Is the Golliwog Doll a Symbol of Racism or Just an Innocent Child’s Toy?

RACIST OR INNOCENCE?

Is the Golliwog Doll a Symbol of Racism or Just an Innocent Child’s Toy?
While watching an episode of Prisoner: Cell Block H, that was the question I asked myself and to others. A potential resident of the Susie Driscoll House (half house on the show) was looking at some dolls and she picked up this one. It’s called a Golliwog doll. I personally find it quite offensive, but others don’t.

THE STORY BEHIND THE DOLL

Here’s the history of the doll:
The golliwog, golliwogg or golly is a black fictional character created by Florence Kate Upton that appears in children’s books in the late 19th century usually depicted as a type of rag doll. It was reproduced, both by commercial and hobby toy-makers as a children’s toy called the “golliwog”, and had great popularity in Europe and Australia into the 1970s. The doll is characterized by black skin, eyes rimmed in white, clown lips and frizzy hair. Though home-made golliwogs were sometimes female, the golliwog was generally male. For this reason, in the period following World War II, the golliwog was seen, along with the teddy bear, as a suitable soft toy for a young boy.

The image of the doll has become the subject of controversy. While some see the golliwog as a cherished cultural artifact and childhood tradition, others argue that the golliwog is a destructive instance of racism against people of African descent, along with pickaninnies, minstrels, mammy figures, and other caricatures, and it has been described as “the least known of the major anti-Black caricatures in the United States“.^[1] In recent years, changing political attitudes with regard to race have reduced the popularity and sales of golliwogs as toys. Manufacturers who have used golliwogs as a motif have either withdrawn them as an icon, or changed the name. In particular, the association of the golliwog with the pejorative term “wog” has resulted in use of alternative names such as “golly” and “golly doll”. (Source: Wikipedia).

BLACK FACES ON WHITE SKIN

The doll, to me, reminds me of the days of minstrel shows back in the day. White people would dress up in black face and look like the doll presented here.

Being shocked by such a doll I presented the picture in a Prisoner group am apart of on Facebook. I received a lot of feedback. I wish I had kept that post up so I could post reactions by some of the members. Some were in defense of the doll.

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE...I MEAN DOLL

Here’s the history of how the golliwog came be:
Florence Kate Upton was born in 1873 in Flushing, New York, the daughter of English parents who had emigrated to the United States three years previously. Following the death of her father, she moved back to England with her mother and sisters when she was fourteen. There she spent several years drawing and developing her artistic skills.

To afford tuition to art school, she illustrated a children’s book entitled The Adventures of Two Dutch Dollsand a Golliwogg. The 1895 book included a character named the Golliwogg, who was first described as “a horrid sight, the blackest gnome“, but who quickly turned out to be a friendly character, and is later attributed with a “kind face.” A product of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Golliwogg had jet black skin; bright red lips; and wild woolly hair. He wore red trousers, a shirt with a stiff collar, red bow-tie, and a blue jacket with tails — all traditional minstrel attire.

Upton’s book and its many sequels were extremely successful in England, largely because of the popularity of the Golliwogg. Upton did not trademark her character, and its name, spelled “golliwog”, became the generic name for dolls and images of a similar type.^[1] The golliwog doll became a popular children’s toy throughout most of the 20th century, and was incorporated into many aspects of British commerce and culture;^[2] for instance, some of Enid Blyton‘s books feature them, often as a villain and sometimes as heroes. Upton’s Golliwogg was jovial, friendly and gallant,^[1] but some later golliwogs were sinister or menacing characters. (Source: Wikipedia)

Again, my issue is with minstrel reference, “A product of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Golliwogg had jet black skin; bright red lips; and wild woolly hair. He wore red trousers, a shirt with a stiff collar, red bow-tie, and a blue jacket with tails — all traditional minstrel attire”

MINSTREL SHOWS

The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of entertainment developed in the 19th century. It was a form of entertainment that required payment to attend. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in make-up or blackface for the purpose of playing the role of black people. Minstrel shows lampooned black people as dim-witted,^[1] lazy,^[1] buffoonish,^[1][2] superstitious, happy-go-lucky,^[1] and musical. (Source: Minstrel Show)

I am the last person on this planet to be offended. To pull the race card or call someone a racist because they make off-color remark or joke about a race. We have too much of that going on right now. Some justified, some just for the sake being. I try to examine things before coming to any type of conclusion and I tried to do that with this particular doll.

