice powder by-product of polishing is often used for making rice crackers, Japanese sweets (i.e. Dango), and other food stuffs.


title: Sake

text: If the sake is made with rice with a higher percentage of its husk and the outer portion of the core milled off, then more rice will be required to make that particular sake, which will take longer to produce. Thus, sake made with rice that has been highly milled is usually more expensive than sake that has been made with less-polished rice. This does not always mean that sake made with highly-milled rice is of better quality than sake made with rice milled less. Sake made with highly-milled rice has a strong aroma and a light taste without miscellaneous taste. It maximizes the fruity flavor of "ginjō". On the other hand, sake made with less milled rice but with attention to various factors tends to have a rich sweetness and flavor derived from rice.


title: Sake

text: Rice polishing ratio, called () (see Glossary of sake terms) measures the degree of rice polishing. For example, a rice polishing ratio of 70% means that 70% of the original rice grain remains and 30% has been polished away.


title: Sake

text: Water is involved in almost every major sake brewing process, from washing the rice to diluting the final product before bottling. The mineral content of the water can be important in the final product. Iron will bond with an amino acid produced by the to produce off flavors and a yellowish color. Manganese, when exposed to ultraviolet light, will also contribute to discoloration. Conversely, potassium, magnesium, and phosphoric acid serve as nutrients for yeast during fermentation and are considered desirable. The yeast will use those nutrients to work faster and multiply resulting in more sugar being converted into alcohol. While soft water will typically yield sweeter sake, hard water with a higher nutrient content is known for producing drier-style sake.


title: Sake

text: The first region known for having great water was the Nada-Gogō in Hyōgo Prefecture. A particular water source called was found to produce high-quality sake and attracted many producers to the region. Today Hyōgo has the most sake brewers of any prefecture.


title: Sake

text: Typically breweries obtain water from wells, though surface water can be used. Breweries may use tap water and filter and adjust components.


title: Sake

text: As is a microorganism used to manufacture food, its safety profile concerning humans and the environment in sake brewing and other food-making processes must be considered. Various health authorities, including Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), consider ("A. oryzae") generally safe for use in food fermentation, including sake brewing. When assessing its safety, it is important to note that "A." "oryzae" lacks the ability to produce toxins, unlike the closely related "Aspergillus flavus". To date, there have been several reported cases of animals (e.g. parrots, a horse) being infected with "A. oryzae". In these cases the animals infected with "A. oryzae" were already weakened due to predisposing conditions such as recent injury, illness or stress, hence were susceptible to infections in general. Aside from these cases, there is no evidence to indicate "A. oryzae" is a harmful pathogen to either plants or animals in the scientific literature. Therefore, Health Canada considers "A. oryzae" "unlikely to be a serious hazard to livestock or to other organisms," including "healthy or debilitated humans." Given its safety record in the scientific literature and extensive history of safe use (spanning several hundred years) in the Japanese food industry, the FDA and World Health Organization (WHO) also support the safety of "A. oryzae" for use in the production of foods like sake. In the US, the FDA classifies "A.oryzae" as a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) organism.


title: Sake

text: Sake fermentation is a three-step process called . The first step, called , involves steamed rice, water, and being added to the yeast starter called : a mixture of steamed rice, water, kōji, and yeast. This mixture becomes known as the (the main mash during sake fermentation). The high yeast content of the promotes the fermentation of the "."


title: Sake

text: The second step (the third day of the process), called , involves the addition of a second batch of , steamed rice, and water to the mixture. On the fourth day of the fermentation, the third step of the process, called , takes place. Here, the third and final batch of kōji, steamed rice, and water is added to the mixture to complete the three-step process.


title: Sake

text: The fermentation process of sake is a multiple parallel fermentation unique to sake. Multiple parallel fermentation is the conversion of starch into glucose followed by immediate conversion into alcohol. This process distinguishes sake from other liquors like beer because it occurs in a single vat, whereas with beer, for instance, starch-to-glucose conversion and glucose-to-alcohol conversion occur in separate vats. The breakdown of starch into glucose is caused by the fungus, while the conversion of glucose into alcohol is caused by yeast. Due to the yeast being available as soon as the glucose is produced, the conversion of glucose to alcohol is very efficient in sake brewing. This results in sake having a generally higher alcohol content than other types of liquor.


title: Sake

text: After the fermentation process is complete, the fermented is pressed to remove the sake lees and then pasteurized and filtered for color. The sake is then stored in bottles under cold conditions (see "Maturation" below).


title: Sake

text: The process of making sake can range from 60–90 days (2–3 months), while the fermentation alone can take two weeks. On the other hand, "ginjō-shu" takes about 30 days for fermentation alone.


title: Sake

text: Like other brewed beverages, sake tends to benefit from a period of storage. Nine to twelve months are required for the sake to mature. Maturation is caused by physical and chemical factors such as oxygen supply, the broad application of external heat, nitrogen oxides, aldehydes, and amino acids, among other unknown factors.


title: Sake

text: There are two basic types of sake: and . is the equivalent of table wine and accounts for the majority of sake produced. refers to premium sake distinguished by the degree to which the rice has been polished and the added percentage of brewer's alcohol or the absence of such additives. There are eight varieties of special-designation sake.


title: Sake

text: Generally () is a term used for the sake that is made of pure rice wine without any additional distilled alcohol. Special-designation sake, which is not labeled , has an appropriate amount of distilled alcohol added. The maximum amount of distilled alcohol added to is 50% of the rice weight, mainly to increase the volume, while the maximum amount of distilled alcohol added to special-designation sake is 10% of the rice weight, to make the sake more aromatic and light in taste, and to prevent the growth of lactic acid bacteria, which deteriorate the flavor of the sake. Generally, it is often misunderstood that the addition of distilled alcohol is of poor quality, but that is not the case with the addition of distilled alcohol to special-designation sake. Specifically, 78.3% of the sake entered in the "Zenkoku shinshu kanpyōkai" (全国新酒鑑評会, National New Sake Appraisal), the largest sake contest, had distilled alcohol added, and 91.1% of the winning sake had it added. It should be noted, however, that the most important aspect of the contest is the brewing technique, not whether it tastes and flavor good or not.


title: Sake

text: Sake made with highly-milled rice has a strong aroma and a light taste without miscellaneous taste. It maximizes the fruity flavor of "ginjō". On the other hand, sake made with less milled rice but with attention to various factors tends to have a rich sweetness and flavor derived from rice.


title: Sake

text: The certification requirements for special-designation sake must meet the conditions listed below, as well as the superior aroma and color specified by the National Tax Agency.


title: Sake

text: The characteristics of sake listed below are generally described on the label attached to the sake bottle. For example, " " (しぼりたて無濾過生原酒) indicates that all the conditions of , , and below are satisfied.


title: Sake

text: The label on a bottle of sake gives a rough indication of its taste. Terms found on the label may include (), (), and ().


title: Sake

text: Sake can have many flavor notes, such as fruits, flowers, herbs, and spices. Many types of sake have notes of apple from ethyl caproate and banana from isoamyl acetate, particularly .


title: Sake

text: In Japan, sake is served chilled (), at room temperature (), or heated ( ), depending on the preference of the drinker, the characteristics of the sake, and the season. Typically, hot sake is a winter drink, and high-grade sake is not usually drunk hot because the flavors and aromas may be lost. Most lower-quality sake is served hot because that is the traditional way, and it often tastes better that way, not so that flaws are covered up. There are gradations of temperature both for chilling and heating, about every , with hot sake generally served around , and chilled sake around , like white wine. Hot sake that has cooled ( ) may be reheated.


title: Sake

text: Sake is traditionally drunk from small cups called or () and poured into the from ceramic flasks called . This is very common for hot sake, where the flask is heated in hot water, and the small cups ensure that the sake does not get cold in the cup, but it may also be used for chilled sake. Traditionally one does not pour one's own drink, which is known as (), but instead members of a party pour for each other, which is known as (). This has relaxed in recent years but is generally observed on more formal occasions, such as business meals, and is still often observed for the first drink.


title: Sake

text: Another traditional cup is the "masu", a box usually made of "hinoki" or "sugi", which was originally used for measuring rice. The holds exactly one "gō", , so the sake is served by filling the to the brim; this is done for chilled or room temperature sake. In some Japanese restaurants, as a show of generosity, the server may put a glass inside the or put the on a saucer and pour until sake overflows and fills both containers.


title: Sake

text: Sake is traditionally served in units of , and this is still common, but other sizes are sometimes also available.


