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Racist Movies You Didn't KnowWere Racist

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I'm not a guy who sees racism everywhere, but I am able to admit sometimes its hard to see and often more complicated than to allow simple answers.

I can admit that even a work of genius that's blatantly anti-racist like "The Lord of the Rings" can carry within it echoes of a racist structure of the real world (evil is black people from the South and East). I don't personally think Jar-Jar is racist (I hate him for other reasons), but I wont totally dismiss people who see in Jar-Jar troubling echoes of minstrellry and coon shows.

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/44258486.html

So when I came across this list, which has been making the net rounds for a couple weeks I gave it quite a bit of consideration. My opinion is that half of it is already obvious to anyone, and half of it is totally moronic.

Thoughts anyone?

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8. Every Rob Schneider Movie
Year: 1963 (birth)-present

I like that he was in a movie the year he was born, and it was a racist performance.

Something else jumped out at me:

22. True Lies
Year: 1994

In this Arnold Schwarzenegger action comedy, the "Crimson Jihad," an Islamic terrorist group led by Salim Abu Aziz (a.k.a. the Sand Spider, which sounds suspiciously close to "sand n*gger") are seen as both bloodthirsty genocidal maniacs and inept morons.

I may just not be up on my racist slang, but since when does "spider" sound like "n*gger?"  Sure, they almost rhyme, but so does "ladder."  Maybe I've been saying it wrong all these years and it's pronounced "spitter?" I'll tell you one thing, I'm never singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to my daughter again.

I agree with some of it being obvious and some being kind of silly.  But as a yellow skinned yokel, who am I to judge?

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I closed the window as soon as I saw "White Dog" on the list. The whole point of the movie is that it's anti-racism! It'd be like calling Schindler's List anti-Semitic.

http://i.imgur.com/7N84TM8.jpg

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I'm sorry, but most of that list is idiotic.  If all of those movies are racist, it would be basically impossible to make a movie that wasn't racist. 



Spike Lee was so appalled with Michael Clarke Duncan's turn as death row inmate John Coffey that he had to coin a term for it: the Super-Duper Magical Negro. Some disagreed, seeing the role as positive. But if Hollywood is to be believed, all black people who lived before 1960 were docile, bumbling buffoons incapable of doing anything but easing the lives of (and raping, let's not forget raping) white people. Somehow, though, we doubt Michael Clarke Duncan cared about any of that as he went on to star as the head ape in Tim Burton's 2001 remake of that racially sensitive classic Planet of the Apes

 

so, let me get this straight,  how the movie depicted John Coffey is how the movie says all black people are?   who does one conclude that?   



You may remember Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise," the hit song from this movie, but what about Michelle Pfeiffer playing an retired Marine who becomes a teacher and saves shiftless, ignorant, minority students from their self-destructive tendencies? Best Teach America recruitment video we've ever seen.

that right its racist because there are no ignorant shiftless minority students.  right? wrong.   



Who needed a drunken rant to know that Mel Gibson hates Jews? In his depiction of the Crucifixion of Christ—who, coincidentally, is portrayed by white actor Jim Caveziel even though everybody knows Black Jesus was black—the Chosen People are a vile, bloodthirsty horde that takes great pleasure in watching God's son suffer for the sins of man. Gibson gets a gold Star of David for this one—David Duke, that is.

everyone knows black Jesus was black?  huh?  I don't it.  Besides, I never thought Jesus was black,  I though he was Jewish-middle eastern

also, I think the idea that this movie is bigoted towards Jews is overblown.   If you compare the movie to how the Passion story is depicted in the bible,  you will find it to be quite accurate.

John chapter 19 verse 11:

Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above:

therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin

Matthew Chapter 27 verse 25

Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children

Gibson didn't come up with that stuff on his own,  they came from the bible.    I agree Gibson himself is a bigot,  he movie however is just accurate depiction from the bible.

 

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I once read a review of Aliens which postulated that it was all a racist metaphor for black and white motherhood.

The black alien queen is a parasite who constantly churns out hundreds of fatherless savage children which choke up the environment.

Ripley, the white mother figure throws all of her energy behind one adopted resourceful child and cleans up the neighbourhood after entering into a nuclear family unit with Hicks.

Utter balls.

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Bingowings said:

I once read a review of Aliens which postulated that it was all a racist metaphor for black and white motherhood.

The black alien queen is a parasite who constantly churns out hundreds of fatherless savage children which choke up the environment.