YOU DON'T FIND IT OFFENSIVE?

Why didn’t the people in the Prisoner group find the doll offensive? Prisoner was a UK based show. The golliwog was popular and was not seen as racist.

I think if I grew up with the doll as many Prisoner watchers did as well as others, I would not see it in the light as I do now. And I do not hold Prisoner as a racist show for having the doll. I love the show and am a huge fan of it for many reasons, in which I should write in a blog at a later date. But for now, I hope to get responses to the golliwog doll, good or bad, for we can all learn from each other’s background.

---

Comments from my post on Facebook:
Jade Smith That’s a tough one… Because, it was not seen as racist when I was little, well I didn’t. You’d see them in shops and stuff and no one battered an eyelid (as the saying goes)… Even the Queen has been seen with one on her handbag, in keyring form. But then you get some people who will use this doll as a symbol of racism.

Anonymous: It’s so sad that children’s cuddly toys were made offensive. Just because some adults decided to use the word in a horrible racist way doesn’t make the toys offensive. My friend was selling some vintage golliwogs on ebay and was told to remove them.

Lifetime Movie: Cold Spring (Contains Spoilers)

The Plot: After losing her baby when she’s hit by a car, a couple decides to move to Cold Spring in hopes of a new start.

The Players:
Roy: Sean Patrick Flanery (Powder, The Boondock Saints, Suicide Kings)
Sarah: Natasha Henstridge (Species)
Diane: Jennifer Gibson: (Maps to the Stars)

What Happened: Roy (Flanery) is a lawyer who is stepping out on his wife with Diane. While moving into a house with the help of Diane, Roy gets a phone call from his wife Diane (Henstridge). She tells him that she’s on her way home and would like for them to have lunch together. Roy hears an ambulance in the background but also in real time which causes him to believe his wife is closer than he thinks and his fears are confirmed when he looks out the window and see’s his wife across the street walking towards the house. He tries to divert her from the house by asking her to get a table at a nearby restaurant and he will be there shortly to which she agrees. Just as they are to hang up from each other he hears her scream and fall into traffic and get hit by car. Fast forward a few weeks later we learn that she has lost the baby. A doctor doing a home visit prescribes her medication and tells her that in time she will get over the lost.

I can’t remember how it came about but Roy is advised to move him and his wife from New York to Cold Spring, a very small town in which Sarah can get the peace and quiet she needs and it will be a great place for them to start their lives over again. Roy wants to move there to get away from Diane as well who won’t leave him alone. Since the accident Roy has become more attentive to his wife and does not want to have anything to do with Diane.

During their time in Cold Spring Sarah is having dreams of a four year old boy as well as of being killed or attempted murder on herself, while Roy thinks he’s seeing Diane about town. Each instances is not really happening.

What’s REALLY Happening: The boy Sarah is dreaming about belongs to Diane (whom was killed by Sarah but not on purpose*). The boy is not Roy’s but a child Diane had with her former boyfriend who was abusive to both Diane and the boy. The boyfriend beat the boy so bad he put him in a coma. Roy is not aware that his former girlfriend is dead until the end of the movie when the boyfriend takes Sarah hostage and lures Roy to the hide out so he can witness the boyfriend kill Sarah. It’s Diane’s boyfriend how pushed Sarah into traffic in hopes of killing her but since that didn’t happen he decided to kidnap her with the goal of killing her.

