Homie Spumoni: the blackface skit that became a feature film
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Karen just alerted me to this gem of a straight-to-DVD movie, coming out this week. Here’s the description:
Meet Renato: a pasta-loving, Dean Martin-worshipping Italian-American living la dolce vita and working at his papa’s Little Italy deli. Until his African-American birth parents show up, claiming he’s their long-lost son Leroy. Now that he’s suddenly black, “Leroy” tries his best to shoot hoops and dig hip-hop, but all he really wants is for everyone to just get along!
Wow. I don’t know who should be more offended? Italian-Americans or black people? Or those who are both? Check out the trailer here.
I did a search for “Homie Spumoni” on YouTube, hoping to find an embeddable trailer for this film, and stumbled across this video from one of the writers. So apparently, this movie was based on a blackface skit. Doesn’t that just say it all?
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Mireille wrote:
I saw this, saw the caste and was really, really disappointed. Just…Wow.
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 12:46 pm ¶
dnA wrote:
Okay, but there’s something really funny about Italian parents not figuring out their kid is black, especially considering how poorly we get along.
::cough::GIULIANI::cough::
It’s one of my favorite things about Jungle Fever (the movie) that many of the Italians are mad dark and many of the black folks are mad light. Spike isn’t known for his subtle points, and while I doubt this movie has redeeming qualities, I understand the attraction of the idea that racial identity is formed as much by one’s cultural surroundings as it is by what you look like.
But did it have to be so racist?
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 12:48 pm ¶
ciji wrote:
When I think about Italians and Blacks being ‘related’, why do I have a “True Romance” flashback?
Whoppi Goldberg? Paul Mooney?! Really!?!?
(Not suprised about Donald Faison, tho’)
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 1:03 pm ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
seriously, the fact that paul mooney is in this film baffles me. he vowed not to use “nigga” in his shows any more, but then goes and acts in a film like this. ok, ok, i get it now. don’t use the words that evoke a stereotype, but feel free to act them out without abandon and no harm done, right?
it’s also funny that jamie lynn sigler is in this film…she’s been doing heavy duty italian-face for a while considering she’s of cuban descent in real life…
gross
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 1:49 pm ¶
shirky wrote:
wasn’t there a true story like this (minus the offensive lameness of course) but the thought-he-was-italian-but-was-black thing…a bizarre true life story?
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 1:53 pm ¶
O Hell Nawl wrote:
wow… will someone wake me up when the minstrel hour is over
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 3:15 pm ¶
imdeep wrote:
I’m shocked no one’s mentioned Whoopi’s participation in all this…
As for Jamie-Lynn: Doing “Italian face”?!? So multiracial celebrity always results in nitpicking and namecalling, huh? I know that must do wonders for the parents.
For the record, the Cuban immigrant mom (Consuela Lopez) and Sephardic cum Romania and Greece dad (Steve Sigler) produced a daughter who can lay claim to her Mediterranean and Latin heritage, and that they appear to love and support very much.
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 4:50 pm ¶
dnA wrote:
You’re going to be asleep for a long ass time.
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 5:50 pm ¶
Andrea wrote:
What’s the deal with Renato/leroy holding the big brown sausage? I don’t know if that was accidental or intentional, but it’s provoking some sexualized imagery (for me, anyway).
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 6:39 pm ¶
merq wrote:
imdeep:
“I’m shocked no one’s mentioned Whoopi’s participation in all this…”
Sorry, man. The traffic was insane.
I can’t believe anyone is surprised by Paul Mooney. Have you not heard him speak? This guy subsists on stereotypes like this; Imus response be damned.
On second thoughts, I’m not even gonna touch Whoopi. Actually, I’m not touching this movie as a whole.
But dude… Leroy?
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 7:28 pm ¶
Colin wrote:
It seems like a low, witless crap movie. The premise is beyond weak. The cast is weak. The inspiration is wack. No big deal, just a movie so bad, I can’t even laugh at its inferiority.
imdeep: While it is fair to point out Ms. Sigler’s multiracial heritage, it’s not necessarily logical to point to her Mediterranean roots as a reason she just COULD NOT be pulling “Italian face” like Wendi said.
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 11:25 pm ¶
Andrew/Animelee wrote:
No~! Turk, no~!
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 11:38 pm ¶
Tony wrote:
What’s funny is the first person I thought of reading the premise was Vin Diesel.
