I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)

Funny enough, all of the readings came together for me tonight in Grace Jones’ 1986 video “I’m not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You).” The video is outrageous (as is Grace, always), and in a very non-subtle way, addresses issues of blackness, whiteness, exoticism, appropriation, the creation of image, cosmetics (not to mention gender ambiguity; she is a figure we can address on so many levels). One of the first shots of the video is Grace being smeared with white face cream, and throughout there are references to beauty production/creation and “putting on a face,” especially racially. Grace is shown in white-face and being lowered into a bath of white paint, harkening the past ideals of lily white skin that Peiss discusses.

Berry and hooks both discuss the creation of the image of the “Other” as “sexually licentious and exotic.” What was striking to me about Berry’s chapter, in conjunction with the other readings, is that the exoticized/sexualized subjects of 1930s Hollywood were not black, they were mostly Spanish/Latin, exotic European, and sometimes Asian. This got me thinking about Grace Jones in A View to a Kill; her character May Day epitomizes erotic exoticism and the fantasy of “primitive sexuality.” At the same time, her character is masculine, buff, and dangerous, occupying the space of a titillating exoticness that threatens. This is an extreme example of the exoticism that Berry discusses, except that it was rarely seen in the black female characters of Classical Hollywood. Although hooks would look on May Day as representing an “alternate playground” for white men who seek to experience “real” pleasure, it is important to note that Grace Jones is a shocking juxtaposition to what came before her, about as far away from the Hattie McDaniel type as you could get.  

The issue I found that really coursed through all the articles was the idea that the potential political or social impact of blackness or Otherness is nullified when appropriated into mainstream culture. Like the use of make-up in the films of the 1930s, the commoditization of the Afro erased its political impact. What Mercer’s article takes into consideration that hooks' doesn’t is the idea of mutual appropriation-re-appropriation. Grace Jones seems to epitomize this back and forth of appropriations, using culturally defined white make-up techniques, at the same time that she wears men’s clothes, and has a flat-top. Grace Jones has made a career by defining herself as Other, in terms of race, sexuality, gender, she crosses and traverses all boundaries. But then you have to think about the song itself, “I’m Not Perfect” with juxtaposed images of white vs. black Grace Jones? Within popular culture, it seems that strong political messages do get a bit mixed up. Grace Jones and Madonna have a lot in common, as the lack of depth in their messages make it seem that they are using appropriation and Otherness to sell a product rather than to make political statements.  

It’s hard to say whether or not Grace Jones has read bell hooks, but her new single is called “Corporate Cannibal.”