*Diane arrived at Roy’s house (when they lived in New York) and encounters his wife. She (Diane) tries to play off by saying she has the wrong place and as she’s leaving Sarah tells her not to ever come back. Diane somehow ends up in the house (I never understood how that happened) and as Sarah is running upstairs, Diane follows her and that’s when Sarah pushed Diane while telling her to get out of her house. Diane hits her head against the banister and dies. Sarah moves Diane’s body to an alley to look like she got mugged while burying her purse in a field or her backyard.

The Good: The plot and story-line was a good one. I enjoyed the mystery behind the strange dreams Sarah was having and the meaning behind the boy she kept seeing in her dreams.

The Bad: The chemistry between Flanery and Henstridge was not there at all. I really don’t think Henstridge was feeling the roll as Flanery was while Flanery’s acting was sub-par. His best work was in Powder (1995) and The Boondock Saints. The interaction between the two seemed forced and took away from the movie a bit. I got the feeling that Henstridge didn’t want Flanery near her and seemed annoyed by him. Flanery seemed to try to hard and possibly at times was over thinking his acting and movements.

The detective (who’s name I don’t remember and he’s not listed in the cast credits on imdb.com) was absolutely horrible. He used the vocal fry tone when talking which is so damn annoying. I’m not sure if he thought it sounded cool or what. And if he thought it sounded cool, like he was a hip detective, I wonder where he got the idea from.

Here’s a video about Vocal Fry

The boyfriend was just as bad as the detective in his attempt to act and sound threatening. He over emphasized his threats to Sarah and the looks on his face (which were meant to be mean looks) were of a joke. The look of fear on Henstridge’s face I think were more towards her fear of having to deal with this no-acting ass clown than the threats he was supposed to be giving her. The speech he was giving Sarah was something along the lines of leading a lamb to slaughter with Sarah being the lamb. Oy vey.

At the building where Sarah is being held, the cops see Roy through a window yet it took them almost 10 minutes to get to him. This threw me for a loop and had me lose a little bit of what was going on because I was trying to come up with excuses on why it was taking the cops so long to get inside and rescue Roy and his wife. Obviously the delay so more dramatic interactions between Roy, the boyfriend and Sarah could be played out, but they could have done this by switching between the scenes going on inside the building and the cops racing to get there. Oy vey once again.

The Ugly: There really isn’t any ugly to this movie. As mentioned it had a good story line and plot, but the chemistry between Flanery and Henstridge just wasn’t there and it was quite obvious. Sometimes, bad chemistry between actors can take away from the movie and cause the viewer to lose interest. I stayed because I wanted to know the meaning of Sarah’s dreams as well as get answers to a myriad of other things going on. I was getting a bit nervous that this was all going to be a supernatural thing, but it wasn’t. Whew!

Trivia: The house in the movie is the same house used in Cold Creek Manor (I shrugged my shoulders because I’ve seen nor heard of Cold Creek Manor).

As with most movies, towns are made up. But in this case there really is a Cold Spring, NY:

“The historic Village of Cold Spring is a small community in southeastern New York that is situated on the east bank of the Hudson River only fifty miles north of Manhattan.  It is one of two incorporated Villages within the Town of Philipstown in Putnam County. The Village occupies 0.6 square miles across the river from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the most scenic region of the Hudson Highlands” (read more here-> Cold Spring, NY)

Cold Spring
2013
Director: Sheldon Wilson –
Writer: Irvin Belateche
Starring (probably with regret): Natasha Henstridge, Sean Patrick Flanery
Drama, Mystery, Suspense
Currently showing on the Lifetime Movie Club app available for download in the Google Play store or App Store.

The Murder Pact [Movie Review]

SATURDAY MOVIESSUNDAY VIEWINGS

I just finished watching The Murder Pact on @LifetimeTV via DVR since the movie was Lifetime’s Saturday night movie (last night, 12 September 2015) and it’s Sunday. The movies are recorded for I enjoy watching them on a Sunday and last night’s movie was not exception. I absolutely enjoy this movie and these type of movies is the reason I watch and love movies on LifetimeTV.