Considering he is both Italian and Black he has double reason to hate this movie.
And seriously the whole “I’m black, quick let me get some hip-hop” stuff irritates me to no end.
I mean, heaven forbid a black (or partially black) person not like Hip-Hop or rap, the entire universe would collapse upon itself.
Posted 05 Oct 2007 at 12:12 am ¶
Lauren wrote:
I don’t even get this. It must be a joke. Even if you stripped away all the grotesque racism, you’d still have a bunch of relatively high-profile actors in a straight-to-DVD movie with an aborted joke as a title. Add the grotesque racism back in, and it becomes completely unfathomable. How is this even possible?
Posted 05 Oct 2007 at 3:15 am ¶
Allen wrote:
“Can’t we all just get along?”
Not when BS like this continues to be financed. Seriously, Donald Faison could never, ever, pass for an Italian. He’s clearly black. And the whole premise that this is an attempt to fight racism, which is clearly what the blurb is conveying, is ridiculous.
Posted 05 Oct 2007 at 12:29 pm ¶
bgwqlc wrote:
This kinda reminds me of “The Jerk” except I doubt it will be as funny.
Posted 05 Oct 2007 at 12:44 pm ¶
imdeep wrote:
Colin: Not sure I understand your point. Your basically saying it’s not logical to point out the combo of Mediterrean-Romanian roots/heritage/features for providing underlying credibility towards her so-called “Italian face” in her parts, while her Cuban roots/heritage/features somehow would negate credibility?
Posted 05 Oct 2007 at 12:56 pm ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
sigler was on the sopranos for a decade…a show that some italian american groups pretty much called italian-face b/c of its perpetuation of negative stereotypes of italians
i don’t really care what her background is…she’s not italian or of italian descent, but in this case, that doesn’t make it better or worse.
you can be black and still perform in blackface, literally or figuratively… the same goes for sigler.
Posted 05 Oct 2007 at 1:13 pm ¶
Karen wrote:
@imdeep
the blog I found it at called her out.
but I basically have no words. This whole thing speaks for itself.
Posted 05 Oct 2007 at 5:17 pm ¶
Mike wrote:
Paul Mooney surprised me here, every one else I can see doing a movie like this especially if the rents due. Faison could pass for a Sicillian. But the movie just looks corny period.
Posted 05 Oct 2007 at 9:02 pm ¶
Colin wrote:
imdeep:
Oddly, I understood your original point, and you seemed to understand mine. I know you’re saying she’s got lineage from the same region, but that doesn’t excuse acting out stereotypes, which I honestly am NOT saying she did or did not. (I’ve no idea what she looks like or acts like)
Like Wendy pointed out, blackface (which I hope can be said to be a parallel to italianface) can be performed by black performers just as much and as heinously as white performers. Bert Williams is a great name to look up on this subject.
I only say it’s not a great evidence that she isn’t doing Italianface, that’s all, really.
Posted 07 Oct 2007 at 1:07 am ¶
imdeep wrote:
Yes, the local video head at the rental store attests this thing sucks. Sausage looks like turd, that should serve as a warning for what’s to follow.
Colin & Wendi: I thought Wendi made an otherwise solid point, weakened only by the “Cuban negation” line. So point taken with this caution in mind.
The term “facing” demonstrates lazy directionless overused language that doesn’t stick to anything other than itself for definition and context.
I’m familiar with the dark history of corking, the human stain forced upon actors who engaged in literal and virtual stereotypes (as well as the repurcussions for some who did not), and impact in culture and society from those roles.
The problem comes from trying to expand “facing” as a suffix (or gerund nitpickers!) to literally everything beyond an act of racial stereotyping to include a caricature rooted in nationality when maybe gross ethnic or cultural generalizations may be the issue.
I get that the general tone of “blackface”,”brownface”, “yellowface” “redface”, and under-heralded “whiteface” (no one mourned Marcel Marceau here) but think overuse has drained all the color from the concept, and morphed it, even more bizarrely, into a standard of who’s qualified to play a stereotype.
Anyway, that’s why you can’t read what’s on the face without looking behind it.
So credibility, legitimacy, authenticity… or crass over-generalizations? I hope it’s time to stop the term and find something simpler/better to call out what’s really irksome.
Posted 08 Oct 2007 at 10:01 am ¶