title: Sake

text: Saucer-like cups called are also used, most commonly at weddings and other ceremonial occasions, such as the start of the year or the beginning of a kaiseki meal. In cheap bars, sake is often served at room temperature in glass tumblers and called (). In more modern restaurants, wine glasses are also used, and recently footed glasses made specifically for premium sake have also come into use.


title: Sake

text: Traditionally sake is heated immediately before serving, but today restaurants may buy sake in boxes that can be heated in a specialized hot sake dispenser, thus allowing hot sake to be served immediately. However, this is detrimental to the flavor. There are also a variety of devices for heating sake and keeping it warm beyond the traditional .


title: Sake

text: Aside from being served straight, sake can be used as a mixer for cocktails, such as tamagozake, saketinis, or nogasake. Outside of Japan, the sake bomb, the origins of which are unclear, has become a popular drink in bars and Asia-themed karaoke clubs.


title: Sake

text: The Japanese Sake Association encourages people to drink chaser water for their health, and the water is called Yawaragi-mizu.


title: Sake

text: Traditionally sake was brewed only in the winter. While it can now be brewed year-round, seasonality is still associated with sake, particularly artisanal ones. The most visible symbol of this is the (), a globe of cedar leaves traditionally hung outside a brewery when the new sake is brewed. The leaves start green but turn brown over time, reflecting the maturation of the sake. These are now hung outside many restaurants serving sake. The new year's sake is called ('new sake'), and when initially released in late winter or early spring, many brewers have a celebration known as (warehouse opening). Traditionally sake was best transported in the cool spring to avoid spoilage in the summer heat, with a secondary transport in autumn, once the weather had cooled, known as ('cold wholesale distribution')—this autumn sake has matured over the summer.


title: Sake

text: There is not traditionally a notion of vintage of sake—it is generally drunk within the year, and if aged, it does not vary significantly from year to year. Today, with influence from wine vintages, some breweries label sake intended for aging with a vintage, but this is otherwise rare.


title: Sake

text: Sake is sold in volume units divisible by (one "gō"), the traditional Japanese unit for cup size. Sake is traditionally sold by the -sized cup, or in a (one "shō" or ten )-sized flask (called an , or 'one shō-measure bottle'). Today sake is also often sold in bottles, which are divisible into four . Note that this is almost the same as the standard for wine bottles, which is divisible into four quarter bottles (187ml). Particularly in convenience stores, sake (generally of cheap quality) may be sold in a small bottle or a single serving (one gō) glass with a pull-off top ( ).


title: Sake

text: Generally, it is best to keep sake refrigerated in a cool or dark room, as prolonged exposure to heat or direct light will lead to spoilage. Sake stored at a relatively high temperature can lead to the formation of diketopiperazine, a cyclo (Pro-Leu) that makes it bitter as it ages Sake has high microbiological stability due to its high content of ethanol, but incidences of spoilage have occurred. One of the microorganisms implicated in this spoilage is lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that has grown tolerant to ethanol and is referred to as -bacteria. Sake stored at room temperature is best consumed within a few months after purchase.


title: Sake

text: After opening a bottle of sake, it is best consumed within two or three hours. It is possible to store sake in the refrigerator, but it is recommended to consume it within two days. When premium sake is opened, it begins to oxidize, which affects the taste. If the sake is kept in the refrigerator for over three days, it will lose its "best" flavor. This does not mean it should be disposed of if not consumed. Generally, sake can keep very well and taste good after weeks in the refrigerator. How long a sake will remain drinkable depends on the quality of the product and whether it is sealed with a vacuum top to decrease oxidation.


title: Sake

text: Sake is often consumed as part of Shinto purification rituals. Sake served to gods as offerings before drinking are called or .


title: Sake

text: In a ceremony called "kagami biraki", wooden sake casks are opened with mallets during Shinto festivals, weddings, store openings, sports and election victories, and other celebrations. This sake, called ('celebration sake'), is served freely to all to spread good fortune.


title: Sake

text: At the New Year, many Japanese people drink a special sake called "toso". is a sort of made by soaking , a Chinese powdered medicine, overnight in sake. Even children sip a portion. In some regions, the first sips of are taken in order of age, from the youngest to the eldest.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. He first entered filmmaking as a production and costume designer before gaining writing credits on "Car Wash", "Sparkle", and "The Wiz".


title: Joel Schumacher

text: Schumacher received little attention for his first theatrically released films, "The Incredible Shrinking Woman" and "D.C. Cab", but rose to prominence after directing "St. Elmo's Fire", "The Lost Boys", and "The Client". Schumacher was selected to replace Tim Burton as director of the Batman franchise and oversaw "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin". Later, Schumacher directed smaller-budgeted films, including "Tigerland" and "Phone Booth". In 2004, he directed "The Phantom of the Opera", which was released to mixed reviews. His final directorial work were two episodes of "House of Cards".


title: Joel Schumacher

text: Joel T. Schumacher was born on August 29, 1939, in New York City. His parents were Francis Schumacher, a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died from pneumonia when Joel was four, and Marian (Kantor), a Swedish Jew. He was raised by his mother in Long Island City. During his youth, he used LSD and methamphetamine and started drinking alcohol by age nine. In 1965, he graduated from Parsons School of Design, after having studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and later became a designer for Revlon in 1966.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: At the time of his mother's death in 1965, Schumacher stated that his "life seemed like a joke" as he was $50,000 in debt, lost multiple teeth, and only weighed . However, in 1970, he stopped using drugs and became employed at Henri Bendel. He later stated that "I got my self-respect back getting a good day's pay for a good day's work."


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In 1972, Schumacher served as a costume designer for "Play It as It Lays" and designed the wardrobes of Dyan Cannon, Joan Hackett, and Raquel Welch for the film "The Last of Sheila". In 1973, he served as a costume designer for Woody Allen's "Sleeper", and Paul Mazursky's "Blume in Love". In 1974, he served as the production designer of "Killer Bees". He later served as a costume designer for "The Time of the Cuckoo", "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" and "Interiors".


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In 1974, Schumacher wrote a script for an eponymous biographic made-for-television movie based on the life of Virginia Hill. He was selected to serve as the movie's director and started filming on September 9.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In 1974, he and Howard Rosenman wrote the script for "Sparkle" which later went into production in 1975, and was released in 1976. His original plan for the film was for the film to be a "black "Gone with the Wind"", but had to be modest due to the limited budget given to the production by Warner Bros. According to Schumacher the film represented his "personal fascination" with Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross. He was later selected to write the screenplays for "Car Wash" and "The Wiz".


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In 1978, Schumacher was selected to serve as the director of "Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill" which was later released in 1979. On January 31, 1980, he submitted a script for "A Chorus Line", but the film underwent rewrites in development hell.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In 1979, he was selected to serve as the director of "The Incredible Shrinking Woman", his first theatrically released film, to replace John Landis, who had left after Universal Pictures had reduced the film's budget. In 1981, the film was released to negative reviews, and was a box office bomb. The film was initially given a $30 million budget, but it was reduced to $11–13 million although it would later rise to over $20 million due to the cost of special effects.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In 1983, he directed "D.C. Cab" starring Mr. T, but later stated that he only worked on the film as he needed a job.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In 1984, Schumacher was selected by Columbia Pictures to direct "St. Elmo's Fire" and was secretive during the production of the film. In 1987, he directed "The Lost Boys". Both films were successful among young people and were his first major critical and commercial successes.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: Following "The Lost Boys", Schumacher directed "Cousins" (a remake of the French film "Cousin Cousine"), "Flatliners", "Dying Young", "Falling Down", and "The Client".


title: Joel Schumacher

text: Schumacher was selected by Warner Bros. in 1993 to replace Tim Burton as the director of the Batman franchise. He directed "Batman Forever", which was a stylistic departure from Burton's "Batman" and "Batman Returns". "Batman Forever" was released to mixed reviews, but was more financially successful than "Batman Returns".


title: Joel Schumacher

text: He later directed "Batman & Robin", which was rushed into production following "Batman Forever" and was intentionally made toyetic and light-hearted to appeal to children and sell merchandise. The film was released to largely negative reviews and did not perform as well at the box-office as any of its predecessors causing a planned sequel, "Batman Unchained", to be cancelled. Schumacher later approached Warner Bros. to pitch concepts for a new Batman movie which were inspired by Frank Miller's graphic novels, "" and "The Dark Knight Returns". But due to the box-office bomb of "Batman & Robin" along with the negative impact that the film had on his reputation, Warner Bros. refused to let him develop another Batman film. Schumacher later apologized for the quality of "Batman & Robin" in 2017.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: It was alleged that Schumacher, a gay man, had added homoerotic elements to the film with the most prominent being the rubber nipples, codpieces, and close-up camera shots of Batman and Robin's buttocks. Schumacher stated that the designs of the suits had been based on anatomically correct Greek statues and medical drawings. However, in 2005, Clooney said that Schumacher told him that Batman was gay.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: Following "Batman & Robin" Schumacher directed "8mm", "Flawless", "Tigerland", "Bad Company", "Phone Booth", "Veronica Guerin", "The Phantom of the Opera", "The Number 23", "Blood Creek", "Twelve", and "Trespass".


