Letters to the Editor
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Mrs. Butterworth
I always thought she was black.
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Ditto
I also thought Mrs. Butterworth was black.
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I'm sorry I'll make sure you get another copy of that memo
The ome from Salon.com that says clearly white people are evil and you can't claim they are maligned in any way.
Cordially,
Human Resources
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Mrs. Butterworth as WASP?!?
Don't you mean Betty Crocker?
Though even she has had several make-overs over the years. The latest has added some Latin or Mediterranean color to her face and hair if I remember rightly.
Mrs. Butterworth has always, always been a deep, dark rich brown glass bottle (okay...now plastic.) She's even darker than Aunt Jemima, no? Looking "Mrs. Butterworth" up on the net is suggests that her "voice" was done by ostensibly "white" Mary Kay Bergman... But I seem to remember an earlier voice... And one entry suggests that this icon was modeled on the face and figure of Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen, i.e. "Prissy" from Gone with the Wind, back in the early 1940's. All of this counts against Mrs. B's alleged WASPishness... And then she was always a kind, grandmotherly figure anyway.
If it's based on false premises what's it worth? If it has shades/tones of white privilege/whining? Then what's the real point here?
Back to the drawing board...and re-think this one.
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Yes Mrs. Butterworth is supposed to be White
I know it is something that confused people over the years, because Maple Syrup is Brown, and so it was pressumed the color was more important than all the other aspects of Mrs. Butterworth's personality.
But Mrs. Butterworth was not intended as a racial streotype (note that she has never embodied any steriotype for african americans, she is not a server at breakfast but a member of the family, see how she boldly speaks to the children as if she was an equal) but was intended to be just a sort of grandmotherly hight toned woman advocating a healthy breakfast of whole wheat pancakes drenched in butter and liquified sugar.
Many people make the mistake, but it shows just how "interesting" the racial views of the product's creators were. They figured even though their spokes person would have a rich maple tone to her skin, so long as she talked white, she would be seen as white.
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What'cha Arguing About?
Have we've been reduced to arguing over the race of a bottle of sugar syrup?
I remember the Mrs. Butterworth commercials on TV, and it seems Mr. Bollings is taking Mrs. Butterworth's description from those commercials. She was matronly and formal. Sort of like a New England farmer's wife, or the aunt who always told you to take your elbows off the table and use a knife and fork even when you were eating fried chicken.
The whole point of this cartoon was how, in an attempt to whitewash the past, we still depend upon stereotypes. The difference is that now the stereotypes are positive instead of negative.
The transformation of Uncle Ben from servant to corporate CEO was a bit of a stretch, but I guess when your company is called "Uncle Ben", it's a little hard to abandon your mascot completely -- even if it does have slightly racists overtones. I can imagine the executive board trying their best to reposition their mascot. Make him a white and friendly? No... he reminds too many people of their Uncle Ben. The one who, when you were a young kid, always liked you a bit too much.
Anyone remembers a restaurant chain called Sambos? It was a pancake house named after Little Black Sambo. It tried to move its icon from Little Black Sambo to a tiger without much success. I wonder when Aunt Jemima will receive her makeover?
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Come on!
This was very, very funny--you guys are completely missing the point and seems to have a limited sense of humor :)
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Years ago St. John's university
Changed their hoops team from the Redmen to the Red Storm. Which sounds like an energy drink. Well you can't fault the freewheeling Vicentians from wanting to make nice. Of course this is the school that one year awarded "Hispanic Student of the Year" to a blond haired blue eyed non Spanish speaking student with an Irish name.
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Ooh Scandal
You mean that Jemima and Butterworth were an interracial gay couple! I want videos.
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Why did they have
a Hispanic student of the the year? Are they suggesting that Hispanics can't compete with the general student population? What would happen if the same student that won Hispanic student of the year also won Generic student of the year? Would they disqualify him?
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That Grin
I always thought Chief Wahoo looked kind of stoned...in an upbeat sort of way.
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Why anyone wants talking food
....is beyond me.
Dialog from Mrs Butterworth commerical:
Young Girl Mrs. Butterworth.
Mrs. Butterworth Yes?
Young Girl How come this tastes so good?
Mrs. Butterworth Well, my syrup is very thick and rich
Young Girl Thick and rich?
That just sounds dirty.
http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_mrsbutterworth.htm
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More dialog:
Mrs. Butterworth Just watch. See how the leading syrup just runs over this stack while Mrs. Butterworth takes her own sweet time. Now my syrup has got to be thick to pour this slow. Truth is Mrs. Butterworth is twice as thick as the other syrup. Thick and Rich and...
Young Girl Mmmm...Mrs. Butterworth, I Loooovvve you
Mrs. Butterworth Oh!
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Chief Wahoo's Point Spread
The Chief must be stoned to think that baseball games have point spreads.
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Mrs. B
Yes, when I first read the strip, I kinda did a double take (Isn't she supposed to be black?). But then I remembered the commercials. She was portrayed as a "kindly old (white) grandmother" type with none of the stereotypical characteristics of African Americans on TV in those days. Also, the "Mrs." tips the hat more towards the character being white than black. Black women were rarely shown as matronly -- at least with their own children or in their own families.
Anyway, sorry to hear she has a drinking problem. It might stem from an identity crisis. After all, Mrs. "Butter"worth hasn't had any butter in it for decades.
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Sr. Frito del Bandito
Fuck me, I'm still cracking up 12 hours later. I don't know which is funnier, the tweaking of corporate-endorsed stereotypes or the dig at Pan's Labyrinth.