Lol, lol, lol, lol, lol for those who don't know what lol stands for it means "laugh out loud". In my case I am really laughing out loud.
I think this "Bounce" commercial is so funny. It's a damn shame but it's funny.
It reveals many things. I sometimes imagine people who seek to take subtle jabs at this community just to see what Black people will say. It's like being given the chance to see Black people get rallied up. On the flip-side there are many who would like to witness if something like this can slip by in the Black community without Black people catching the 'jab".
A White person could never deny that this video is stereotypical. Think about it. would you ever see a White women act in this demeanor and then to end the commercial with "I put Em", it's like saying "I's happy Masta". It's not correct English and adds to the ENERGY of her being slow, happy but slow. Being happy but slow is a perception some White people loved to have of Black people in the past. They like having and portraying this perception so that their actions of brutality and discrimination seemed less severe. No matter if a Black people was going through something joyous or burdensome in the past they people where portrayed as being a group of people who were always smiling, happy and grateful. Whatever master or the White man did they always seemed grateful and happy in a hyper way. Her being overweight doesn't help the ENERGY of how she's perceived. Overweight people are suppose to always be happy too.
Now let's explore the claim of what I mean further. Because this is a "Bounce" commercial is it appropriate to stereotype in such a way? This is not like a Hip Hop themed product or commercial where one could say "Well that's the Energy of Hip Hop, that's how ya'll act". There would be great truth to that.
Instead this is a product that is mainstream, so why should a Black women as myself be offended by hearing another Black woman sound like she's "steppin and fetchin"?
The point is when it comes to a mainstream product that doesn't have an ethnic theme to create one in a negative way is offensive. It leaves you saying "Why". Why is she screamin and yelling, why does she have to sound like Sambo or a slave with a limited education............Why?
I like this comment:
Just ridiculous. People really need to think of the larger consequences of their actions. This is not a good representation of any demographic she falls into. Obese people, women, southerners, and African-American people all have a reason to be upset by this portrayal. Someone mentioned money, however, selling drugs makes money, but it doesn't help the community anymore than this image does, All she needed to do was tap dance out of scene for this to be a complete minstrel performance.I'm not a real forceful Black person when it comes to these issues because I weigh ENERGY, so though I don't buy Bounce often it doesn't mean I would necessarily stop supporting the product in the future. Particularly if it's on sale, lol. Of course if this became a theme and the norm then you must react.
I like to think the person who orchestrated this commercial had a subconscious ignorance opposed to a conscious one, sought of like this person, who claims to be a friend of the actress in the commercial.
Please people. "Racism" is a construct of perception. What, would you prefer that she act more "white" for it to be OK? If I go to Africa, will I see the indigenous people act in the manner that you would consider less racist? I can pretty much assure you though, that they wouldn't be acting "white". Jenni's a friend of mine and I can assure you, if she had felt like this had been offensive, she wouldn't have accepted to do it.So she's acting just as she should, like a Black person and when you go to Africa you will see many act like this opposed to acting "White". So basically this is acting "Black" and if a different Black woman were to act more toned down, less loud that's a Black woman acting out of character and acting "White", and she learned to be this way by living in White society. That seems to be the rationale of this commenter. This women is not even an African woman. She's African American and she is indigenous to America.