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In August 2008, Schumacher directed the music video for American rock band Scars on Broadway, for their single "World Long Gone".


title: Joel Schumacher

text: Schumacher described himself as "extremely promiscuous", saying in a 2019 interview that he became sexually active at age eleven, and estimating that he had sex with between 10,000 and 20,000 men over the course of his life. Schumacher said the first person he knew who died from the AIDS epidemic, in 1983, "was not promiscuous", leading Schumacher to believe he would die soon after, recalling that he thought at the time, "If he has it, I must have it quadrupled [...] I was sure I had it, I was planning my death", though he never contracted the disease.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: In 1984, Schumacher purchased the horse stables that had belonged to Rudolph Valentino from Doris Duke.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: Schumacher donated to Democratic Party candidates, including multiple congressional campaigns as well as John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.


title: Joel Schumacher

text: On June 22, 2020, Schumacher died from cancer. Following his death, he was praised by Jim Carrey and Matthew McConaughey, who credited Schumacher with launching their careers.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Hellraiser is an English/American horror media franchise that consists of eleven films, as well as various comic books, and additional merchandise and media. Based on the novella by English author Clive Barker titled "The Hellbound Heart", the franchise centers around the Cenobites including the primary antagonist named Pinhead. The overall plot of the franchise focuses on a puzzle box that opens a gateway to the Hell-like realm of the Cenobite lifeforms called the Lament Configuration. The Cenobites are an order of former-humans turned-monsters, who harvest human souls to torture in their sadistic experiments. Barker, who created the franchise and served as writer/director of the original film, stated that he signed away the story and character rights to the production company prior to the release of the first film, not realizing the critical and financial success it would be.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: The franchise was rebooted with an eleventh film, which was released on Hulu in October 2022, as well as a television series continuation in development at HBO.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) escapes from the Cenobites when his brother Larry (Andrew Robinson) spills his own blood on the spot where Frank died after opening the puzzle box that opened a gateway to the Cenobites. With the help of Larry's wife Julia (Clare Higgins), Frank begins regenerating his body with the blood of victims that Julia supplies him. Larry's daughter, Kirsty (Ashley Laurence), accidentally unleashes the Cenobites, but makes a deal to deliver Frank to them in exchange for her own life. After taking Frank's soul, the Cenobites still try to take Kirsty's soul as well, but solving the puzzle box, Kirsty sends the Cenobites back to Hell.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Dr. Philip Channard (Kenneth Cranham) resurrects Julia, who was stuck in Hell with the Cenobites. Kirsty is pulled back into the Cenobite world, where the demons decide to keep her, but, having discovered the human identity of the Cenobites earlier, Kirsty appeals to their latent humanity, specifically the Cenobite leader Pinhead (Doug Bradley). Pinhead decides to release her, but he and his followers are killed by Channard, who has become a Cenobite himself. With the help of a teenage girl, Tiffany (Imogen Boorman), who unknowingly assisted Channard in opening the box, Kirsty and Tiffany escape the Cenobite world and close the gateway behind them.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: The revelation of Pinhead's humanity has resulted in a schism, splitting him into two separate parts: his human self, World War I veteran Elliot Spencer, and Pinhead, now a living embodiment of Spencer's id. While Spencer is trapped in limbo, Pinhead is trapped, along with the puzzle box, in the surface of an intricately carved pillar, a relic of the Cenobite realm. The pillar is purchased by a night club owner, J.P. Monroe (Kevin Bernhardt), who begins assisting Pinhead in his resurrection. A television reporter, Joey Summerskill (Terry Farrell), begins to learn about Pinhead and the puzzle box, which leads her to Monroe's night club. Pinhead is eventually resurrected, and begins creating new Cenobite followers in an effort to establish Hell on Earth. Joey manages to reunite Spencer and Pinhead, fusing them back into one entity, and is able to use the puzzle box to send Pinhead back to his dimension. Afterward, Joey submerges the box into freshly laid cement at a construction site.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: A toymaker named Philip Lemarchand (Bruce Ramsay) is commissioned by the Duc de L'Isle (Mickey Cottrell), a wealthy Aristocrat and master of the dark arts, to create the box as a gateway to Hell so that de L'Isle can enslave a demon. Beginning in the distant future, and tracing the history of the box from its creation in 1796, "Bloodline" shows how the Lemarchand family attempts to close the box forever after learning what L'Isle uses it for. Eventually, Dr. Paul Merchant creates the Elysium Configuration, a space station capable of closing the gateway for good, and he traps Pinhead inside and destroys him and the box.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: A corrupt police Detective Joseph Thorne (Craig Sheffer) discovers the puzzle box while investigating a series of ritualistic murders. As time goes on he begins to uncover clues that suggest that he is the killer. Eventually, Pinhead appears and informs Thorne that the events of the movie have been transpiring in Thorne's own personal Hell, and that he will be reliving the same series of events for eternity.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Kirsty Cotton and her husband, Trevor (Dean Winters), end up in a car accident that kills her. One month later, Trevor wakes up in a hospital, but because of a head injury, his memory is uncertain and he cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality. As he begins to uncover evidence that he was having a series of affairs, he also comes under suspicion for orchestrating the crash that killed his wife. Pinhead appears in the end, and informs Trevor that he was the one that died in the car crash, his own plot to murder Kirsty for her inheritance backfired when Kirsty offered the Cenobites the lives of Trevor, his mistresses and his co-conspirators in exchange for her own.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Reporter Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer), is sent to Bucharest to investigate an underground suicide cult founded by a descendant of Philip Lemarchand, who claims to be able to bring back the dead and who believes that it is his birthright to open the puzzle box and control the Cenobites. She is gradually drawn into their world and eventually sees no way out other than to join them. In the end she opens the puzzle box, summoning up Pinhead and the Cenobites, who kill everyone for attempting to invade their world. To prevent Pinhead from taking her soul, Amy kills herself.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Taking place in the "real-life world", in which the "Hellraiser" franchise has spawned a successful MMORPG. Five friends mourning the death of one of their fellow players—who committed suicide after becoming obsessed with the game—receive in-game invitations to a party at the Leviathan House. At the house, the host of the party (Lance Henriksen) takes them on a tour of the many layers of the home, after which they are picked off one-by-one by the host or Pinhead. The final two victims ultimately realize that most of the events of the movie have been a hallucination, after the host—the father of their deceased friend, who blames his son's fellow players for not breaking his addiction to the game—drugged them and buried them alive. The police rescue the surviving teenagers, Chelsea (Katheryn Winnick) and Jake (Christopher Jacot), while the host escapes to a decrepit motel with a suitcase of his son's belongings. The host discovers a real puzzle box inside, and upon opening it is killed by Pinhead and a pair of Cenobites.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: The ninth film in the franchise, "Revelations" is the first film not to feature Doug Bradley as Pinhead and was shot in two weeks for $300,000. In 2011 it was released to a single theater in California for a crew showing that was ostensibly open to the public. It was suggested by Bloody Disgusting that the film was only shot so that The Weinstein Company would not lose its filming rights before it could produce a remake of the original. The film was released on DVD on 18 October 2011.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: The tenth film in the franchise, it began filming in early 2016. Like "Revelations", it does not feature Doug Bradley as Pinhead. Bradley was offered the part but turned it down because the production company refused to let him read the script without signing a non-disclosure agreement regarding its contents. This film was released on DVD in February 2018.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: In October 2006, Clive Barker announced on his official website that he would be writing the script for a forthcoming remake of the original "Hellraiser" film, which was to be produced by Dimension Films. Pascal Laugier was hired as director, before ultimately dropping out of the production due to creative differences. Laugier reportedly wanted the film to have a dark and serious tone, while producers wanted the target audience to be teenagers.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: In October 2010, Patrick Lussier was hired to serve as director on a reboot of the "Hellraiser" franchise, with a script written by Todd Farmer. The film's story would have differed from the original film, as the creative team did not want to retell the same story. The story was intended to center on the world, and functions of the puzzle box. By 2011 however, the pair had dropped out of the project. In October 2013, Clive Barker was once again attached to the next "Hellraiser" film. Barker was hired to serve as writer/director, while Doug Bradley was announced to reprise his role as Pinhead. By 2014, Barker stated that he had completed a second draft for the script, stating that he may not serve as director on the project. The story was described as a "very loose" remake of the original film. In March 2017, the filmmaker stated that the "script was written and delivered to Dimension years ago". He acknowledged that the franchise is now looking at adapting a sequel, instead.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Inspired by the success of the "Halloween" (2018) from Universal Pictures, Miramax Films announced plans to adapt future installments in the "Hellraiser" franchise. In May 2019, Gary Barber stated that Spyglass Media Group will develop the next film in the franchise, described as a reboot. David S. Goyer will serve as writer and producer. By April 2020, David Bruckner was hired as director, from a script he co-wrote with Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski. Later in October, Jamie Clayton was cast as Pinhead. The film was released as a Hulu Original Film, exclusively via streaming on Hulu on October 7, 2022.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: In April 2020, a television series adaptation of the franchise was announced to be in development. Mark Verheiden and Michael Dougherty will serve as the main writers, while David Gordon Green will serve as director on several of the episodes. The series will serve as "an elevated continuation and expansion" of the film series. Verheiden, Dougherty, and Green will serve as executive producers, alongside Danny McBride, Jody Hill, Brandon James, and Roy Lee. The project will be a joint-venture production between HBO, Rough House Pictures and Vertigo Entertainment. Later in October, Clive Barker joined the series as an executive producer.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: "The Scarlet Gospels", a novel-length sequel to "The Hellbound Heart" also featuring Barker's recurring Harry D'Amour character, was released in 2015. "Hellraiser: The Toll", set before "The Scarlet Gospels" and after "The Hellbound Heart", was written by Mark Alan Miller and published by Subterranean Press in February 2018.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: "Hellbound Hearts", an anthology coedited by Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan was released on 29 September 2009. It had a cover painted by Barker and included a reprint of "Wordsworth", a short comic by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean originally printed in Epic Comics' "Hellraiser" comic book. Paul Kane alone authored "Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell", a 2016 crossover with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Epic Comics, a more adult imprint of Marvel Comics, began publishing series of comic book spin-offs for the "Hellraiser" franchise in a prestige format. Epic's title, entitled simply "Hellraiser", had Clive Barker acting as a consultant for the comics. These included "Wordsworth", written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Gaiman's frequent collaborator Dave McKean. Between 1989 and 1992, Epic published twenty regular series comics. They also published three special issues from 1992 to 1994, one being a holiday special, in addition to an adaptation of "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth" and a collection of the first two issues. Other releases included the limited series Clive Barker's "Book of the Damned" and "Pinhead", as well as the crossovers "Hellraiser vs. Nightbreed: Jihad" and "Pinhead vs. Marshal Law: Law in Hell". The following series were released by Epic Comics:


