I thought this was one of the very few works that challenges the viewer to answer valid questions of them selves. Particularly I felt the address was to African Americans(Blacks)and the Question was this: Are you entertainment or are you human?To me it clearly stated the contributions African Americans have made to their own stereotypical position in American Society, Illustrating that the power to minimize these stereotypes rest within the African American 1st. I saw it written in reviews that this film was about "white guilt", I completely disagree. In my viewing I did not find that white Americans were part of the story line beyond atmosphere. This film was written by African American's(Blacks) informatively & the question was posed to African Americans (Blacks, educationally. One of the few films on the subject of Race where guilt was not a factor of either side. Enjoyed It.

For the most part, Spike Lee is an angry filmmaker and I cannot blame his anger nor do I criticize it. With films such as Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever, he shows his passion and understanding of situations such as racial feelings between all races, not just whites and blacks as well as how outsiders view interracial relationships. Here, his target is the entertainment industry, specifically television and he cuts right to the core because he knows how important and complex this issue is and wastes no time of this 135-minute film to stuff every frame and scene with a message and relating what he has seen in this country and how he feels about it.First off, the acting is near flawless. Damon Wayans gives his best performance ever as Pierre Delacroix, a successful producer upset that he is not considered black with his fancy dress and white accent. Determined to make his case, he decides to create a minstrel show very much in the vein of those from the 1930s and 40s. However, he goes one step further and hires black actors to use blackface makeup as well as make the subject and setting the most politically incorrect setups imaginable. What he doesn't expect is the overwhelming popularity of the show complete with huge ratings and numerous critical awards.For my money, Lee almost had a great film here. The first hour is terrific, biting satire, attacking everything and anything. Lee takes no prisoners and also gives some very interesting bits about how a TV show is brought to life. But, once the show becomes a success and the people involved develop consciences, Lee's vision narrows and soon it becomes more of the angry and socially-aware Spike Lee we've seen in much better films. Being white myself, I never liked how Lee seemed to portray whites as leering fools and the true ignorant people of America as opposed to the "more commonly accepted" view of blacks. Still, his feelings were justified in Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever and earlier works. Bamboozled tries too hard and loses its mission towards the end. The end is in fact a rehash of many other movies seen before, even ones self-consciously referred to here such as Network and The Producers.Spike Lee is a gifted and fearless director and I cannot say this is a boring or uninspiring film. I was held captive every step of the way. I just wish he had picked a better and more effective way to satirize his subjects, as well as maybe broaden the horizons; only then could it really take root.

Faizon Love in Dinner for Five, July-'02 (On Spike Lee interjecting himself into his own pictures) "...don't do that, it looks stupid, don't cast yourself...the weakest thing can be the biggest blemish." I beg to disagree with actor Faizon Love (of "Friday" fame), the biggest blemish of a Spike Lee film is it's self-righteous preachy endings.Don't get me wrong — as an American white woman, I've wallowed in buckets of liberal guilt for the past U. S. genocidal policies. But Mr. Lee does not make films for marginally enlightened white folks.And while almost all of Hollywood's directors offer up a sanitized view of the process of racism, director Spike Lee does not. I can always count on Lee to "tell it like it is", and nowhere is this more evident than in his latest cinematic effort, Bamboozled.The key word is effort, because Lee is prone to hit us over the head with his point — again and again and again. It's as though he doubts that white America is smart enough to get his message and concerned that black America may have forgotten it while climbing up the assimilation ladder.And while I may squirm at his intellectual contempt for the audience, and be irritated that he plays his usual double standard, where EVERY white character as a racist stereotype), I'm drawn to the single - minded courage of his view.Bamboozled grits and grates on every nerve and then does a deft tap-dance on our last one---stretching it for all it's worth. For everyone in this movie becomes a giant-sized stereotype. And it leaves this viewer hoping he did this on purpose, but knowing its just the same old lack of self-control.And yes — we got the point, Mr. Lee — no thanks to your sledgehammer method of directing, that blacks who play roles to serve a racist stereotype are "the enemy" and deserve only death.I've seen almost every film that Spike Lee has created --- The Girl's Gotta Have It, Malcolm X, Girl 6, Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, etc. Each movie resonates with Lee's caustic and uncompromising world view — and there's nothing wrong with this — every great director keeps making the same movie of their limited viewpoint. Yet Lee is young enough for me to wish that he can cast off the S.O.S. — Same Old Stereotype - and create something truly original.In a way, Faizon Love is right on target — for while Spike Lee is an Oscar-caliber director, with piercing insight and uncommon talent, he still lacks any objectivity to truly "direct" that vision to it's desired end.For rather than just making a point that's obvious to all, we'd rather see whats' beyond that one-dimensional image to embrace a more three-dimensional viewing experience. So while America has been Bamboozled by racist stereotyping, Lee is still playing to it.

