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# Bamboozled.
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/18621/
- Published: 2006-09-22T15:09:01.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:35:15.000Z
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:23

**By Jessica Reed**

*Blacking up has become acceptable in the same way that pole dancing is now sold to women as an empowering thing to do.*

Hannah Pool's [rebuttal](http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1878299,00.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) to the [Independent's cover](http://gfx.dagbladet.no/pub/artikkel/4/47/477/477451/Independentcover1%5F503%5F1158842986.jpg?ref=opendemocracy.net)[ ](http://gfx.dagbladet.no/pub/artikkel/4/47/477/477451/Independentcover1%5F503%5F1158842986.jpg?ref=opendemocracy.net)yesterday, which featured model Kate Moss 'blacked up' with what seemed to be boot polish on her face and her nude body. The newspaper's special edition, [edited and guest-designed](http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1869752,00.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) by Georgio Armani, was supposed to sensibilise its readers to Africa's current challenges and issues. As soon as I saw it, the cover reminded me of Spike Lee's [Bamboozled](http://www.bamboozledmovie.com/?ref=opendemocracy.net), a pitiless satire of the American entertainment industry in which Lee imagines the revival of [the minstrel show](http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/magic/news/minstrel.html?ref=opendemocracy.net) on modern American TV.

 **Elsewhere**: The [Minstrel show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel%5Fshow?ref=opendemocracy.net) on Wikipedia.