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: In March 2011 Boom! Studios commenced a new "Hellraiser" series, written by Clive Barker and Christopher Monfette. Separately, reprints of selected Epic Comics stories appeared under the title of "Hellraiser Masterpieces". The following series were released by Boom! Studios:


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Seraphim Incorporated, a graphic novel imprint headed by Clive Barker, began publishing a series of original graphic novels titled "Hellraiser: Anthology" in 2017. They are collections of stories taking place within the "Hellraiser" universe hailing from various creators, including Barker himself.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: There have been two non-fiction books released that chronicle the "Hellraiser" films. The first, released on 21 May 2004, was published by Titan Books and titled "The Hellraiser Chronicles". Written by Peter Atkins and Stephen Jones, with a foreword by Clive Barker, "The Hellraiser Chronicles" is a collection of production photographs, design sketches, excerpts from the scripts, and interviews with the cast and crew. The next book, "The Hellraiser Films And Their Legacy", was released by McFarland & Company on 27 November 2006; it was written by Paul Kane, and features foreword by Pinhead actor Doug Bradley. "Hellraiser Films" collects the production history of all eight films, their spin-offs, as well as how the series relates to popular culture. The book provides an in-depth look at the film characters, and interpretations of the choices those characters make in the film. "Hellraiser Films" also provides a brief look at the fan short film "No More Souls".


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: A feature-length documentary, "Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II", was originally due for release in 2015, and comprises interviews with the cast and crew. It is being directed by K. John McDonagh and produced by Cult Film Screenings, based in Birmingham, who used Kickstarter to raise the funds necessary to conduct further interviews in the United States, although Clive Barker pulled out at the last minute due to ill health.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: In an interview, Doug Bradley stated that in 2002 Dimension Films received two scripts for a crossover featuring both Pinhead and Michael Myers, the antagonist of the "Halloween" series. One of the pitches involved Michael Myers opening the Lament Configuration as a child and being possessed by Samhain fleeing from Hell, and the Cenobites pursuing him in the present day. Although Dimension Films initially turned the project down because it believed the upcoming film "Freddy vs. Jason" would fail, the studio reconsidered after it grossed $114 million on a $30 million budget. According to Bradley, Clive Barker intended to return to write a screenplay while John Carpenter was being considered to direct. The project ultimately ended when "Halloween"'s producer Moustapha Akkad rejected the idea and due to a negative response from the fans of both franchises.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Inspired by the success of the slasher film "Freddy vs. Jason", Miramax contemplated a crossover between "Hellraiser" and "Candyman". Barker, originator of both franchises, recommended against the idea.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Separately in 2002, "Hellboy" co-writer Peter Briggs was approached by Dimension Films to pitch a continuation to the franchise, to be called "Hellraiser: Lament". His treatment, judged by Dimension Films to be "too expensive", concerned the mining town of Lament and the creation of the original puzzle boxes. The story would then have flashed forward to the present day and an attempt for Leviathan to break through into our world.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: "Super 3D Noah's Ark" originated as a "Hellraiser" license for the Nintendo Entertainment System. During the course of its development, the game's abandoned the "Hellraiser" license and converted it into a simplified game based on the Bible.


title: Hellraiser (franchise)

text: Prior to the release of "Bloodline", Magnet Interactive Studios developed an unrelated and ultimately unreleased video game called "Hellraiser: Virtual Hell". Bradley acted in the game during filming of "Bloodline". Miriam Van Scott, writing in the "Encyclopedia of Hell", called it "a slick adventure" that "truly involves the player". In 2011, The Weinstein Company announced video games based on several of their franchises, including "Hellraiser".


title: Blackface

text: Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.


title: Blackface

text: In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon". By the middle of the century, blackface minstrel shows had become a distinctive American artform, translating formal works such as opera into popular terms for a general audience. Early in the 20th century, blackface branched off from the minstrel show and became a form in its own right. In the United States, blackface declined in popularity beginning in the 1940s and into the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and was generally considered highly offensive, disrespectful, and racist by the turn of the 21st century, though the practice (or similar-looking ones) continues in other countries.


title: Blackface

text: There is no consensus about a single moment that constitutes the origin of blackface. The journalist and cultural commentator John Strausbaugh places it as part of a tradition of "displaying Blackness for the enjoyment and edification of white viewers" that dates back at least to 1441, when captive West Africans were displayed in Portugal. White people routinely portrayed the black characters in the Elizabethan and Jacobean theater (see English Renaissance theatre), most famously in "Othello" (1604). However, "Othello" and other plays of this era did not involve the emulation and caricature of "such supposed innate qualities of Blackness as inherent musicality, natural athleticism", etc. that Strausbaugh sees as crucial to blackface.


title: Blackface

text: Blackface was a performance tradition in the American theater for roughly 100 years beginning around 1830. It was practised in Britain as well, surviving longer than in the U.S.; "The Black and White Minstrel Show" on television lasted until 1978.


title: Blackface

text: In both the United States and Britain, blackface was most commonly used in the minstrel performance tradition, which it both predated and outlasted. Early white performers in blackface used burnt cork and later greasepaint or shoe polish to blacken their skin and exaggerate their lips, often wearing woolly wigs, gloves, tailcoats, or ragged clothes to complete the transformation. According to a 1901 source: "Blackface is best prepared by burning an ordinary cork on some wood shavings for best texture, while storing it on some sheet iron to keep it clean. Then they must be cracked open and kept dry until you wet your hands and rub it on your face. This to be repeated until thoroughly blackened. After which, you are to take some baby brushes and wipe off the dirt to give your hands a polish." Later, black artists also performed in blackface. The famous Dreadnought hoax involved the use of blackface and costume for a group of high profile authors to gain access to a Military vessel.


