Y, Whoopi? Y???
May 22, 2024 1:29 PM Subscribe
Whoopi Goldberg in Conversation with Adriana Trigiani: Bits and Pieces [1h, 92nd Street Y] Recorded May 6, 2024. Whoopi sits and chats about stories from her life. A refreshing mode to find her in.
If this is a Whoopi retrospective then the Polanski comments are fair game. Actors have worked with him since and usually avoid the question or mischaracterize what happened. But Whoopi had nothing at all to do with the guy, has a clearer understanding of what happened than many in Hollywood seem to, and still jumped to his defense. Fuck that.
posted by thecjm at 2:14 PM on May 22 [3 favorites]
posted by thecjm at 2:14 PM on May 22 [3 favorites]
Wait til you hear about how she got the name Goldberg
posted by anazgnos at 2:19 PM on May 22 [3 favorites]
posted by anazgnos at 2:19 PM on May 22 [3 favorites]
In Eight Day A Week she talks about seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium. Her mother knew she really wanted to go, and got her a ticket, somehow.
posted by Rash at 2:38 PM on May 22
posted by Rash at 2:38 PM on May 22
Wait til you hear about how she got the name Goldberg
She always says she got it from having a Jewish ancestor. Is there more to it than that?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:15 PM on May 22 [1 favorite]
She always says she got it from having a Jewish ancestor. Is there more to it than that?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:15 PM on May 22 [1 favorite]
Is there more to it than that?
Well, as a prominent personality, her family history has been thoroughly traced and there's no hint of Jewish ancestry. I suppose nobody could disprove that multiple ancestral generations have taken a secret Jewish heritage to their graves until she, alone, spills the secret, but I haven't found the slightest bit of evidence to support it, despite it being a well-explored topic. One extremely cynical theory for how she got the name is supported by nothing I can find other than the words "One story suggests…" so I won't repeat it here.
posted by WaylandSmith at 4:24 PM on May 22 [4 favorites]
Well, as a prominent personality, her family history has been thoroughly traced and there's no hint of Jewish ancestry. I suppose nobody could disprove that multiple ancestral generations have taken a secret Jewish heritage to their graves until she, alone, spills the secret, but I haven't found the slightest bit of evidence to support it, despite it being a well-explored topic. One extremely cynical theory for how she got the name is supported by nothing I can find other than the words "One story suggests…" so I won't repeat it here.
posted by WaylandSmith at 4:24 PM on May 22 [4 favorites]
I do have to say, much like when I posted something about Paul Simon here and received such a tsunami of negativity, I wasn't expecting the Whoopi Goldberg hate from MetaFilter members.
posted by hippybear at 4:29 PM on May 22 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 4:29 PM on May 22 [1 favorite]
I think she catches it from both sides - from the right for being an outspoken black woman and from the left for espousing some disagreeable things like her support for Polanski, defending Cosby, comments about the Holocaust, etc.
I still like to think of her a Guinan and leave it at that.
posted by drewbage1847 at 4:47 PM on May 22 [5 favorites]
I still like to think of her a Guinan and leave it at that.
posted by drewbage1847 at 4:47 PM on May 22 [5 favorites]
a tsunami of negativity
know your tidal schedule!
posted by elkevelvet at 5:07 PM on May 22 [4 favorites]
know your tidal schedule!
posted by elkevelvet at 5:07 PM on May 22 [4 favorites]
yeah, people are flawed, news at eleven. when Danson was married to her, he wore blackface to party.
art/artist.
respectable career, smart woman, a black person who negotiated a life in public.
posted by j_curiouser at 6:21 PM on May 22 [2 favorites]
art/artist.
respectable career, smart woman, a black person who negotiated a life in public.
posted by j_curiouser at 6:21 PM on May 22 [2 favorites]
My personal understanding of the Danson blackface incident, which took place at a roast of Goldberg, was that he was deliberately mocking all the tabloid coverage of their then interracial relationship which was pretty heavy and overbearing, and he was trying to pillory all their concern about the cross racial stuff. It wasn't handled very gracefully, and apparently wasn't very funny, and he isn't proud of it.
I have a memory of Ted and Whoopi at a party in matching blackface, but I can't find any reference to that in my cursory googling so maybe that's a false memory.
Goldberg herself has never been that concerned with being politically correct. She's always been more interested in making an artistic statement. The one woman show that springboarded her career was really an amazing document of its time.
posted by hippybear at 6:32 PM on May 22 [3 favorites]
I have a memory of Ted and Whoopi at a party in matching blackface, but I can't find any reference to that in my cursory googling so maybe that's a false memory.
Goldberg herself has never been that concerned with being politically correct. She's always been more interested in making an artistic statement. The one woman show that springboarded her career was really an amazing document of its time.
posted by hippybear at 6:32 PM on May 22 [3 favorites]
Yeah, Goldberg has had a career like nobody else, from artsy theater person to Oscar-winning actor to sitcom star (that one kinda fizzled) to daytime talk show host, all while remaining very much the same outspoken person. I wish she'd focused on acting more, honestly. She's a hell of an actor.
