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Q1: Isn't Betty Boop based on the African American performer Baby Esther?
A1: Despite being mentioned in Helen Kane's unsuccessful suit, there is no evidence that either Helen Kane or any of the creators of Betty Boop knew about Baby Esther. According to animator Grim Natwick, Betty Boop was modeled on Helen Kane.[1] Kane proved in court that she had been doing her act since at least 1923, five years before allegedly first seeing Esther. A PBS story that "became the quoted source for the news that Betty Boop was based on a real-life Black performer" was removed from the PBS website. PBS retracted the story and apologized for spreading misinformation, stating: "Max Fleischer did not whitewash a Black character when he created Betty Boop. But Betty Boop was, partially, influenced by fashion and music whose origins can indeed be traced to Black performers."[2]
References
^Canemaker, John. "Grim Natwick". Film Comment, Jan/Feb 1975, 57-61.
This article does not mention that Betty Boop is cast as African American in the new musical. There is some discussion of her ethnicity as possibly Jewish -- and a question here in the talk section about whether she's African American; however David Foster must have had some reason to cast her that way. Skysong263 (talk) 03:11, 7 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Betty Boop was based on Helen Kane. However, the Fleischers and Mae Questel added large parts of their own personalities to her. So, Betty is definitely Jewish, and is portrayed as such in multiple cartoons. As for why Foster cast an African-American woman...it's part of a trend of trying to rewrite History. Portraying British Queens as Black, Isaac Newton as South Asian, Cleopatra as Black. And, it all is in one direction. Nobody casts Daniel Radcliffe as Malcolm X. Anyone trying to claim Betty Boop was "originally Black", or "based, even indirectly, on an African-American performer" is lying, plain and simple. Betty Boop came out of Vaudeville, not Jazz. She couldn't be more obvious if she had a hook nose. Yet, this "Baby Esther" stupidity keeps coming up, like a turd that won't flush. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 197.89.10.57 (talk) 09:00, 8 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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