Rockin' Around the Clock with Beth McCoy

The first paragraph of the Beth McCoy reading talks a bunch about how Blackboard Jungle set the format for buddy cop flicks. So, going into the second paragraph, I was all like, "Okay, this reading is going to be pretty basic, you know, talk about Chris Tucker for a little bit, address some racial issues...get in, get out."




Then I read the second paragraph.

Then the third.

And all of a sudden, Beth starts getting into some pretty serious stuff and I start wishing I was into something a little bit lighter. Maybe watching "The Last Boyscout" or something.

Now, when I first walked out of our classroom after Blackboard Jungle, I was feeling pretty good. White guy becomes friends with the black guy, wife doesn't get all that pissed about the letters, the really naughty kids get the boot, and everyone learns a pretty valuable lesson. It's a feel good flick...makes ya feel good.

Then I start reading Beth's thoughts on Blackboard Jungle and all that shit goes right out the window. I mean, before I even start the second page she's convincing me that the only way that Miller and Dadier can develop "masculine sameness" is in the absence of Anne. So, I was all pumped that the black guy and the white guy got along, but I failed to notice that it was in the absence of the female character. So we can only have racial equality amongst males in the absence of women? Is that what she's saying? Or is that what she's saying the film is saying? Either way, I liked being ignorant to all this stuff better.

So, the film doesn't exactly have the best portrayal of women, but at least I can still say that it portrayed a multi-ethnic, troubled, youth in a somewhat positive light - achieving, and eventually behaving and all that good stuff. That's at least something to feel good about, right?

Beth says no again, and immediately in my head, I say to myself, "this lady is one tough cookie". Then I realize that thinking she's a "tough cookie" might in fact make me kind of sexist, because of the whole "women in the kitchen"thing. Then I start to feel kind of like a chauvinist or something, which is weird because I usually think the opposite. However, I eventually disregard the whole chauvinist thing when I realize I'll gladly do the cooking and kid-raising and laundry washing when I tie it up. Did Anne really apologize for getting pregnant? God, that made me mad. With my brains and her looks we could be onto something.

Anyway, I thought that the film at least showed this youth culture in a positive light by the end, despite all the nonsense throughout. Miller takes command and the majority of these kids choose to be good (to put that in the most overly simplified terms possible). But, I guess I was wrong about that too.

Beth says that those early scenes with the multi-ethnic, scary looking teens (were they behind bars of some sort?) portray them oddly, with focus on their "otherness" (notwhiteness). The cameras focus a lot on their skin, and later she states that the film seems to be saying something like "otherness" will become delinquency and destroy the common culture, unless it can be guided properly. She then states, "Otherness, Blackboard Jungle suggests, can be managed away from delinquency." Guess I can't feel good about that either...thanks Beth.

Well, at the very least, naughty multi-ethnic delinquents out of the picture, and women out of the picture, I can still say that the black dude and the white dude got along at the end and walked off in the sunset and all that good stuff and Beth won't have an issue with it.

Aghhh....

First, she says the the black guy in this film (and historically) becomes feminized, almost replacing the wife figure. That's no good. Then she talks about how everything in the film, everything about seeing colorblind and all the obvious racial shit going on in the film, is actually completely depended on the recognition of the different skin colors. This is a very sad thing to think about and it makes the racial fences in this country seem all the more difficult to climb.

Then, she drops the bomb about the "rock around the clock" ending, which (she was right) seems totally happy and lovey dovey to our generation. She said that it could be potentially interpreted as representative as the instability of the white/black relation in this country. I'm not sure if I entirely got that point, but whatever.

Overall, I liked this film, found it very entertaining (if that counts for anything anymore) and would highly recommend it. The reading (Beth's analysis) was, well, pretty in depth and eye-opening, if difficult to get through at times. I felt that some of her points were better supported than others, but overall I was impressed with her analysis of the film. She is one tough cookie.


















Hey, look...there's all white people on the cover. We're doing a little better, I think?