Both Danson and Goldberg have said that the blackface thing was her idea. It was an absolute low-point for Danson but I think it's clear he didn't have racist intentions. It was supposed to be an edgy, anti-racist thing but oh my lord did it fail to land.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:56 PM on May 22 [1 favorite]
Both Danson and Goldberg have said that the blackface thing was her idea. It was an absolute low-point for Danson but I think it's clear he didn't have racist intentions. It was supposed to be an edgy, anti-racist thing but oh my lord did it fail to land.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:56 PM on May 22 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Hey all, let’s go ahead and end the derail about controlling comments and focus on the topic of the post. Two comments removed.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 8:29 AM on May 23
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 8:29 AM on May 23
hippybear, which one woman show? "Fontaine: Why Am I Straight?" is a favorite because I was in junior high when I saw it, and her version of the Star Spangled Banner just blew my Catholic Schoolgirl mind.
posted by luckynerd at 10:57 AM on May 23
posted by luckynerd at 10:57 AM on May 23
It was originally called Spook Show but when it transferred to Broadway they renamed it Whoopi Goldberg. It was filmed for HBO, and you can watch it here.
posted by hippybear at 11:13 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 11:13 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]
from the left for espousing some disagreeable things like her support for Polanski, defending Cosby, comments about the Holocaust, etc.
"disagreeable" is doing some very heavy lifting. Her Holocaust comments, for example, were classic Holocaust mitigation and she didn't just slip up. She apologized but then repeated the same view (i.e. "Jews are just White people and the Nazis exterminating them wasn't racial as it was "white-on-white" violence.") after the apology! I'm not saying someone should ban her, but boiling it down to "disagreeable things" being said very much minimizes racist viewpoints espoused.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 4:15 AM on May 24
"disagreeable" is doing some very heavy lifting. Her Holocaust comments, for example, were classic Holocaust mitigation and she didn't just slip up. She apologized but then repeated the same view (i.e. "Jews are just White people and the Nazis exterminating them wasn't racial as it was "white-on-white" violence.") after the apology! I'm not saying someone should ban her, but boiling it down to "disagreeable things" being said very much minimizes racist viewpoints espoused.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 4:15 AM on May 24
Reposting deleted comment without the troublesome part:
The one woman show that springboarded her career was really an amazing document of its time.
It really was. I still remember the first time I saw the 1985 HBO production of that one-woman show; it changed my perception of what comedy could be. I watched it repeatedly. It's available in full on YouTube if you don't have HBO and want to see how the 5 characters she does hold up today. I'm particularly curious to rewatch the final, disabled character's monologue with a contemporary eye.
Unfortunately, that said, she's been safely ensconced at the top of the game and saying deeply problematic things for a long time:
We all remember or have read about Goldberg’s infamous 1993 roast held at the Friars Club where her boyfriend at the time, Ted Danson, performed in blackface and said a slew of N-words and racist jokes. Goldberg ardently defended the routine and admitted to writing some of it, telling the press that she has “never been about political correctness.” She’s proved as much throughout her almost 15-year tenure on The View, defending former Ravens football player Ray Rice after he was caught on video violently assaulting his then-girlfriend, saying director Roman Polanski’s rape of a 13-year-old girl “wasn’t rape-rape,” and refusing to condemn Bill Cosby during most of his sexual-assault allegations saga. Just like her most recent controversy, The View brought on an expert to speak with Goldberg about statute-of-limitation laws in rape cases.
posted by mediareport at 8:19 AM on May 24
The one woman show that springboarded her career was really an amazing document of its time.
It really was. I still remember the first time I saw the 1985 HBO production of that one-woman show; it changed my perception of what comedy could be. I watched it repeatedly. It's available in full on YouTube if you don't have HBO and want to see how the 5 characters she does hold up today. I'm particularly curious to rewatch the final, disabled character's monologue with a contemporary eye.
Unfortunately, that said, she's been safely ensconced at the top of the game and saying deeply problematic things for a long time:
We all remember or have read about Goldberg’s infamous 1993 roast held at the Friars Club where her boyfriend at the time, Ted Danson, performed in blackface and said a slew of N-words and racist jokes. Goldberg ardently defended the routine and admitted to writing some of it, telling the press that she has “never been about political correctness.” She’s proved as much throughout her almost 15-year tenure on The View, defending former Ravens football player Ray Rice after he was caught on video violently assaulting his then-girlfriend, saying director Roman Polanski’s rape of a 13-year-old girl “wasn’t rape-rape,” and refusing to condemn Bill Cosby during most of his sexual-assault allegations saga. Just like her most recent controversy, The View brought on an expert to speak with Goldberg about statute-of-limitation laws in rape cases.
posted by mediareport at 8:19 AM on May 24
She talks a lot and has said some dumb things. She's also very smart while not having a lot of formal education to round off the edges. I'm an old white lady, she's an old Black lady, and I'm not going to extend effort to chastise her. Do you accept Black men saying hateful and violent things about women in rap, using the prohibited word? give me a break. Men don't give The View much credibility, but it's one of the better news shows, which I would far rather watch than the pure bullshit on the networks Sunday morning. She is a Black woman with a lot of talent, works hard, gives back.
Thanks, hippybear, I'll watch this sometime soon.
posted by theora55 at 4:03 PM on May 25
Thanks, hippybear, I'll watch this sometime soon.
posted by theora55 at 4:03 PM on May 25
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Hard Pass. (sorry for the derail)
posted by techSupp0rt at 1:45 PM on May 22 [14 favorites]