Talk:The Isle of Pingo Pongo

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Misrepresentations / Opinion

In the following section from this article:

The inhabitants of Pingo-Pongo are mostly tall, black, and have big feet and lips. Like other cartoons at this time, the native inhabitants resemble animals and reflect stereotypes of the time. The natives are at first playing drums, then break into a jazz beat, still described as a “primitive savage rhythm,” which leads the audience to connect the savage jungle to modern jazz music. [2]

"Like other cartoons at this time, the native inhabitants resemble animals and reflect stereotypes of the time." -- Having now watched the film on YouTube, the animals depicted in the short are actual animals, wildlife living on the island. It is true, however, that the "aborigines" caricatures are quite stereotypical of the era.

"The natives are at first playing drums, then break into a jazz beat, still described as a “primitive savage rhythm,” which leads the audience to connect the savage jungle to modern jazz music." -- This misrepresents the original text in the source cited. The book cited does not indicate that the jazz or country-style music that appears is still "primitive," but rather describes the initial "native" drumbeat as such, leading to a juxtaposition of modern styles on a supposedly "ancient" island.

75.108.57.220 (talk) 12:14, 19 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"The natives are at first playing drums, then break into a jazz beat, still described as a “primitive savage rhythm,” which leads the audience to connect the savage jungle to modern jazz music." -- This misrepresents the original text in the source cited. The book cited does not indicate that the jazz or country-style music that appears is still "primitive," but rather describes the initial "native" drumbeat as such, leading to a juxtaposition of modern styles on a supposedly "ancient" island.

And the reason for that juxtaposition is not necessarily crude racism. To understand the satire in this cartoon, you need to have seen the work of the travel/exploitation filmmakers it is satirising: Martin and Osa Johnson, Cooper & Schoedsack, Frank Buck etc. The joke underlying this cartoon is that unfamiliar places and cultures have to be 'westernised' in order to be accessible to the visitors. The passengers jump overboard for the coins more enthusiastically than the native does, the Elmer Fudd type is only interested in shooting things, not understanding them, the natives will only perform modern jazz music before the tourists will take any notice of them, the mocking bird affects a cynical New Yorker, etc.. In other words, it's the western tourists that are the butt of the joke, not black people. LDGE (talk) 13:10, 16 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]