A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin, it becomes a hit.A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin, it becomes a hit.A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin, it becomes a hit.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 10 nominations
- Sloan Hopkins
- (as Jada Pinkett-Smith)
- Verna
- (as Gillian Iliana Waters)
- Big Blak Afrika
- (as Mos Def)
- Mau Mau: 1-16th Blak
- (as MC Serch)
- Mau Mau: Hard Blak
- (as Mums)
- Pickaninny: Topsy
- (as Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMost of this film was shot only on digital (Mini DV) camcorders, which can be purchased over the counter at any consumer electronics store. While this choice of technology sacrificed quality, it allowed the cinematographers to film with 15 cameras at a time, and it also allowed Spike Lee to get all the footage he needed shot within the film's modest budget. The "Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show" sequences were the only scenes shot using 16mm film.
- GoofsOne character uses the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid", a reference to the mass murder/suicide of the Peoples Temple cult in Jonestown, Guyana. The poisoned drink was Flavor-Aid. The pavilion was surrounded by armed guards, and anyone who did not drink the poisoned drink willingly (including children) was either forced to drink it or injected with poison. A number of the bodies had puncture or bullet wounds. Jim Jones died of a gunshot wound to the head, that may have been self-inflicted.
- Quotes
Pierre Delacroix: SPOILER: As I bled to death, as my very life oozed out of me, all I could think of was something the great Negro James Baldwin had written. "People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become, and they pay for it, very simply, by the lives they lead." Now it was time for me to buy the farm. To meet my maker. Goodbye cousins. Tune in next week for "The Best of Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show".
- Crazy creditsThe credits roll over several "coon" collectable items that are wound-up.
Where does Bamboozled fit in? These very same people love Herman Cain. It took me awhile but I finally got it, Mr Lee. Herman Cain is the Negro that white America is comfortable with. A self confessed sitting on the back of the bus entertaining... "awwwwww shucky ducky now" Negro. The Racist Tea Party folks could not get enough of him and his simplistic 9-9-9 plan. . When white women accused Mr Cain of sexual harassment, that just comforted them more because everyone knows Negros love white women. I guarantee you that if Herman Cain had darkened his skin with a burnt cork, the Tea Party folks would have lapped it up. His audience could have easily started to sport a black face too and proclaimed loudly to the press, "See we aren't racist!" The Herman Cain train exemplified everything that Spike Lee was saying in this dark comedy. Americans do not want to see African Americans represented by the Bill Cosby Show or the educated, functional Obama family. They want a minstrel show.
The movie is heartbreaking as is the behavior of many Americans. Thank you Spike Lee.
- lisa-french
- Feb 25, 2012
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,274,979
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $190,720
- Oct 8, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $2,463,650
- Runtime2 hours 15 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix