The Toy

“The great subconscious goal of the 1980s may often have been to rid American films of the late 1960s/early 1970s rebellious figures. “

—Donald Bogle

In The Toy	      the toy	            is Jack Brown	                 played by Richard	        Pryor
the comedian	            the movie	    a comedy	    in which a young white	boy buys 
has his father buy	         Brown a Black	  man to be	        his toy	    I want the Black man the boy says	                    as his father’s men	 place cash in		     Brown’s		   hand
a Confederate	 flag hangs	                   in the background	Pryor	 as Brown
arrives at the mansion	           in a casket	          no a		wooden box     filled with white styrofoam peanuts and wearing	    a red bow		    it appears	       around his neck
In The Toy	      a Black man	     is delivered	  to a Louisiana mansion	    in a wooden box The Toy is a comedy   for instance        the white boy       is named Eric Bates	but is called “Master Bates”		the actor	 Scott Schwartz would go on		to a career in adult
films	what is	              the relationship between	               representation and	 prophecy
If all you are exposed to is Charlie Chan    writes Don L. Lee         you’ll have a Charlie Chan mentality
the director of The Toy     Richard Donner     also directed   Superman    Lethal Weapon and
The Omen	      as well as	         Salt and Pepper	      starring Sammy Davis Jr.	as Salt
and Peter Lawford	   as Pepper	       In The Toy	 a 1980s comedy	      directed by Richard Donner	         and starring Richard     Pryor    a white man    played by Jackie Gleason    buys
a Black man   as a toy   for his son  Cinema  writes Slavoj Žižek is the ultimate pervert art  In one scene Brown carries	       Master Bates on his shoulders	            and gives him advice
about girls          It doesn’t give you what you desire says Žižek              it tells you how to desire
In the final scene	of The Toy	another white boy	dressed as a soldier	says to Brown
Up yours you Mother	       and the white boy dressed as a soldier	shoots          the Black man
in the head	         with a dart gun	             the dart sticking from his forehead	       like a horn I must write	that again	                  a white boy            dressed as a soldier
shoots the Black man    theBlackman	  in the head  he shoots the Black man named Brown the soldier the whiteboysoldier	      shootsinthehead	       Comedic music begins	     and Brown runs	       down the street in	sped-up	motion		                 just like		a
cartoon	       just like a	           moving target	       likeatarget	       a	        target	 target

Read more from Issue 20.1.