title: Blackface

text: Stereotypes embodied in the stock characters of blackface minstrels not only played a significant role in cementing and proliferating racist images, attitudes, and perceptions worldwide, but also in popularizing black culture. In some quarters, the caricatures that were the legacy of blackface persist to the present day and are a cause of ongoing controversy. Another view is that "blackface is a form of cross-dressing in which one puts on the insignias of a sex, class, or race that stands in opposition to one's own."


title: Blackface

text: By the mid-20th century, changing attitudes about race and racism effectively ended the prominence of blackface makeup used in performance in the U.S. and elsewhere. Blackface in contemporary art remains in relatively limited use as a theatrical device and is more commonly used today as social commentary or satire. Perhaps the most enduring effect of blackface is the precedent it established in the introduction of African-American culture to an international audience, albeit through a distorted lens. Blackface's appropriation, exploitation, and assimilation of African-American culture – as well as the inter-ethnic artistic collaborations that stemmed from it – were but a prologue to the lucrative packaging, marketing, and dissemination of African-American cultural expression and its myriad derivative forms in today's world popular culture.


title: Blackface

text: Lewis Hallam, Jr., a white blackface actor of American Company fame, brought blackface in this more specific sense to prominence as a theatrical device in the United States when playing the role of "Mungo", an inebriated black man in "The Padlock", a British play that premiered in New York City at the John Street Theatre on May 29, 1769. The play attracted notice, and other performers adopted the style. From at least the 1810s, blackface clowns were popular in the United States. British actor Charles Mathews toured the U.S. in 1822–23, and as a result added a "black" characterization to his repertoire of British regional types for his next show, "A Trip to America", which included Mathews singing "Possum up a Gum Tree", a popular slave freedom song. Edwin Forrest played a plantation black in 1823, and George Washington Dixon was already building his stage career around blackface in 1828, but it was another white comic actor, Thomas D. Rice, who truly popularized blackface. Rice introduced the song "Jump Jim Crow" accompanied by a dance in his stage act in 1828 and scored stardom with it by 1832.


title: Blackface

text: Rice traveled the U.S., performing under the stage name "Daddy Jim Crow". The name "Jim Crow" later became attached to statutes that codified the reinstitution of segregation and discrimination after Reconstruction.


title: Blackface

text: In the 1830s and early 1840s, blackface performances mixed skits with comic songs and vigorous dances. Initially, Rice and his peers performed only in relatively disreputable venues, but as blackface gained popularity they gained opportunities to perform as "entr'actes" in theatrical venues of a higher class. Stereotyped blackface characters developed: buffoonish, lazy, superstitious, cowardly, and lascivious characters, who stole, lied pathologically, and mangled the English language. Early blackface minstrels were all male, so cross-dressing white men also played black women who were often portrayed as unappealingly and grotesquely mannish, in the matronly mammy mold, or as highly sexually provocative. The 1830s American stage, where blackface first rose to prominence, featured similarly comic stereotypes of the clever Yankee and the larger-than-life Frontiersman; the late 19th- and early 20th-century American and British stage where it last prospered featured many other, mostly ethnically-based, comic stereotypes: conniving, venal Jews; drunken brawling Irishmen with blarney at the ready; oily Italians; stodgy Germans; and gullible rural rubes.


title: Blackface

text: 1830s and early 1840s blackface performers performed solo or as duos, with the occasional trio; the traveling troupes that would later characterize blackface minstrelsy arose only with the minstrel show. In New York City in 1843, Dan Emmett and his Virginia Minstrels broke blackface minstrelsy loose from its novelty act and "entr'acte" status and performed the first full-blown minstrel show: an evening's entertainment composed entirely of blackface performance. (E. P. Christy did more or less the same, apparently independently, earlier the same year in Buffalo, New York.) Their loosely structured show with the musicians sitting in a semicircle, a tambourine player on one end and a bones player on the other, set the precedent for what would soon become the first act of a standard three-act minstrel show. By 1852, the skits that had been part of blackface performance for decades expanded to one-act farces, often used as the show's third act.


title: Blackface

text: The songs of Northern composer Stephen Foster figured prominently in blackface minstrel shows of the period. Though written in dialect and certainly politically incorrect by today's standards, his later songs were free of the ridicule and blatantly racist caricatures that typified other songs of the genre. Foster's works treated slaves and the South in general with an often cloying sentimentality that appealed to audiences of the day.


title: Blackface

text: White minstrel shows featured white performers pretending to be black people, playing their versions of 'black music' and speaking ersatz black dialects. Minstrel shows dominated popular show business in the U.S. from that time through into the 1890s, also enjoying massive popularity in the UK and in other parts of Europe. As the minstrel show went into decline, blackface returned to its novelty act roots and became part of vaudeville. Blackface featured prominently in film at least into the 1930s, and the "aural blackface" of the "Amos 'n' Andy" radio show lasted into the 1950s. Meanwhile, amateur blackface minstrel shows continued to be common at least into the 1950s. In the UK, one such blackface popular in the 1950s was Ricardo Warley from Alston, Cumbria who toured around the North of England with a monkey called Bilbo.


title: Blackface

text: As a result, the genre played an important role in shaping perceptions of and prejudices about black people generally and African Americans in particular. Some social commentators have stated that blackface provided an outlet for white peoples' fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar, and a socially acceptable way of expressing their feelings and fears about race and control. Writes Eric Lott in "Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class": "The black mask offered a way to play with the collective fears of a degraded and threatening – and male – Other while at the same time maintaining some symbolic control over them."


title: Blackface

text: Blackface, at least initially, could also give voice to an oppositional dynamic that was prohibited by society. As early as 1832, a blacked-up Thomas D. Rice was singing: "An' I caution all white dandies not to come in my way, / For if dey insult me, dey'll in de gutter lay." It also on occasion equated lower-class white and lower-class black audiences; while parodying Shakespeare, Rice sang, "Aldough I'm a black man, de white is call'd my broder."


title: Blackface

text: In the early years of film, black characters were routinely played by white people in blackface. In the first filmic adaptation of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1903), all of the major black roles were white people in blackface. Even the 1914 "Uncle Tom" starring African-American actor Sam Lucas in the title role had a white male in blackface as Topsy. D. W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) used white people in blackface to represent all of its major black characters, but reaction against the film's racism largely put an end to this practice in dramatic film roles. Thereafter, white people in blackface would appear almost exclusively in broad comedies or "ventriloquizing" blackness in the context of a vaudeville or minstrel performance within a film. This stands in contrast to made-up white people routinely playing Native Americans, Asians, Arabs, and so forth, for several more decades.


title: Blackface

text: From the 1910s up until the early 1950s, many well-known entertainers of stage and screen also performed in blackface. White people who performed in blackface in film included Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Buster Keaton, Joan Crawford, Irene Dunne, Doris Day, Milton Berle, William Holden, Marion Davies, Myrna Loy, Betty Grable, Dennis Morgan, Laurel and Hardy, Betty Hutton, The Three Stooges, The Marx Brothers, Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, Donald O'Connor and Chester Morris and George E. Stone in several of the "Boston Blackie" films. In 1936, when Orson Welles was touring his "Voodoo Macbeth"; the lead actor, Maurice Ellis, fell ill, so Welles stepped into the role, performing in blackface.


title: Blackface

text: Blackface makeup was largely eliminated even from live-action film comedy in the U.S. after the end of the 1930s, when public sensibilities regarding race were beginning to change and blackface became increasingly associated with racism and bigotry. As late as the 1940s, Warner Bros. used blackface in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942), a minstrel show sketch in "This Is the Army" (1943) and by casting Flora Robson as a Haitian maid in "Saratoga Trunk" (1945). In "The Spoilers" (1942), John Wayne appeared in blackface and bantered in a mock accent with a black maid who mistook him for an authentic black man.


title: Blackface

text: Still, the tradition did not end all at once. The radio program "Amos 'n' Andy" (1928–60) constituted a type of "oral blackface", in that the black characters were portrayed by white people and conformed to stage blackface stereotypes. The conventions of blackface also lived on unmodified at least into the 1950s in animated theatrical cartoons. Strausbaugh estimates that roughly one-third of late 1940s MGM cartoons "included a blackface, coon, or mammy figure." Bugs Bunny appeared in blackface at least as late as "Southern Fried Rabbit" in 1953.


