Hollywood Shuffle

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Hollywood Shuffle (1987) is a film depicting the stereotyping and racism against African Americans in film and television. Directed by Robert Townsend. Written by Robert Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans. Featured in the film were Robert Townsend, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans, Dom Irrera, Don Reed,and John Witherspoon. Produced by Robert Townsend. Released by MGM Home Entertainment. 1987. 81 minutes. Rated R. The film is available on DVD

[edit] Production & Storyline

The movie was written and directed by Robert Townsend, his first. It is Hollywood folklore that Townsend produced the movie by using his own money and credit cards and making the crew wear college sweatshirts to keep from paying filming fees.

The movie is centered around Bobby (Townsend) and his quest to make it as an actor in Hollywood. He is stuck working at a fast food stand with some hilarious and demented characters who consistently try to destroy his plans for the future.

When he finally gets a break, it is for a role that makes him question his own morality. Should he join the system and play stereotype roles? Or should he say 'no', and possibly destroy his dream of becoming an actor?

As he travels around he frequently has 'visions' which are shown to us the audience. They are visions of the possible future roles he could have, the consequences of playing stereotypes, and so forth.

Here is a short list of his visions:

Bobby as a detective pursuing a murderer with a Jheri curl

Bobby being an "Uncle Tom" and having an angry mob after him

Bobby in an audition where casting agents are looking for an "Eddie Murphy" type, so all the black men in the audition are dressed as Eddie Murphy with leather jackets (some lighter-skinned actors put on darker makeup to match Murphy's skin tone)

Bobby playing a King in a Shakespearean play

The film's most talked-about vignette involved a parody of Siskel & Ebert's telvision show, re-titled Sneakin' In At The Movies. The "show" featured two African-Americans dressed in street clothes named "Speed" and "my homie, Tyrone" running into each other inside of a movie theatre that they had snuck into without having paid for tickets. They then proceed to review four movies using street dialect to express approval and disapproval. For example, in reviewing "Amadeus and Salerius", Speed's entire review consists of yelling "Bullshit" at the screen. When the two critics disagreed on the movie "Chicago Jones and the Temple of Doom", Tyrone threats tells Speed, "Im'o bust yo' ass". The two give a negative review to "Dirty Larry" and instead of giving it thumbs-down, the two give it "the finger". Finally, the duo lavish praise on the film "Attack of the Killer Street Pimps", giving the movie a "high five". The "show" ends when Speed and Tyrone are caught having snuck into the theatre and are forcibly ejected.