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Article: Questions of genre in black popular music.(Viewpoint essay)
- Article from:
- Black Music Research Journal
- Article date:
- March 22, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Center For Black Music Research. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the movie The Jerk (1979), Steve Martin plays Navin Johnson, a white man raised by an African-American family in rural Mississippi. The opening credits have barely concluded when it becomes clear that the development of Navin's personality is causing some consternation among his adoptive parents and siblings. He cannot dance, he experiences difficulty clapping in time to the rustic shout-type tune that his family plays on the front porch, and he prefers tuna fish sandwiches on white bread (with extra mayonnaise) and shrink-wrapped Twinkies to soul food. Navin finds his deliverance, however, in a fortuitous exposure to a broadcast of 1970s-era easy listening ...