title: Blackface

text: Singer Grace Slick was wearing blackface when her band Jefferson Airplane performed "Crown of Creation" and "Lather" at "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in 1968. A clip is included in a 2004 documentary "Fly Jefferson Airplane", directed by Bob Sarles. In 1980, an underground film, "Forbidden Zone", was released, directed by Richard Elfman and starring the band Oingo Boingo, which received controversy for blackface sequences.


title: Blackface

text: In 1980, the white members of UB40 appeared in blackface in their "Dream a Lie" video, while the black members appeared in whiteface to give the opposite appearance.


title: Blackface

text: "Trading Places" (1983) is a film telling the elaborate story of a commodities banker and street hustler crossing paths after being made part of a bet. The film features a scene between Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Denholm Elliott, and Dan Aykroyd when they must don disguises to enter a train. Aykroyd's character puts on full blackface make-up, a dreadlocked wig and a Jamaican accent to fill the position of a Jamaican pothead. The film, being an obvious satire, has received little criticism for its use of racial and ethnic stereotype due to it mocking the ignorance of Aykroyd's character rather than black people as a whole, with Rotten Tomatoes citing it as "featuring deft interplay between Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, "Trading Places" is an immensely appealing social satire."


title: Blackface

text: "Soul Man" is a 1986 film featuring C. Thomas Howell as Mark Watson, a pampered rich white college graduate who uses 'tanning pills' to qualify for a scholarship to Harvard Law only available to African American students. He expects to be treated as a fellow student and instead learns the isolation of 'being black' on campus. Mark Watson later befriends and falls in love with the original candidate of the scholarship, a single mother who works as a waitress to support her education. The character later 'comes out' as white, leading to the famous defending line: "Can you blame him for the color of his skin?". Unlike "Trading Places", the film was met with heavy criticism of a white man donning blackface to humanize white ignorance at the expense of African American viewers. Despite a large box office intake, it has scored low on every film critic platform. "A white man donning blackface is taboo," said Howell; "Conversation over – you can't win. But our intentions were pure: We wanted to make a funny movie that had a message about racism."


title: Blackface

text: In the early 20th century, a group of African-American laborers began a marching club in the New Orleans Mardi Gras parade, dressed as hobos and calling themselves "The Tramps". Wanting a flashier look, they renamed themselves "Zulus" and copied their costumes from a blackface vaudeville skit performed at a local black jazz club and cabaret. The result is one of the best known and most striking krewes of Mardi Gras, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. Dressed in grass skirts, top hat and exaggerated makeup, the Zulus of New Orleans are controversial as well as popular. The group has, since the 1960s, argued that the black and white makeup they continue to wear is not blackface.


title: Blackface

text: The wearing of blackface was once a regular part of the annual Mummers Parade in Philadelphia. Growing dissent from civil rights groups and the offense of the black community led to a 1964 city policy, ruling out blackface. Despite the ban on blackface, brownface was still used in the parade in 2016 to depict Mexicans, causing outrage once again among civil rights groups. Also in 1964, bowing to pressure from the interracial group Concern, teenagers in Norfolk, Connecticut, reluctantly agreed to discontinue using blackface in their traditional minstrel show that was a fundraiser for the March of Dimes.


title: Blackface

text: Commodities bearing iconic "darky" images, from tableware, soap and toy marbles to home accessories and T-shirts, continue to be manufactured and marketed. Some are reproductions of historical artifacts ("negrobilia"), while others are designed for today's marketplace ("fantasy"). There is a thriving niche market for such items in the U.S., particularly. The value of the original examples of darky iconography (vintage negrobilia collectables) has risen steadily since the 1970s.


title: Blackface

text: There have been several inflammatory incidents of white college students donning blackface. Such incidents usually escalate around Halloween, with students accused of perpetuating racial stereotypes.


title: Blackface

text: Blackface and minstrelsy serve as the theme of African-American director Spike Lee's film "Bamboozled" (2000). It tells of a disgruntled black television executive who reintroduces the old blackface style in a series concept in an attempt to get himself fired, and is instead horrified by its success.


title: Blackface

text: In 2000, Jimmy Fallon performed in blackface on "Saturday Night Live", imitating former cast member Chris Rock.


title: Blackface

text: Jimmy Kimmel donned black paint over his body and used an exaggerated, accented voice to portray NBA player Karl Malone on "The Man Show" in 2003. Kimmel repeatedly impersonated the NBA player on "The Man Show" and even made an appearance on Crank Yankers using his exaggerated Ebonics/African-American Vernacular English to prank call about Beanie Babies.


title: Blackface

text: In November 2005, controversy erupted when journalist Steve Gilliard posted a photograph on his blog. The image was of African American Michael Steele, a politician, then a candidate for U.S. Senate. It had been doctored to include bushy, white eyebrows and big, red lips. The caption read, "I's simple Sambo and I's running for the big house." Gilliard, also African-American, defended the image, commenting that the politically conservative Steele has "refused to stand up for his people." (See .)


title: Blackface

text: In a 2006 reality television program, "Black. White.", white participants wore blackface makeup and black participants wore whiteface makeup in an attempt to be better able to see the world through the perspective of the other race.


title: Blackface

text: "A Mighty Heart" is a 2007 American film featuring Angelina Jolie playing Mariane Pearl, the wife of the kidnapped "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. Mariane is of multiracial descent, born from an Afro-Chinese-Cuban mother and a Dutch Jewish father. She personally cast Jolie to play herself, defending the choice to have Jolie "sporting a spray tan and a corkscrew wig." Criticism of the film came in large part for the choice to have Jolie portraying Mariane Pearl in this manner. Defense of the casting choice was in large part due Pearl's mixed racial heritage, critics claiming it would have been impossible to find an Afro-Latina actress with the same crowd-drawing caliber of Jolie. Director Michael Winterbottom defended his casting choice in an interview, "To try and find a French actress who's half-Cuban, quarter-Chinese, half-Dutch who speaks great English and could do that part better – I mean, if there had been some more choices, I might have thought, 'Why don't we use that person?'...I don't think there would have been anyone better."


title: Blackface

text: A 2008 imitation of Barack Obama by American comedian Fred Armisen (of German, Korean, and Venezuelan descent) on the popular television program "Saturday Night Live" caused some stir, with "The Guardian" commentator asking why "SNL" did not hire an additional black actor to do the sketch; the show had only one black cast member at the time.


title: Blackface

text: Also in 2008, Robert Downey Jr.'s character Kirk Lazarus appeared in brownface in the Ben Stiller-directed film "Tropic Thunder". As with "Trading Places", the intent was satire; specifically, blackface was ironically employed to humorously mock one of the many rather than black people themselves. Downey was even nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal. According to Downey, "90 per cent of my black friends were like, 'Dude, that was great.' I can't disagree with [the other 10 per cent], but I know where my heart lies."


title: Blackface

text: In the November 2010 episode "Dee Reynolds: Shaping America's Youth", the TV show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" comically explored if blackface could ever be done "right". One of the characters, Frank Reynolds insists that Laurence Olivier's blackface performance in his 1965 production of "Othello" was not offensive, while Dennis claimed it "distasteful" and "never okay". In the same episode, the gang shows their fan film, "Lethal Weapon 5", in which the character Mac appears in blackface. In the season 9 episode "The Gang make Lethal Weapon 6", Mac once again dons black make-up, along with Dee, who plays his character's daughter in the film. Later in the series, the episode "The Gang Makes "Lethal Weapon 7"" addresses the topic again along with the removal of their films from streaming.


title: Blackface

text: A 2012 Popchips commercial showing actor Ashton Kutcher with brown make-up on his face impersonating a stereotypical Indian person generated controversy and was eventually pulled by the company after complaints of racism. In the TV series "Mad Men", set in the 1960s in New York City, the character Roger Sterling appears in blackface in the season 3 episode "My Old Kentucky Home". Julianne Hough attracted controversy in October 2013 when she donned blackface as part of a Halloween costume depicting the character of "Crazy Eyes" from "Orange Is the New Black". Hough later apologized, stating on Twitter: "I realize my costume hurt and offended people and I truly apologize."


title: Blackface

text: Billy Crystal impersonated Sammy Davis Jr. in the 2012 Oscars opening montage. The scene depicts Crystal in black face paint wearing an oiled wave wig while talking to Justin Bieber. In the scene Crystal leaves a parting remark to Bieber, "Have fun storming the Führer," a poor association to his famous line in "The Princess Bride", "Have fun storming the castle."


