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Spike Lee's Bamboozled employs extreme satire and hyperbole to create a sharp indictment of black representations in historical and contemporary pop culture.

Television producer/writer Pierre Delacroix wants to get out of his contract. The only way to do that is to get fired. To accomplish this goal, he decides to create the most racist television show ever produced: Mantan: The New Millennial Minstrel Show. Just like historical minstrel shows from the 1840s-1960s, this show features actors in black-face tap-dancing, singing, acting like buffoons, and basically living up to every negative black stereotype you can think of. Unfortunately for Delacroix, the show becomes a big hit because it allows audiences a guilt-free opportunity to have blacks portrayed the way they've always secretly wanted to see them on television.

This movie is a stark reminder of how racism has been so deeply woven into the fabric of society. Although minstrel shows were effectively banned during the Civil Rights era, Lee suggests that elements of minstrelsy still exist in society today. But Caucasians aren't the only ones who are villified. The film reserves some of its harshest criticisms for blacks who willingly or unknowingly perpetuate negative black stereotypes today.

Watching Bamboozled is a deeply emotional and, at times, starkly uncomfortable experience. But it is an important film to watch. For me the most powerful and overwhelming scene is the film's climax in which we see a montage of deeply offensive and racist portrayals of blacks throughout cinema history. If you're not convinced by the time you see that, you must have a heart of stone.

What is scary to me is how the film is still so relevant today. This last time I watched the film, I suddenly remembered a talent show when I was in fourth grade where a girl dressed up in black face and sang a song dressed up as a shoe-shiner. And no one seemed to have any objections to it. Yikes!!!

So, I always include a warning at the end of my reviews for the R-rated films we own. Most of the R's we own are "soft R's." This is one rare exception. This film truly deserves its R-rating. It has harsh profanity, lewd sexual suggestions, and has some bad violence. Not to mention it is intentionally designed to be offensive to all good liberals. But it is appropriate for Spike Lee's message. Desperate times call for desperate measures.