Revolution Televised.pdf

72 What You See Is What You Get
at a time when many African Americans struggled for basic rights.
Wilson’s success indicated that the problems of black society were
the fault not of racism but of the individual’s lack of effort.
Being used as a token cannot happen without the compliance of
the artist at some level. In media interviews Wilson was very clear
about his career and economic goals. Understandably, he did not
want the life of poverty he had experienced in childhood. In magazines
he often spoke of his twenty-year plan. He studied the lives
and careers of many famous comedians, and he found that it took
most famous comics fifteen years to learn their craft and five years
for the public to realize their talent. Therefore, instead of staying
with the air force and seeking retirement after twenty years, he explained,
“I decided to bet 20 years on me. . . . I just didn’t notice
too many millionaire sergeants hangin’ around.” 53 To achieve this
lifestyle he professed an integrationist agenda.
I’ve always been aware that I’m Black, of course. . . . But I don’t
think it’s a factor in my show. . . . I will succeed or fail on the merits
of the show. . . . Humor is a deep emotion in people. Laughter
can make them forget a lot of things. . . . My approach is based on
pleasing myself and I’m difficult to please. There won’t be any messages
on my show. What I want to get across is that brotherhood
can work. 54
“Messages” had to be sacrificed in order to achieve this integration,
yet the final sentence of the quotation entails a “race-blind message.”
From the beginning of his comedy career, Wilson shaped his act
so that a wide audience would accept him. Even on the Chitlin’
Circuit, Wilson’s act was typically devoid of profanity and overt
sexual humor. He therefore changed little in his style to appear
on network television. 55 Even Richard Pryor told him, “You’re
the only performer that I’ve seen who goes on the stage and the
audience hopes that you like them.” 56 Apparently, as his character
Geraldine would express, with Flip Wilson “what you see is what
you get.”
So what, therefore, did Wilson bring to U.S. television? Did he
forward any black agenda or resist mainstream co-optation? Flip
Wilson brought distinctly African American characters to the mainstream
and provided a space for black entertainers of the past and
the present. While Wilson increased the mainstream knowledge of
traditional African American comedy, the program also specifically
addressed an African American community through the notion of