title: Blackface

text: The skit was remarked as poor taste, considering he was chosen as the "safer" choice after Eddie Murphy bowed out following producer and creative partner Brett Ratner's homophobic remarks.


title: Blackface

text: Victoria Foyt was accused of using blackface in the trailer for her young adult novel "" as well as in the book and its artwork.


title: Blackface

text: Performer Chuck Knipp (who is gay and white) has used drag, blackface, and broad racial caricature to portray a character named "Shirley Q. Liquor" in his cabaret act, generally performed for all-white audiences. Knipp's outrageously stereotypical character has drawn criticism and prompted demonstrations from black, gay and transgender activists.


title: Blackface

text: The Metropolitan Opera, based in New York City, used blackface in productions of the opera "Otello" until 2015, though some have argued that the practice of using dark makeup for the character did not qualify as blackface.


title: Blackface

text: On February 1, 2019, images from Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook were published on the far-right website Big League Politics. The photos showed an image of an unidentified person in blackface and an unidentified person in a Ku Klux Klan hood on Northam's page in the yearbook. A spokesman for Eastern Virginia Medical School confirmed that the image appeared in its 1984 yearbook. Shortly after the news broke, Northam apologized for appearing in the photo.


title: Blackface

text: Blackface performances are not unusual within the Latino community of Miami. As Spanish-speakers from different countries, ethnic, racial, class, and educational backgrounds settle in the United States, they have to grapple with being re-classified vis-a-vis other American-born and immigrant groups. Blackface performances have, for instance, tried to work through U.S. racial and ethnic classifications in conflict with national identities. A case in point is the representation of Latino and its popular embodiment as a stereotypical Dominican man.


title: Blackface

text: In the wake of protests over the treatment of African-Americans following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, episodes of popular television programs featuring characters in blackface were pulled from circulation. This includes "The Golden Girls", "The Office", "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", "30 Rock", "Community", and "Scrubs", among others.


title: Blackface

text: White men are overrepresented as stunt doubles in American TV and film productions. The practice of a male performer portraying standing-in for a female actor is known as "wigging". When the stunt performer is made up to look like another race, the practice is called a "paint down". Stunt performers Janeshia Adams-Ginyard and Sharon Schaffer have equated it in 2018 with blackface minstrelsy.


title: Blackface

text: Digital media provide opportunities to inhabit and perform Black identity without actually painting one's face, which, in a way, some critics have likened to blackface and minstrelsy. In 1999, Adam Clayton Powell III coined the term "high-tech blackface" to refer to stereotypical portrayals of black characters in video games. David Leonard writes that "The desire to 'be Black' because of the stereotypical visions of strength, athleticism, power and sexual potency all play out within the virtual reality of sports games." Leonard's argument suggests that players perform a type of identity tourism by controlling Black avatars in sports games. Phillips and Reed argue that this type of blackface "is not only about whites assuming Black roles, nor about exaggerated performances of blackness for the benefit of a racist audience. Rather, it is about performing a version of blackness that constrains it within the boundaries legible to white supremacy."


title: Blackface

text: In addition, writers such as Lauren Michele Jackson, Victoria Princewill and Shafiqah Hudson have criticized non-Black people sharing animated images, or GIFs, of Black people or Black-skinned emojis, calling the practice "digital blackface." Writers Amanda Hess and Shane O'Neill have elaborated on their work, pointing out that GIFs of women of color, in particular, have been most frequently used to express user's emotions online. Hess and O'Neill also suggest that the emoji app Bitmoji uses "black emotional reactions and verbal expressions" and designs them to fit non-Black bodies and faces. Writer Manuel Arturo Abreu refers to this phenomenon as "online imagined Black English," where non-Black users engage in African American Vernacular English, or AAVE, on the internet without understanding the full context of the particular phrase being used.


title: Blackface

text: Following these critiques, the term "digital blackface" has since evolved with the rise of other social media and digital media technologies. In 2020, writer Francesa Sobande wrote on the digital representations of Black people, defining digital blackface as "encompassing online depictions and practices that echo the anti-Black underpinnings of minstrelsy shows involving non-Black people "dressing up" and "performing" as though they are Black." Sobande's argument suggests that this acts as a "digital expression of the oppression that Black people face" outside of the internet, where they can be viewed as an objectified type of "commodity or labor tool."


title: Blackface

text: Since the criticisms made by these writers, instances of digital blackface have varied in type across the internet. In 2016, a controversy emerged over social media app Snapchat's Bob Marley filter, which allowed users to superimpose dark skin, dreadlocks, and a knitted cap over their own faces. A number of controversies have also emerged about students at American universities sharing images of themselves appearing to wear blackface makeup. In 2020, two high school students in Georgia were expelled after posting a "racially insensitive" TikTok video that used racial slurs and stereotypes about Black people.


title: Blackface

text: Senior writer Jason Parham suggests that the social media app TikTok, and its viral trends and challenges, has become a new medium for 21st century minstrelsy. Parham argues that "unlike Facebook and Twitter, where instances of digital blackface are either text-based or image-based, TikTok is a video-first platform" where "creators embody Blackness with an auteur-driven virtuosity—taking on Black rhythms, gestures, affect, slang." Examples of these controversial trends and challenges have included "the Hot Cheeto Girl," which is said to mimic stereotypes of Black and Latin women, the "#HowsMyForm" challenge, which plays on racist stereotypes of Black people and other racial groups, and other perceived instances of cultural appropriation, such as "blackfishing."


title: Blackface

text: In 2021, conversation around digital blackface gained further traction after Oprah Winfrey's interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, where Winfrey's reactions during the interview began to circulate the internet in the form of memes. A widespread Instagram post by the Slow Factory Foundation, an activist group founded by Céline Semaan Vernon, calling attention to digital blackface led to many critiques and criticisms about whether or not it was appropriate for non-Black people to continue sharing these images of Winfrey.


title: Blackface

text: In 2021, music professor Bright Sheng stepped down from teaching a University of Michigan musical composition class, where he says he had intended to show how Giuseppe Verdi adapted William Shakespeare's play "Othello" into his opera "Otello", after showing the 1965 British movie "Othello", whose actors received 4 Oscar nominations, but in which the white actor Laurence Olivier played Othello in blackface, which caused controversy even at the time. Sheng allegedly failed to give students any warning that the movie contained blackface, and his two subsequent apologies failed to satisfy his critics, with the wording of the second one causing further controversy. There was disagreement over whether showing the blackface performance constituted racism. Evan Chambers, a professor of composition (as is Sheng), said "To show the film now, especially without substantial framing, content advisory and a focus on its inherent racism is in itself a racist act, regardless of the professor's intentions", while David Gier, dean of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, said: "Professor Sheng's actions do not align with our School's commitment to anti-racist action, diversity, equity and inclusion" But Robert Soave, a senior editor at "Reason" magazine, said that the university had violated the principle of academic freedom, that showing the movie was neither a racist act nor approval of racism, and that the university owed Sheng an apology for unfairly maligning him, and he compared it to Sheng's earlier experience of surviving the Chinese Cultural Revolution.


title: Blackface

text: By 1840, black performers also were performing in blackface makeup. Frederick Douglass generally abhorred blackface and was one of the first people to write against the institution of blackface minstrelsy, condemning it as racist in nature, with inauthentic, northern, white origins. Douglass did, however, maintain: "It is something to be gained when the colored man in any form can appear before a white audience."


title: Blackface

text: When all-black minstrel shows began to proliferate in the 1860s, they often were billed as "authentic" and "the real thing". These "colored minstrels" always claimed to be recently freed slaves (doubtlessly many were, but most were not) and were widely seen as authentic. This presumption of authenticity could be a bit of a trap, with white audiences seeing them more like "animals in a zoo" than skilled performers. Despite often smaller budgets and smaller venues, their public appeal sometimes rivaled that of white minstrel troupes. In March 1866, Booker and Clayton's Georgia Minstrels may have been the country's most popular troupe, and were certainly among the most critically acclaimed.


title: Blackface

text: These "colored" troupes – many using the name "Georgia Minstrels" – focused on "plantation" material, rather than the more explicit social commentary (and more nastily racist stereotyping) found in portrayals of northern black people. In the execution of authentic black music and the percussive, polyrhythmic tradition of "pattin' Juba", when the only instruments performers used were their hands and feet, clapping and slapping their bodies and shuffling and stomping their feet, black troupes particularly excelled. One of the most successful black minstrel companies was Sam Hague's Slave Troupe of Georgia Minstrels, managed by Charles Hicks. This company eventually was taken over by Charles Callendar. The Georgia Minstrels toured the United States and abroad and later became Haverly's Colored Minstrels.