THE PLOT

The Murder Pact centers around four college friends who partake (one does) and witness (the other three do) the death of classmate atop of a roof of a building.

The friends:
Will LaSalle (Beau Mirchoff, Awkward, I am Number Four, Scary Movie 4)
Camile (Alexa PenaVega, Spy Kids 1 and 2, The Middle, Nashville)
Annabel (Renee Olstead, The Insider, The Secret Life of the American Teenager )
Rick (Michael J. Willett, Faking It, United States of Tara)

The classmate:
Heidi (Madeleine Dauer, The Cobblestone Corridor)

THE PLOT THICKENS, THE CAMERA CLICKS

Will comes from money; a lot of money and he’s poised to take over his father’s business once he graduates from the prestigious college he and his friends attend. Camille is Will’s girlfriend but does not come from money. This information is important to know.

One particular night Heidi goes looking for Will. She finds him on top of a roof of a night club. When she finds Will, Rick and Annabel are there as well. Camille has yet to arrive, but does so shortly after Heidi arrives. Heidi tells Will she needs to speak to him alone, emphasizing “alone” to his friends but they don’t leave. Shortly thereafter, Heidi threaten to tell Camille that Will was stepping out on her.

Will, not wanting to lose Camille, pushed Heidi (in an attempt to keep her from leaving).  Will was not aware the railing was broken and Heidi’s death was an accident. But there’s a fifth witness. The fifth witness is Heidi’s friend and roommate, Lisa. Lisa was outside the building with her camera taking pictures of Heidi and Will and when Heidi fell. She got a picture of Camille as well who is now looking on to the pavement where Heidi is lying. It isn’t until a class that Will, Camille and Lisa are in that Will and Camille learn that Lisa was there.

The instructor of the class wanted the students speak about the feelings of what has taken place. A few people say a few words. When it's Lisa turn she begins hypothesizing on what could have happened. Her theory is so on point, only someone who was there could imagine such a possibility. Will and Camille feel they might be in trouble. After class Will pulls Lisa aside and asks her how much does she want for the pictures. She claims she doesn’t want any money and tells Will that he can’t buy himself out of everything and walks away. Camille tells Will that she can get Lisa to change her mind and she does for Lisa shows up at Will’s house and is asking for $4 million to be transferred to an account and that’s when everything goes down hill and fast.

I’m not going to give away the rest of the movie for I really hope this was enough for everyone to want to see it if you haven’t done so already. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and the end..well the ending you will never see coming. I don’t mean the final ending, right before the credits, but the part where everything comes to a head.

LIFETIME TV MOVIES AREN'T THE BEST..UNTIL NOW

LifetimeTV does get a lot of flack for it’s movies, mainly for two things: bad acting and plot holes, and I agree at times. But I still find the movies enjoyable and I look forward to them every Saturday night and the days in between. However, LifetimeTV can put out really good ones, and as I said earlier, this one was really good. Not only did it have a good story line, nice twists, but it also had good actors and actresses.

It has been asked if this movie was based on real events and the answer is no. I can see why the question would be asked because it did play like a “based on a true story” type of movie due to the plot being so realistic.

Written by John Doolan and Directed by Colin Theys. Both Doolan and Theys worked together on Remains, Remains: Road to Reno, Dead Souls, and Banshee!!!. 
Download the soundtrack and movie from iTunes. Music by Matthew Llewellyn. Make sure to check out the song Deadly Romance below:

Merlin Santana: Promising Career, Untimely Death

TIME ON MY HANDS, SHOWS ON MY TV

I used to have a lot of time in my hands right now, so I spend some of it reading and most of it watching movies or TV shows on my iPad via the Xfinity Player. While looking at the different TV shows on the Xfinity Player I came across a show called Celebrity Crime Files. This show is broadcast on TVOne and chronicles the death of high profile African Americans and this particular episode focused on Merlin Santana, who played Romeo Santana  The Steve Harvey Show from 1996-2002. He was also on Moesha and Hangin With Mr. Cooper. Some may remember him as Stanley on The Cosby Show from 1991 to 1992.

