The Haunting Birth of Minstrel Horror



I wanted to explore an emerging trope in horror media and the…interesting history it stems from.

00:00 – Intro
02:22 – Minstrel Horror
06:17 – What Lies Beneath
12:41 – A lil Tangeant about Ice Cream
17:22 – Dark Shadows
24:25 – Firestarter
36:51 – The [White]Devil’s Rejects
56:39 – plug
58:00 – Conclusive Thoughts
1:05:32 – Outro

References/Resources: https://www.patreon.com/posts/minstrel-horror-113427162?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Video by @DaintyFunk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLEpTOT6cJA

source

49 thoughts on “The Haunting Birth of Minstrel Horror”

  1. I am a big fan of horror and have seen all the movies talked about and none of the characters had me scared…… except the tapdance man. Chile when his part came up in the show I felt a sense of fear and anxiety I had never experienced before. The crazy part was I was literally having inner dialogue like what I am scared. I seriously had no idea why it scared me so much. Then who would have thought three little words could have been delivered in a terrifying way. Datt damn man dey!!!!!

    Reply
  2. Commenting to help the algorithm! You absolutely cooked with this video

    Not gonna lie, for how messy Lovecraft Country can seem, I absolutely love the show and is one of my favourite horror tv shows frankly.

    Reply
  3. Bamboozled is such a powerful film. The horror of a minstrel show and the willingness of the audience embracing the caricatures shook me the first time and I still feel the yikes in remembering the clips you shared

    Reply
  4. Papa Lazarou from the show The League of Gentlemen is the first thing that springs to mind when you say Minstrel Horror. That said, I'm really not sure that it's coming from a place of an awareness of what it is that they were doing.

    Reply
  5. I'm actually wondering if you've seen the first Tales From The Hood by any chance? I felt like it was a much better film, and it was really surprising seeing how much more bizarre and uncomfortable the sequel was by comparison especially considering the same creator was behind them

    Reply
  6. Hearing that black people did blackface makes me so sad. Idk, about racism because I'm a white woman, but I know it's bad here in Finland. At best it's like "oh were not used to seeing black people so that's why we stare" and at worst it's "go back to your motherfucking country you #%!!%*#'insert a slur here'!!!111" or claiming that you steal when you don't.

    Reply
  7. Woah, this video is amazing! I'm completely drawn in by your presentation of everything and enjoy your personal academic style. I kept pausing to look up some of the things in this and am just appalled by anything I did not know.

    Thanks so much for this video as it really illustrates a time in my cultural heritage instead of just reading or hearing about it. I'm forever apalled and empathatic for my past relatives who had to deal with racism, hatred, rejection, and the way racists profited off it.

    Reply
  8. 0:47 Errr…Do you count 'Candyman' as a 'Proto-Film' or 'Missing Link' or 'Embryonic Phase' of this Genre? Or see it more as a 'Traditional Movie' of another Horror Genre despite its unique Setting and Lead Slasher doing a wonderful performance?

    Reply
  9. 10:21 Token Hate Comment:

    "Man you just all acting like 'Crabs in a Bucket!' I did what I had to! What else was there? Be Poor? I'm not doing that anymore! ….Don't Give me that Look! It's 'Just a Job' The Daily Grind. You have No Right to judge me for how I choose to live my life! Respect the Cash. How'd I get it? Don't matter bout that. Dont even matter about the How and the Means. It Works. And you're just jealous because you haven't thought of doing the Same."
    -The Rationalization of the Thought Process that probably went into this Decision to 'When in Rome' Actual Blackface Performances for Black Actors despite the harm that would cause collectively on the one hand

    with a side of Bad Girl from No More Heroes 1

    Reply
  10. im at 18 minutes

    its now hitting this is black people horror or a video on racism? not totaly sure but i thought "Minstrel" was a word for period blood. The video auto played here and im just listing occasionally watching. im happy im wrong im not trying to find blood outside of horror movies. i got so far without knowing what i am watching

    Reply
  11. 22:33 >'Zip Coon'

    So essentially White Southern Salt at the Underground Railroad's Existence that they shift blame unto for existing instead of realizing that what they are doing is wrong and the subsequent Demonization of the 'Free Northern African American' and probably how actual Racists see Frederick Douglas and other Aboltionists unironically in their Warped Worldview.

    Reply
  12. I don’t watch a lot about movies or tv shows but I’ve been reading a lot of horror books by black authors and I definitely recommend them (maybe start with the “out there screaming” anthology) for anyone who wants to see more things with a similar style

    Reply
  13. I rarely keep watching a video when I see it's an hour+ long, but this is riveting. I had no idea about this stuff, and plan to be a 100% engagement data point at only 6 minutes in. (algorithm brought me here)

    Reply
  14. wow, really awesome analysis! i haven't watched them or lovecraft county, and tbh now i want to give them a shot. very creepy imagery and themes. there's a really great book about black people and culture in horror cinema, 'the black guy dies first,' by robin means coleman and mark harris. it's great film history, and i thought of it when you talked about tales from the hood, because the book talks about that movie a lot too.

    Reply
  15. Well… my childhood sure shoved a lot of racist imagery right in front of me, while also trying to tell me that racism was a problem that had already been solved.

    … I think that's actually horrifying to realize.

    Reply
  16. Blackface character do work very well for horror because they make us very uncomfortable with our modern sensibilities. Using them as monsters to represent the othering of minorities, the horrors of racism, and the pain of racial exclusion can be very impactful. Other fears and problems of our society appear as horror monsters in our entertainment. These are ready made for that….though I don't know how I'd feel about a teen boy having a poster of some minstrel themed horror character on their wall rather than Freddy or Chucky or Jason or having life sized versions of The Tap Dance Man outside of people's houses for Halloween. It is a sensitive and complicated issue.

    Reply
  17. not fully through the video yet but your contemplation of satire is really wonderful. i love horror genre analyses and this is by far one of the most memorable ive seen. you really get at both the critical analysis and visceral discomfort so well in a way that’s mentally stimulating and soul-consuming.

    Reply
  18. Its cool how Jordan Peele's work has revolutionized horror into a new sub drama. I really appreciate that we finally have creators in the spotlight that can show more perspectives than the white/cis/het stories that made it big in Hollywood

    Reply
  19. commenting to help bring more ppl here!! what an excellent video!! my mom keeps trying to get me to watch lovecraft country but i really think its something i need to give myself the mental space for or else it'll ruin my mood for a few weeks 😅

    Reply
  20. Oh, no… the tap dancer scared the fuck out of me lol. Jeremiah did SUCH a great job with his character, I think. Really sold it for me.

    Great video, man! I initially misread the title as… menstrual horror… 🤦🏻‍♂️

    I don't wanna talk about it lol.

    Reply

Leave a Comment