TV writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) is tired of having his TV concepts rejected by the studio. Accused by his ultra-"hip" white boss Dunwitty (Michael Rappaport) of not being "black" enough, an enraged Pierre comes up with an outlandish idea: a modern-day minstrel show, complete with black-face, musical revue numbers, racial epithets, and the most ridiculous stereotypes imaginable. He enlists the aide of his reluctant secretary Sloane (Jada Pinkett Smith) and two street dancers Manray and Womack (Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson) desperate for a buck. Pierre is flabbergasted when the network accepts the show, and then becomes a pop culture phenomenon. But not everyone enjoys the racial epithets the show provides, and the Maumaus, a group of wannabe gangstas/rappers, decide to take matters into their own hands - with tragic results.Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" is certainly an ambitious film. It is an unremittingly vicious satire of the portrayal of blacks in popular media, a topic all too open to attack from Lee's inflammatory eye. However, having set up a potentially great and scathing satire, Bamboozled ultimately fails by being just too broad and over-the-top in its target.Lee is certainly right in attacking media portrayal of African-Americans. And for the early sections, it works. The most effective is the portrayal of pop culture - namely gangsta rap and hip-hop. The Maumaus are ridiculous posers who don't even notice that one of their number is white. The TV ads for Blow Cola and Timmi Hiln!gger showcase the artificiality and toxic nature of gangsta culture. Women are hos, bitches, and sluts; the men are cool because they do drugs and kill people. Lee's double-edged sword goes after the white media (embodied by the embarrassingly patronizing boss Dunwitty) for perpetuating such images, but also the blacks who embrace it. Very few societal targets, regardless of race or position, escape Lee's critical eye. The film's use of clips from minstrel shows of the past, as well as cartoons and other caricature portrayals, as well as the commentary of Sloane, to make the point reverberate. All of this is brilliantly done, and the witty dialog and character interactions of the first half indicate that Lee has winner on his hands.But the film ultimately fails due to the methods it employs. Seriously... is there a sentient human being alive who thinks that there would be a TV audience for a MINSTREL SHOW? Black face is such an inherently, blatantly offensive concept that it's impossible to take it seriously. For lack of a better word, it's overkill. And by showing it again and again, Lee rather overdoes (and undermines) his point. We get it; this show is racist and humiliating. Wouldn't Lee have better made his point by keeping the focus on the contemporary equivalent, or at least gone about it in a more subtle manner? Of course, "Bamboozled" is a satire, so hyperbole is expected. But, there are limits to this, particularly within the media of film. Be too outlandish and over-the-top, and the point is lost. Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" works because it is a written essay, where the venom beneath Swift's seemingly earnest tone is almost undetectable. In "Bamboozled", however, we see starkly outrageous images of minstrel shows about black-faced, watermelon-eating, chicken-stealing blacks (and the black-faced fans who love and emulate them). And that image in and of itself blots out the point Lee is trying to make with such images. We don't remember that the media is demeaning towards blacks; we remember the minstrel show.The movie is also damaged by its cop-out ending, which uses violence as an easy solution to the problems it has set up. One could argue that Lee was attempting to show the detrimental effects Delacroix's show had on society. Thanks, but I'm not buying that. Whatever justice that argument has is killed by the ham-fisted, rushed way the climax is executed.The acting is uniformly solid. Damon Wayans, an actor I usually dislike, makes Pierre an intriguing character. Pierre's descent into hell - ultimately embracing the stereotypes he presents through his work - is fascinating. Jada Pinkett-Smith gives a quietly effective performance as the film's conscience, although her actions at the end seem ridiculously out-of-character. Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson are both extremely likable as two characters who slowly realize what they're doing is wrong. Michael Rappaport's hopeless studio VP is hysterical, and provides some of the film's best moments.In short, "Bamboozled" is an extremely ambitious film that starts out great, then becomes so outlandish and over-the-top its point is obscured. Regardless, one should note it is very much a point worth making.6/10