While on The Steve Harvey Show Merlin gained more fame and the perks that come with it which includes being able to jump to the front of the line when going to clubs, which Merlin did from time to time (go to clubs). But once the show ended so did the perks. He found himself having to wait in line with everyone else and not getting the special treatment he come accustomed to. In addition, he found the roles, TV and movie, were not flying in as he had hoped. The auditions he thought he nailed, he learned the roles went to someone else and this was a blow to him for he had been working as an actor since about the age of 10, and now at the age of 26, he was out of work.but I believe his claim to fame was The Steve Harvey Show.

It is believed that Merlin had severe depression after The Steve Harvey Show ended, but instead of staying inside and dealing with his depression, he tried other avenues, one of them being recording a rap album. He thought he could sell the album off his fame as Romeo, but I do not believe the album fared well and people found it hard to believe that Stanley and Romeo put out the type of rap album as Merlin did. People saw Merlin as the sweet and lovable Stanley and Romeo, not a gangsta rapper.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

One particular night he's out with his friend Byron Adams (also a child actor People Under the Stairs) at a Chinese restaurant when they met up with a girl and her friend. The girl told Merlin that her name was Mercedes. All four of them hand dinner and went to a club later that night and hung out. Later on that evening, Merlin and "Mercedes" had sex and then went their separate ways afterwards. The next day when "Mercedes was hanging with Merlin he didn't show her the same attention he did the day before and this fueled something in her. But let's get the back story on "Mercedes" whose real name is Monique King.

Monique had been in 18 foster homes due to her mother being a prostitute and a drug addict. Monique's father was not in the picture at all. Monique learned to manipulate people to get what she wants or to get people to do what she wants. Her ability to do this would lead to Merlin's untimely death.

I am not sure if it was the same night or a few days later, but Monique met up with some friends of hers, Damien Gates and Brandon Bynes, along with the girl she was with the night she met Merlin. Because she was mad at Merlin for "giving her the cold shoulder", she told Gates and Bynes that Merlin had raped her and she told in a way that it got her friends fired up and wanting to do something about it. That same night, they went back to their place and got their guns. Gates got a 12 gauge shotgun with a laser on it and Bynes got a hand gun. After retrieving their weapons, they learned where Merlin would be, which was at a house party, and waited for him to come out of the house. When Merlin and his friend left the party, they sat in Brandon''s car for a second or so. While sitting there they noticed a red laser in the review mirror and both looked back to see what it was and that's when Gates and Bynes opened fire on Merlin and his friend, mostly at Merlin. Brandon was able to drive off and once he was at a safe spot, he noticed that Merlin was slumped over in the passenger seat. Brandon immediately called 911 in which Merlin was taken to the hospital but later died. The cause of death was a bullet to the head.

The police later arrested Monique, (who was really 15 and not of age as she had Merlin believe). and her accomplices. It was later learned that the shot that killed Merlin was from the 12 gauze (Gates) and that the handgun (Bynes) never fired a shot because it jammed. Monique only got 10 years in juvenile hall  for her participation in the crime. She will be 25 years old when exiting from Juvenile Hall, which means she has her whole life a head of her, as long as she doesn't get killed or end up in prison for life. Gates got three consecutive life sentences plus 70 years in prison. Bynes received 23 years for assault with a deadly weapon and voluntary manslaughter.

I am not sure if Santana would have had a long career in the movies, but I'm sure he would have had one on TV, and from what I gather from the show Celebrity Crime Files, Santana was a descent guy. A good guy.

His murder was senseless, as most murders are. The person who initiated the hit is out and about enjoying her life and more than likely not caring about what she did. She might even be planning to take someone else out or someone has or will take her out. But I believe strongly in Karma and she will get hers, either now or in her old age. As for the gunmen, they both learned a hard lesson and let's hope that lesson stays with them for a long time. I know it will with Gates.
__________________________________________________

Correction: The friend that Merlin was with on the night he died name was Brandon, not Byron