Episode 5: On the Hustle 2B 2nd Lead Syndrome

We return with further analysis of American Hustle Life, Episode 2. This time, we look at mentorship styles, racial impersonation, theories of performativity, and more!

0:50 Mentorship styles - Dante, Jin, Suga
4:00 A stuffed ostrich…
5:10 Introducing footing (Goffman)
7:08 Changing footing with food
8:32 Two other seminal moments with this crew
10:27 Dante walks away
11:07 The terms of reaching across difference - power relationships
12:35 Contrast with Tony’s team: “good company”
13:38 A willingness to try things
16:00 Culture isn’t pure anyway
18:11 Nate’s a classic “best friend”
20:09 Nate’s role in the sandwich presentation
21:46 Blackface isn’t just painting your face… racial impersonation
22:20 An example from the Netherlands: Zwarte Piet
25:39 There’s a limit to calling it “cultural appropriation” - complexity to conversation
26:40 Caricature…but not for critical commentary (cf. Eric Lott, Love and Theft)
28:14 Where’s the reflexivity?
28:59 Breaking down Coolio’s response
30:44 Multiple layers to this difficult moment
32:55 If you don’t question… we don’t learn and grow
34:40 Wanting to see your faves do better
36:22 The kind of community we’re setting up for ourselves
39:48 Coolio’s philosophy about performance
41:00 Introducing Austin’s speech act theory
44:00 Butler has adopted Austin’s performativity and applied it to gender identity
46:50 There’s no essential gender identity - performance is all there is
48:00 We’re performing at every moment
48:52 A hip hop ethos that can pervade any aspect of life
49:40 For Coolio, the boundary between performance and living is blurred
51:00 A thick (thicc?) episode!