Week 7
This week we covered controversial exhibits, and there is none more controversial in the field of animation than Ralph Baskshi. Ralph Baskshi has created extremely controversial animations that cover themes of race and oppression. He also made Cool World ,one of the first big budget adult animated movies of the western 21st century.
A background painting from “Cool World. (© Bakshi Productions, Inc.)
His work is technically phenomenal, though the more offensive pieces are difficult to explain to modern sensibilities as his views on race in "Coonskins" and "Fritz the Cat" are controversial. The portrayal of the black characters in his films are stereotypes, though their purpose in the story is to speak to how people misunderstand black people. Though Ralph Baskshi is white, he grew up in Brooklyn which also explains why he has certain views on black people that other white people might find offensive ("Brownsville"). His animated pieces are typically not re released in theaters or even displayed. His own reputation and how he was mistreated in his own industry is partly why his art is hosted through private galleries, in my opinion. Unfortunately, for these reasons, I think his work is literally un-showable to modern audiences. Even with an explanation of what the film is trying to achieve, it would require a deeper understanding from the audience to connect with the piece. The likely thing that will happen in the future after Bakshi passes, will be that museums host his work, such as the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian, is wrapped up in its own controversies with Bill Cosby, including an exhibit that praised the mans life after the controversy arose, with little more than a sign outside the exhibit saying they " did not condone the behavior"(Controversy, thy name be Smithsonian). With this kind of attitude, how can one expect them to treat a more complex figure?
"Brownsville". Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. pp. 22–24. ISBN 0-7893-1684-6.
Retrieved October 09, 2020,
Controversy, thy name be Smithsonian. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2020, from https://www.press.jhu.edu/news/blog/controversy-thy-name-be-smithsonian
Hello Nathan!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your post. It is always really enlightening to delive into this sort of work and look at the different ways that the public recieves it. Like you mentioned, Ralph's work probably could not be shown to modern-day audienes. I liked that you mentioned that it would really take a deep understanding from the audience in order to understand what the message of the pieces were intended to be. People are so quick to jump to being offended now, they often do not take time to listen to the creator and what their message was intended to be.
How do you think that museums could show work such as this? Would lots of information be present about what is contraversial about the piece? I think these sort of pieces of work are important to be shown, even for the sake of conversation about how the work is percieved in mordern times.
Museums have a responsibility to present their pieces with as much context as needed for the audience. Perhaps placing another exhibit in front of it that sets the time and how Bakshi grew up, it would help the viewer to understand what was going on. While some would argue that his less controversial works could be shown, even those would need context for their harsh imagery and why it was so important at the time.
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