title: Blackface

text: From the mid-1870s, as white blackface minstrelsy became increasingly lavish and moved away from "Negro subjects", black troupes took the opposite tack. The popularity of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and other "jubilee singers" had demonstrated northern white interest in white religious music as sung by black people, especially spirituals. Some jubilee troupes pitched themselves as quasi-minstrels and even incorporated minstrel songs; meanwhile, blackface troupes began to adopt first jubilee material and then a broader range of southern black religious material. Within a few years, the word "jubilee", originally used by the Fisk Jubilee Singers to set themselves apart from blackface minstrels and to emphasize the religious character of their music, became little more than a synonym for "plantation" material. Where the jubilee singers tried to "clean up" Southern black religion for white consumption, blackface performers exaggerated its more exotic aspects.


title: Blackface

text: African-American blackface productions also contained buffoonery and comedy, by way of self-parody. In the early days of African-American involvement in theatrical performance, black people could not perform without blackface makeup, regardless of how dark-skinned they were. The 1860s "colored" troupes violated this convention for a time: the comedy-oriented endmen "corked up", but the other performers "astonished" commentators by the diversity of their hues. Still, their performances were largely in accord with established blackface stereotypes.


title: Blackface

text: These black performers became stars within the broad African-American community, but were largely ignored or condemned by the black bourgeoisie. James Monroe Trotter  – a middle-class African American who had contempt for their "disgusting caricaturing" but admired their "highly musical culture" – wrote in 1882 that "few ... who condemned black minstrels for giving 'aid and comfort to the enemy'" had ever seen them perform. Unlike white audiences, black audiences presumably always recognized blackface performance as caricature, but took pleasure in seeing their own culture observed and reflected, much as they would half a century later in the performances of Moms Mabley.


title: Blackface

text: Despite reinforcing racist stereotypes, blackface minstrelsy was a practical and often relatively lucrative livelihood when compared to the menial labor to which most black people were relegated. Owing to the discrimination of the day, "corking (or blacking) up" provided an often singular opportunity for African-American musicians, actors, and dancers to practice their crafts. Some minstrel shows, particularly when performing outside the South, also managed subtly to poke fun at the racist attitudes and double standards of white society or champion the abolitionist cause. It was through blackface performers, white and black, that the richness and exuberance of African-American music, humor, and dance first reached mainstream, white audiences in the U.S. and abroad. It was through blackface minstrelsy that African American performers first entered the mainstream of American show business. Black performers used blackface performance to satirize white behavior. It was also a forum for the sexual double entendre gags that were frowned upon by white moralists. There was often a subtle message behind the outrageous vaudeville routines:


title: Blackface

text: With the rise of vaudeville, Bahamian-born actor and comedian Bert Williams became Florenz Ziegfeld's highest-paid star and only African-American star.


title: Blackface

text: In the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA), an all-black vaudeville circuit organized in 1909, blackface acts were a popular staple. Called "Toby" for short, performers also nicknamed it "Tough on Black Actors" (or, variously, "Artists" or "Asses"), because earnings were so meager. Still, TOBA headliners like Tim Moore and Johnny Hudgins could make a very good living, and even for lesser players, TOBA provided fairly steady, more desirable work than generally was available elsewhere. Blackface served as a springboard for hundreds of artists and entertainers – black and white – many of whom later would go on to find work in other performance traditions. For example, one of the most famous stars of Haverly's European Minstrels was Sam Lucas, who became known as the "Grand Old Man of the Negro Stage". Lucas later played the title role in the 1914 cinematic production of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin".


title: Blackface

text: From the early 1930s to the late 1940s, New York City's famous Apollo Theater in Harlem featured skits in which almost all black male performers wore the blackface makeup and huge white painted lips, despite protests that it was degrading from the NAACP. The comics said they felt "naked" without it.


title: Blackface

text: The minstrel show was appropriated by the black performer from the original white shows, but only in its general form. Black people took over the form and made it their own. The professionalism of performance came from black theater. Some argue that the black minstrels gave the shows vitality and humor that the white shows never had. As the black social critic LeRoi Jones has written:


title: Blackface

text: The black minstrel performer was not only poking fun at himself but in a more profound way, he was poking fun at the white man. The cakewalk is caricaturing white customs, while white theater companies attempted to satirize the cakewalk as a black dance. Again, as LeRoi Jones notes:


title: Blackface

text: It wasn't unusual for people to wear a blackface at carnivals in Puerto Rico in the 20th century. In 2019, when blackface was prominently featured at a carnival in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, the town immediately faced backlash and criticism.


title: Blackface

text: The degree to which blackface performance drew on authentic black culture and traditions is controversial. Black people, including slaves, were influenced by white culture, including white musical culture. Certainly this was the case with church music from very early times. Complicating matters further, once the blackface era began, some blackface minstrel songs unquestionably written by New York-based professionals (Stephen Foster, for example) made their way to the plantations in the South and merged into the body of black folk music.


title: Blackface

text: It seems clear, however, that American music by the early 19th century was an interwoven mixture of many influences, and that blacks were quite aware of white musical traditions and incorporated these into their music.


title: Blackface

text: Early blackface minstrels often said that their material was largely or entirely authentic black culture; John Strausbaugh, author of "Black Like You", said that such claims were likely to be untrue. Well into the 20th century, scholars took the stories at face value. Constance Rourke, one of the founders of what is now known as cultural studies, largely assumed this as late as 1931. In the Civil Rights era there was a strong reaction against this view, to the point of denying that blackface was anything other than a white racist counterfeit. Starting no later than Robert Toll's "Blacking Up" (1974), a "third wave" has systematically studied the origins of blackface, and has put forward a nuanced picture: that blackface did, indeed, draw on black culture, but that it transformed, stereotyped, and caricatured that culture, resulting in often racist representations of black characters.


title: Blackface

text: As discussed above, this picture becomes even more complicated after the Civil War, when many blacks became blackface performers. They drew on much material of undoubted slave origins, but they also drew on a professional performer's instincts, while working within an established genre, and with the same motivation as white performers to make exaggerated claims of the authenticity of their own material.


title: Blackface

text: Author Strausbaugh summed up as follows: "Some minstrel songs started as Negro folk songs, were adapted by White minstrels, became widely popular, and were readopted by Blacks." "The question of whether minstrelsy was white or black music was moot. It was a mix, a mutt – that is, it was American music."


title: Blackface

text: The darky icon itself – googly-eyed, with inky skin, exaggerated white, pink or red lips, and bright, white teeth – became a common motif in entertainment, children's literature, mechanical banks, and other toys and games of all sorts, cartoons and comic strips, advertisements, jewelry, textiles, postcards, sheet music, food branding and packaging, and other consumer goods.


title: Blackface

text: In 1895, the Golliwog surfaced in Great Britain, the product of children's book illustrator Florence Kate Upton, who modeled her rag doll character after a minstrel doll from her American childhood. "Golly", as he later affectionately came to be called, had a jet-black face, wild, woolly hair, bright, red lips, and sported formal minstrel attire. The generic British golliwog later made its way back across the Atlantic as dolls, toy tea sets, ladies' perfume, and in a myriad of other forms. The word "golliwog" may have given rise to the ethnic slur "wog".


title: Blackface

text: U.S. cartoons from the 1930s and 1940s often featured characters in blackface gags as well as other racial and ethnic caricatures. Blackface was one of the influences in the development of characters such as Mickey Mouse. The United Artists 1933 release "Mickey's Mellerdrammer" – the name a corruption of "melodrama" thought to harken back to the earliest minstrel shows – was a film short based on a production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by the Disney characters. Mickey, of course, was already black, but the advertising poster for the film shows Mickey with exaggerated, orange lips; bushy, white sidewhiskers; and his now trademark white gloves.


title: Blackface

text: In the U.S., by the 1950s, the NAACP had begun calling attention to such portrayals of African Americans and mounted a campaign to put an end to blackface performances and depictions. For decades, darky images had been seen in the branding of everyday products and commodities such as "Picaninny Freeze", the Coon Chicken Inn restaurant chain, and Nigger Hair Tobacco. With the eventual successes of the modern day Civil rights movement, such blatantly racist branding practices ended in the U.S., and blackface became an American taboo.