KING KONG IS DEAD

This is also an oldie but goody

“And the Beast Looked upon the face of beauty and it stayed it’s hand from killing, and from that day it was as one dead.” ß-an “Arabian myth” applied to a white woman

So. . .King Kong. Yea. In 1933 King Kong was a piece of Euro-centric propaganda. But since the very first feature length film titled Birth of a Nation was made only a few years prior (1915) I’d imagine King Kong was very much the bees knees. Racism can be overlooked for the right camera angle apparently. Because of it’s sheer originality and never-been-seen before appeal this movie was a gigantic powerhouse in the film industry continued to be revered by film makers and film aficionados alike for generations to come. It has been remade twice: once in 1976 and again 2005. Peter Jackson’s King Kong remains true to the original. He has created a masterpiece homage to the work of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. But as I was reflecting on the fact that I will never get any of the 187 minutes I lost to that movie back I wondered: what is the statement PJ made by staying so true to the original??

Now I must admit that since going to Law School in Little Dixie (i.e. Indiana) I have become a bit more race conscious. However in this case I believe that many of the observations I made during 187 minutes of soft aryan adoration were valid concerns. The Caucasian woman as the zenith of beauty myth rears its head at every turn in American Society manifested expertly by this year’s biggest film. Every day I am buried beneath a barrage of images that inadvertently reaffirm this countries obsession with the aryan woman. 

Blonde hair and blue eyes are held on a pedestal that was never meant to be occupied by the darker skinned members of this fair land (pun intended). Light features are part of the American cult of beauty. In fact the message I received from this movie is that aryan women are so beautiful they transcend the norms of various species. AnnDarrow is thin, pale, with light eyes and so close to absolute perfection that even a dark ape-beast (an obvious parallel to the black man brought to America sedated and kept here in chains) can’t help but revere her. In fact he is willing to die for her. The Natives on the island sacrificed dozens of their own people and King Kong was more than willing to gobble them up, but he could not bring himself to even really hurt Ann Darrow.

And let’s talk about the damned natives. I excused Peter Jackson inability to find one brown-skinned person in 6 hours middle earth malarchy. And at the start of King Kong I applauded the entrance of a black sailor on the ship sailing to Skull island. Then I saw the Natives. . .and the black man was promptly killed. The natives have dusty, smoking, ashy, dark skin. They have stringy hair and apparently it rains all the time where they live ‘cause there hair is always greasy and grossly smeared across their faces. 

They have bones through various parts of their faces. They have awful teeth. . .worse than the damned mutant ape. Now really when was the last time you saw a bunch of dark-skinned natives with bad teeth? PLUS PJ found these dark skinned people in NEW ZEALAND. So he DOES know how to find brown people. . .he just chooses not to. . . sometimes. . .hmmmm (like when he's populating middle earth).

King Kong remains a parable of exploitation, cultural self-importance, the arrogance of the West, all issues that were obvious in the original but unexamined; they remain unexamined here, if more vivid. ( Steven Hunter Washington Post http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-oppin154551776dec15,0,2915817.column)

Of course I’m not suggesting that Peter Jackson does not have an artistic right to recreate racist propaganda. Colonialism is big and grand and full of vigor. All that victory over "savagery". The noble conqueror who brings modernity to the culturally less fortunate. PJ played into the hype and was paid handsomely for holding true to the status quo. 

And to be honest I enjoyed the first half of the King Kong vs. T-Rex fight but the fact that most people don’t see the inherent racism in this film worries me. I’m forced to be the militant black girl who’s always been so “well spoken” before law school. It seems like I sees racism everywhere therefore it cannot exist anywhere. I’m 22 years old and within the next 8 years I plan to start having kids of my own. 

My daughters will have to face the same race self doubt with regards to their aesthetic value that I had to deal with and that is unacceptable. My sons will look at skin first and personality later because they’ve been taught that beauty takes only one form. Everyday entertainers make their features lighter and every year young black America follows in their wake. The civil rights movement was over 40 years ago and there are still scabs that America insists on picking so that everyone does not have the same chance to heal. The open wounds fester and burn reminding those who don't fit the dominant aesthetic that they will never be the most desired. People can straighten their hair, change their dress, speak differently, and try to pay for new features but ultimately they will never be desired like the white woman. The white woman in all her shining blessed glory is America's most valuable natural resource and this movie just confirms how she is revered world wide. 

Black girls who see that movie will be damaged, whether or not they realize it. Anytime there is a size 4 on the screen they will want to hurt their bodies to achieve that end. Anytime there are light eyes on the screen there will be another order or ridiculous contacts for a sista as dark as the ace of spades. Little black girls can even die their hair blonde but at the end of the day they are black. They cannot be Ann Darrow. And I say they should not be Ann Darrow. We should redefine beauty to be more inclusive and more socially affirming to all people. 

The only way things are going to change is if we as consumers stop supporting these types of narratives. We have to change the status quo. We have to stand up for our children and ourselves and demand that our beauty be respected and appreciated just as much as the white woman.