carmen jones

carmen jones year

1954

national association for advancement of coloured people

walter white didn’t endorse because didn’t fit with integration agenda

carmen and dj

dorothy dandridge and harry belafonte

carmen voice

marilyn horne

dj and escamillo voices

black opera singers

why dubbed

couldn’t sound african american - needed ‘universal’ sound. prevented from being shown in france until 1981

box office success

fascinating to see black opera - but not too much

what does dubbed do to audience

registers visually as black but sounds white, miming european culture - passable, with no jazz or calypso accents

speech

no input from south native speakers of black english - meta language, what a white audience thought they would sound like - audience implicated because of transparency

dubbed voices in credits

usually uncredited - here 8 seconds long in opening credits and mentioned in all reviews - still tied to original opera

marilyn horne dorothy

listened to her speaking voice and matched the timbre and accent - so there would be a little bit of dandridge in my throat

segregation or not

desegregation behind the screen - but couldn’t intermingle in the diegetic world. idea that singing wasn’t appropriate heightens their exoticism

post war american dream

desegregated military, black people dressed nicely, no protests, ordered and productive

husky miller train

offered to take carmen from florida to chicago - social mobility and black bodies on public transportation

act 2 tavern respectable

private speakeasy but husky can still enter, clean and well lit - billy pastor’s cafe

tavern song change

chanson boheme given to frankie - beat out dat rhythm on a drum. she holds the black weight - black culture away from opera associations

what does all black speakeasy allow

even within a black film, new racial dynamic - can let loose. not gangsters, respectable people who entertain themselves in one location

beat out dat rhythm starts

with bizet’s score played by max roach drummer. carmen asks whether the corporal is around - shift to drum solo

tavern dancers

up and coming black dancers who would become famous on broadway and in the met

beat out that rhythm tropes

harlem renaissance - black connection to africa. tom tom as sound image of life before the middle passage and slavery - i feel it in my bones

good james baldwin

money given to blacks, showcasing black talent and bringing black artists together

bad james baldwin

not 3d characters or real people - the amoral gypsy is mapped onto the amoral negro woman, ludicrously false and affected, like ante bellum negroes imitating their masters

life magazine

dandridge on cover - first time black

skin colour changes

carmen, joe, escamillo taffy, cindy lou paler than carmen, pearl bailey dark. wicked sergeant causes joe to leave the army and molests carmen, very black

brown paper bag test

dark characters have negative associations

why could pearl bailey be dark

already well known - an acceptable arena for the jazzy performance in the opera infused world

boxing match at end

husky and kid pancho. pancho wears bright white shorts, husky wears black - easy to cheer for husky. kid pancho replaces the bull that husky kills