Ripley, the white mother figure throws all of her energy behind one adopted resourceful child and cleans up the neighbourhood after entering into a nuclear family unit with Hicks.

Utter balls.

 That has to be the dumbest thing ever.

Ever.

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i think the one that bugs me the most on that list is "Planet of the Apes."

The apes in the film had three castes. Chimps which in the real world we seem to think are the smartest apes, Oruangutangs, and Gorillas, the biggest and baddest apes. The chimp caste was smart, and the gorilla caste was baddass.

Is it racist that chimps have dark fur and lighter toned skin around the face, and gorillas have darker skin tones? They're damn monkeys for Crom's sake!

Oh, and could they have missed the point of "Falling Down" any more?

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Bingowings said:

I once read a review of Aliens which postulated that it was all a racist metaphor for black and white motherhood.

The black alien queen is a parasite who constantly churns out hundreds of fatherless savage children which choke up the environment.

Ripley, the white mother figure throws all of her energy behind one adopted resourceful child and cleans up the neighbourhood after entering into a nuclear family unit with Hicks.

Utter balls.

 I just kept thinking about that.

There are people who dismiss are criticism of racism in films with a flippant "well, some people are just looking for a reason to be offended." I usually don't think that's the case.

But in this case with Aliens, that has to be the case.

It's so stupid it makes my head hurt.

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There were many people back in the day who thought that Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (too many of thes in that title I think) was racist because it was seen to have portrayed the Watts Rioters (apparently the inspiration for much of the film) as apes (a derogatory image often used to depict people of African origin).

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Bingowings said:

There were many people back in the day who thought that Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (too many of thes in that title I think) was racist because it was seen to have portrayed the Watts Rioters (apparently the inspiration for much of the film) as apes (a derogatory image often used to depict people of African origin).

 I havent seen that film since I was a wee lad, but if that's the case, both the Watts riots and minorities-as-apes are pretty strong imagery to use lightly.

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I know someone who thought the Chinese Turkey scene in "A Christmas Story"

was racist. Most notably the part when the restaurant staff sing and the family laughs at them. Personally I don't agree. 

“First feel fear, then get angry. Then go with your life into the fight.” - Bill Mollison

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TheBoost said:

Bingowings said:

There were many people back in the day who thought that Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (too many of thes in that title I think) was racist because it was seen to have portrayed the Watts Rioters (apparently the inspiration for much of the film) as apes (a derogatory image often used to depict people of African origin).

 I havent seen that film since I was a wee lad, but if that's the case, both the Watts riots and minorities-as-apes are pretty strong imagery to use lightly.

It's actually a good movie especially for the day (the original cut is one of the bleakest pieces of science fiction cinema since...well....Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, which I also love to bits).

I can see how it could be read as having accidentally racist overtones but it's clearly not the intent of the film makers.

If the link to the Watts Riots wasn't as publicised as it was I don't think people would have complained as much.

It reminds me of how one of the make-up artists on the remake of Night Of The Living Dead said he based the look of one of the zombies on photographs of concentration camp victims (possibly in Fangoria or some such magazine).

He wanted that particular zombie to look very emaciated but realistically human enough for the characters and the audience to relate to it as a human.

When word got out he was accused of anti-Semitism for portraying Jews as monsters (a little publicity worded the wrong way can create a lot of offense especially in people who will never see the final piece).

 

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Ugh, what a sack of shit this list is!  This was just ridiculous!  People really need to get off their high horses and just believe that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.  And even when that's not the case... get a sense of humor!  As Avenue Q taught us is that stereotypes are based in truth.  Oh, and I loved how White Chicks, when it's supposed racism directed towards white people, it's still funny.  Well, at least they had the balls to put it on the list.  Shows they're not hypocritical.

But all that said, we need people like this to keep the balance.  You need people who see everything as racist and people who take everything in stride, and, somewhere in the middle, maybe you can determine what's really detrimental.

