Mae West: An Icon in Black and White

by Jill Watts Narrated by Holly Palance

Overview

"Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations. Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor. But who was this saucy starlet, a woman who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend?
Sifting through previously untapped sources, author Jill Watts unravels the enigmatic life of Mae West, tracing her early years spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures, and follows her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and, finally, Hollywood, where she quickly became one of the big screen's most popular--and colorful--stars. Exploring West's penchant for contradiction and her carefully perpetuated paradoxes, Watts convincingly argues that Mae West borrowed heavily from African American culture, music, dance and humor, creating a subversive voice for herself by which she artfully challenged society and its assumptions regarding race, class and gender. Viewing West as a trickster, Watts demonstrates that by appropriating for her character the black tradition of double-speak and "signifying," West also may have hinted at her own African-American ancestry and the phenomenon of a black woman passing for white.
This absolutely fascinating study is the first comprehensive, interpretive account of Mae West's life and work. It reveals a beloved icon as a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own complex image.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

Did the sassy, hip-wiggling Hollywood goddess of the double-entendre base her image, her career, and her comedy on African-American culture? Since her death in 1981 at 87, Mae West's reputation has been rising. Once viewed as a tawdry, camp caricature who ceaselessly exploited her bad-girl burlesque, she's more recently been hailed as a proto-feminist who wrote her own plays, directed herself, and refused to be manipulated by the Hollywood studios. Watts (History/California State; "God, Harlem, U.S.A", 1992) adds another twist by portraying West as an archetypal African-American trickster heroine who may have had a black ancestor (on her father's side) and who certainly found her initial theatrical inspiration in the songs and comedy of Bert Williams and the earthy blues of Bessie Smith. (West always credited these artists, as well as drag queens, as key influences.) "The African-American practice of signifying, a subversive rhetorical device that uses multiple and conflicting messages to obscure rebellious meanings" was the primary element West adapted to her performing style, states Watts. The author goes on to speculate that because West's parents encouraged her to perform as a sexually precocious preteen, she must have been sexually abused; furthermore, Watts argues, West identified with the blacks and homosexuals as exploited individuals who had to resort to subterfuge to express themselves artistically. The author's urge to tie West to African-American culture becomes shrill when she consistently characterizes "She Done Him Wrong", "My Little Chickadee", and West's other movie comedies as calculated triumphs of cultural subversion aimed at the white establishment. It's possiblethat they were funny, too. She done her wrong.

From the Publisher

"This book is engagingly written. Watts's research is prodigious and she writes with acuity and verve."—The Times of London

"An incisive and vivid portrait that focuses on the enormous influence African American music and culture had on West.... Watts' spirited and intelligent analysis chronicles West's battles with censorship, celebrates her compassionate artistic vision and discipline, and unveils the enigmas and dualisms that pervade the forever iconic West's work and life."—Booklist

OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile

This extensively researched audio biography of the iconic star who made sex fun and funny casts Mae West as a subversive trickster who pushed the boundaries of race and gender. Listeners follow West’s evolution from exploited child actor to Broadway siren and movie star. Lesser known is how West created and controlled all her dramatic content—as a playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, and producer. This allowed her to continually explore taboo topics like miscegenation. The author reveals the complexity of West’s career by showing how she both enforced and shattered norms around race and sexuality. Narrator Holly Palance avoids mimicking West’s trademark accent and comedic delivery, an approach that effectively castrates West’s fiery dialogue. This is a missed opportunity to make the audiobook superior to print. J.T. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172704871
Publisher:	Oasis Audio
Publication date:	08/17/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

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