Eddie MurphyHost
Himself
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White Like Me
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.
The setup
Watch on YouTube
Watch onYouTube
The premise
Here’s the bit.
In a mock documentary, Eddie Murphy sets out to experience America firsthand as a white man. After a makeup transformation and some careful study of how white people walk and talk, he hits the streets of New York as the mustached, bespectacled Mr. White. He finds that a newsstand clerk waves off payment, a city bus turns into a party once the only other Black passenger gets off, and a bank hands out cash with no collateral as soon as its Black loan officer steps away. Murphy closes with a warning that his undercover program is bigger than viewers might think. The film parodies John Howard Griffin's 1961 book Black Like Me.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 6
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Slowly I began to realize that when white people are alone, they give things to each other for free.
I got a lot of friends, and we've got a lot of makeup.
Don't be too sure. They might be black.
Behind the scenes
The people who made it.
Andy Breckman
Writer
Andy Breckman
Director
A little extra
Notes from the archive.
The film was shot on the streets of New York, where photographers following Murphy recognized him despite the disguise. It aired about ten days after Beverly Hills Cop opened in theaters.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:00
Himself
You know, a lot of people talk about racial prejudice. And some people have gone so far as to say that there are actually two Americas, one black and one white. But talk is cheap. So I decided to look into the problem myself firsthand, to go on the ground and actually experience America as a white man.
- 00:22
Himself
I hired the best makeup people in the business. If I was going to pass as a white man, and everything had to be perfect.
- 00:37
Himself
I think that's a little light.
- 00:40
OK, let's try this.
- 00:43
Himself
This, uh, look kind of Harry Reams-ish. I like it.
- 00:49
Himself
I studied for my role very carefully. I watched lots of Dynasty.
- 00:54
Himself
See? See how they walk? Their butts are real tight when they walk. They gotta keep their butts tight. I gotta remember to keep my butt real tight when I walk.
- 01:03
Himself
And I read a whole bunch of Hallmark cards.
- 01:07
Himself
My lovely wife, you always mean lots more to me than you could ever guess, for you have done so much to fill my life with happiness.
- 01:19
Himself
Finally, I was ready.
- 01:58
Store Clerk
What are you doing?
- 02:01
Mr. White
I'm buying this newspaper.
- 02:04
Store Clerk
That's all right. There's nobody around. Go ahead. Take it. Take it. Go ahead. Take it. yeah take it
- 02:19
Himself
slowly I began to realize that when white people are alone they give things to each other for free
- 02:33
Himself
there was only one other black man on the bus he got off on 45th Street
- 02:59
Himself
the problem was much more serious than I'd ever imagine
- 03:32
Harry
let me get this straight mr. mr. white you want to borrow $50,000 from my bank but you have no collateral you have no credit you don't even have any ID is that correct
- 03:46
Mr. White
that's right
- 03:48
Harry
mr. white I'm sorry this is not a charity this is a business
- 03:54
Speaker 1
and Harry why don't you take your break now I'll take care of mr. mr. white
- 04:00
Harry
okay thanks Bob
- 04:05
Speaker 1
that was a close but one we don't have to bother with these formalities do we mr. white what a silly Negro
- 04:19
Speaker 1
just take what you Do you want Mr. White to pay us back any time, or don't? We don't care.
- 04:41
Mr. White
Tell me, do you know of any other banks like this in this area?
- 04:47
Himself
So what did I learn from all of this? Well, I learned that we still have a very long way to go in this country before all men are truly equal. But I'll tell you something, I got a lot of friends, and we've got a lot of makeup. So the next time you're hugging up with some really super groovy white guy, or you met a really great super keen white chick, don't be too sure, they might be black.
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
More from across the archive.
