Hollywood Shuffle - Plot

Plot

Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) is a middle class black male aspiring to become an actor. He practices his lines in the bathroom, with his younger brother Stevie (Craigus R. Johnson) watching as he plays a stereotypical “jive” character for the audition for "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge", a movie about street gangs. Bobby's grandmother (Helen Martin) overhears the “jive talk” and shows her disapproval. His mother (Starletta DuPois), is more supportive, telling Bobby that he is going to be late for the audition. Bobby assures his mother that if he lands the part, everything will change. As Bobby is about to leave the house, he finds his grandmother on the couch. Playing on television is a commercial for the sitcom There's a Bat in My House, which poses the question “Can a black bat from Detroit find happiness with a white suburban family?” His grandmother wishes him luck, but still shows visible concern for the nature of the role.

On his way to the audition, he stops by his uncle Ray's (David McKnight) barbershop where Ray shows him support by telling him to “do it.” He then stops by his workplace at the Winky Dinky Dog hot dog stand where he finds his co-workers Tiny (Lou B. Washington) and Donald (Keenen Ivory Wayans), who berate him, as usual. He asks to see his boss, Mr. Jones (John Witherspoon), and lies about a toothache to go to the audition. On his last stop before his audition, he goes to his girlfriend's (Anne-Marie Johnson) workplace at a salon where she gives him a scarf for good luck. Finally, he arrives at TinselTown Studios where he finds other aspiring black actors trying out for various roles in the film. There he meets another actor that comments on the degrading nature of roles offered to African Americans who only get to play slaves, butlers, or street hoods. He tells Bobby that only an "Uncle Tom" would take this role. The actor is clearly trying to stymie Bobby's chances, nevertheless it makes him think.

This prompts the first of Bobby's many fantasies. This fantasy involves an escape of black slaves. A butler, played by Bobby, doing a Stepin Fetchit impression, makes an appearance and questions why the slaves are leaving when they are being treated well by their master. This segment is then revealed to be a TV promotion for “Black Acting School”, where aspiring, dark-skinned black actors can learn how to “talk jive” and “walk black” so that they can get roles such as pimps, muggers, and street punks.

After the audition, Bobby talks with Mr. Jones, who questions Bobby's dedication to Winky Dinky Dog. A limo then pulls up and the man inside is revealed to be B.B. Sanders (Brad Sanders), who plays Batty Boy in There's a Bat in My House. Ecstatic, Bobby asks Sanders how to tell a good part. Sanders tells him that if his character does not die in the script, then it's good part. Sanders also says that it is not about art, it is about the sequel.

On the basketball court, Bobby is talking to his friends about acting and Bobby expresses his concern about critical reception. One of his friends states that critics do not know anything and that there should be “real brothers” critiquing movies. The leads in to another one of Bobby's fantasies, this one revolving around a film review television show called “Sneakin' in the Movies.” (a parody of Siskel and Ebert), involving two ghetto teenagers. They review four movies: Amadeus meets Salieri, Chicago Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dirty Larry, and Attack of the Street Pimps.

After this vignette, Bobby is at home when he gets a call from his agent and learns that his audition went well, but they wanted an “Eddie Murphy-type". Regardless, Bobby gets a callback. That night, he has a nightmare in which the director (Eugene Robert Glazer), writer (Dom Irrera), and casting director (Lisa Mende) hound him to be Eddie Murphy. Waiting in line with a group of Eddie Murphy clones, Bobby starts turning into Eddie Murphy himself until he wakes up in shock.

The next day, Bobby's co-workers, Donald and Tiny, belittle Bobby's career as an actor and his constant excuses for missing work, telling him that he will never make it as an actor. After another vignette involving Bobby, now a famous Hollywood star, returning to Winky Dinky Dog years later to find it nearly ruined, Bobby quits his job.

Later that night, Bobby visits his uncle at the barbershop and expresses his doubts in pursuing his acting career. Ray encourages Bobby to try to follow his dreams. During his callback, the director, writer, and casting director are thrilled at Bobby's performance, calling it “very black” and give him the titular lead role. At home, Bobby celebrates getting the part with his girlfriend Lydia, when his grandmother comes home early and the three watch a film noir. Bobby has another fantasy of him playing the lead in his own film noir, called Death of a Breakdancer.

During his morning routine before his first day on the set of Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge, he finds his little brother's homework assignment expressing his admiration of Bobby and his job as an actor. Bobby's mother and grandmother talk about Bobby's acting gig, with his grandmother disapproving of his career and stressing that he should get his life together and get a job at the post office. She does not like the fact that he is portraying a street hustler and putting out a negative image of African Americans. Bobby then has a vision of his little brother dressed in a pimp outfit.

On the set, Bobby runs into his rival at the audition who congratulates Bobby for getting the part of Jimmy. The rival tells Bobby that he's heard that the movie is going to be picketed by the NAACP, causing Bobby to have a vision of picketers calling Bobby an “Uncle Tom” and a “coon.” His little brother and his grandmother disown him. The vision ends when Lydia, the picketers, and news reporters take out guns and chant “Kill him!”

Lydia, his brother, and his grandmother arrive to watch the fim shoot. As he plays his “jive” character Jimmy, he looks over at his brother who is clearly affected by the derogatory role and is unable to finish the scene. The director encourages Bobby to “be more black.” Bobby tries again, but is still unable to complete the scene when he looks over at his brother. Unable to continue playing this degrading part, Bobby decides to quit. His rival immediately volunteers for the role.

That night, Bobby dreams of the roles that he wants to play, from a Shakespearean king, to a black superhero, to Rambro. His final dream is that of him winning his fifth Oscar. In the final moments of the film, Bobby is shown filming a TV commercial, acting as a spokesperson for the post office. He tells us, the audience, that "if you can't take pride in your job, remember that there's always work at the post office." which he says with a wink.