Key & Peele: Power Falcons

This Key and Peele sketch reflects a disconnect between African Americans and other people of color in this country. While the white male character is the worst of the four, the Native American and Asian Power Falcons are quite complacent in the blatant racism directed at the Green Falcon, played by Jason Peele. This clip calls out the double standards and ridiculous differences in expectation that can be seen in the level of consciousness around racism in America.

While the clip problematizes racial discrimination on one level, it also perpetuates stereotypes on other levels. For example, Keegan-Michael Key’s Indian character, Yellow Falcon, is about as stereotypical as one could make him. Not only is his hair in braids, completed with feathers and a headband, but he also speaks just in that trope that the 1491s make fun of in the The Indian Store. This fulfillment of stereotypes is only a part of Yellow Falcon’s character, suggesting to me that it was not an intentionally satirical choice. If it had been I would have suspected Brenda Song’s character, Purple Falcon, to be dressed in stereotypical Asian garb, perhaps a kimono of heavy makeup, maybe some chopsticks in her hair, and she doesn’t even have an ambiguously east Asian accent, a phenomenon all too common in mainstream media. The two white characters, Blue Falcon and Red Falcon are stereotypically white I suppose, blind to their racism and cultural appropriation, but I don’t see that as the same as this Native American trope. Lastly, Yellow Falcon is the only character in this skit where the actor is a different race that the character they are playing.

I think Key’s character is problematic because it is one of the few representations of Native Americans in Key and Peele, and does nothing to combat stereotypes. This is an interesting turn of tables since the video is accusing Native Americans and Asians for not showing up for black people when they encounter racism, while the video itself is not showing up for Native Americans. This common tension seems to resonate through the examples I have found so far.

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