Questions: Entertainment & Arts

Betty Boop was the first case of cartoon sëx symbol who was used as a form of approval. Betty Boop is one of America's oldest cultural appropriations. Animators depicted Betty Boop as a white entertainer, but truth be told, the character was inspired by a black woman. Her vocal trademark, “Boop Oop A Doop,” and her contoured figure in a form-fitting dress trace back to a black woman by the name of Esther Jones.

Esther “Baby Esther” Jones was a jazz singer known for her “baby” singing style who performed at Harlem’s Cotton Club in the 1920s.

White jazz singer and entertainer Helen Kane allegedly appropriated Jones’s singing style after attending her cabaret act in 1928.

Fastforward years later and Jessica Rabbit became a sëx symbol but if you look closely at her features. She models features similar to a black woman then the so called "Veronica Lake" inspiration. If you look at her body, most often black women carry the big butt and breasts. If you look at her face, she has thick lips and her nose is flat even though animators almost blurred it out.