Letter from Lee to Crosland

Dear Mr. Crosland,

What was the purpose of the blackfacing of Jakie in “The Jazz Singer”? Was it to hide him from his family who eventually ended up finding out it was him all along? Or did you think it was a more realistic conduit for a white man to express his soulful, lively, and hip-induced moves while belting notes? If it is the latter, you cannot perform race and expect to be anywhere near the authentic, which is much more ambivalent and nuanced. I watched the film “The Jazz Singer” and when the main character Jakie was in blackface, I could not help but think about the yellow-faced Clinton family in a 1990s political cartoon, demonizing their acceptance of Asian contributors. When America could not stand the idea of a wealthy Asian or influential minority coming into the political sphere, they infused the worst possible stereotypes about Asian Americans: buck-toothed, overbite, mustard yellow skin, slit eyes, ballooned faced. It was as if Jakie could not bear to be himself and donned the popularly accepted black-faced Jazz singer as the appropriate scapegoat for his social discomfort with being a Jewish jazz artist. I deeply disagree with this and I am glad that no other films will make this mistake.

Sincerely,
Robert G. Lee

Questions:
1.What do YOU think was the reason Jakie turned to blackface in The Jazz Singer? How does it affect the message of the movie?
2.Relate Jazz Singer's ending with Jakie finally deciding to be a cantor to the final message in Pinky: are certain identities predetermined by society? Is it nature or nurture?