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C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Warbler said:

Who needed a drunken rant to know that Mel Gibson hates Jews? In his depiction of the Crucifixion of Christ—who, coincidentally, is portrayed by white actor Jim Caveziel even though everybody knows Black Jesus was black—the Chosen People are a vile, bloodthirsty horde that takes great pleasure in watching God's son suffer for the sins of man. Gibson gets a gold Star of David for this one—David Duke, that is.

everyone knows black Jesus was black?  huh?  I don't it.  Besides, I never thought Jesus was black,  I though he was Jewish-middle eastern

I have heard this a lot, so I decided to look into once.  It's a pretty slick argument.  The people that hold Jesus' blackhood as fact are the same people that start in with, "He didn't exist in the first place.  But, if he did, he wouldn't have been white."  The genealogy of Jesus as laid out in the Gospels of both Matthew and Luke is that of a Jew of the House of David.  While there are some Jews with black skin, they certainly don't outnumber Semitic Jews.  So we don't have any reason to expect that he'd be black there... But again, this argument is based on the idea that the New Testament is 100% wrong about Jesus, who never existed, right?  So, what "probably" happened is that Mary was impregnated by some lowlife (re: "black guy") and covered it up by claiming it was the Holy Spirit.  Therefore: real Jesus (who did not exist) must have been black.  Or half black, at any rate.

So when people go on saying that Jesus is black, I think they're just trying to offend people of the Christian faith (because of what they're saying about the legitamacy of the Bible, the holiness of Jesus, and the character of Mary) and apparently also black people since they're not very favourably figured into the story...  At least, that's what an hour or two of googling turned up for me.  That, and "hip" people like to pretend they know more about Jesus than "stupid Christians" so the "You didn't know he was Black???" thing carries some momentum there, I think.  I have no doubt he was a Jew, of similar appearance to other Israel based Semetic Jews of the day, or even today.

also, I think the idea that this movie is bigoted towards Jews is overblown.   If you compare the movie to how the Passion story is depicted in the bible,  you will find it to be quite accurate.

John chapter 19 verse 11:

Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above:

therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin

Matthew Chapter 27 verse 25

Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children

Gibson didn't come up with that stuff on his own,  they came from the bible.    I agree Gibson himself is a bigot,  he movie however is just accurate depiction from the bible.

 Yeah, I thought it was stupid to claim that Gibson being accurate to these verses somehow made him and the movie anti-Semitic.  It's no more or less Anti-Semitic than the New Testament.  But people that wanted to tear down Passion of the Christ probably had no compunction against also tearing down the New Testament.

Wow, Warb.  We're in complete agreeance here.  Should we be worried?  :)

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"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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Warbler said:

Who needed a drunken rant to know that Mel Gibson hates Jews? In his depiction of the Crucifixion of Christ—who, coincidentally, is portrayed by white actor Jim Caveziel even though everybody knows Black Jesus was black—the Chosen People are a vile, bloodthirsty horde that takes great pleasure in watching God's son suffer for the sins of man. Gibson gets a gold Star of David for this one—David Duke, that is.

everyone knows black Jesus was black?  huh?  I don't it.  Besides, I never thought Jesus was black,  I though he was Jewish-middle eastern

But it says "Black Jesus was black" so how can you argue that?

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everyone knows black Jesus was black?

Everyone knows Lazy Lucas, was Lazy.

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vote_for_palpatine said:

everyone knows black Jesus was black?

Everyone knows Lazy Lucas, was Lazy.

Ric Olie, is Ric.

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It's not so much that all of these movies are "racist", its that they play into the stereotype, whatever it may be.

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I'm absolutely sick of the "racist" moniker. Can't we all just enjoy each races respective eccentricities and general habits without it being deemed "hateful" when it certainly is not. I loved "Blazing Saddles" and I now believe that movie is the pinnacle of our time in which the races could lay all past beside and have fun without some idiot coming along and destroying the fun in the name of political correctness.

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I still remember that song George Lucas Raped our childhood saying all the new characters in episode 1 were racist stereotypes,lol.

It remind me of people who said empire strikes back was racist because Lando was black and was a traitor to Han a white man.

 

I love the film True Lies.  Hollywood people don't have the balls to make a film like that these days.  Even Cameron has become an apologist with AVATAR.

Islamofascists are homicidal maniacs and bloodthirsty morons.  Why else do they saw innocent peoples heads off?  Is it there peaceful way of saying hi to the rest of the world?

Why do people equate the general populace of these middle eastern countries as such, when a film like true lies was more likely aimed at al quida and the people responsible for the first world trade center attack.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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Questions about racism:

1) What is it, exactly?

2) Why is it OK to make fun of "white" people? (I know the blog post condemned White Chicks - I'm just speaking in general)

3) What are "white" people? (Most people consider Irish and Italians "white", and they had it bad in the late 1800's/early 1900's. It's hard to find an ethnic group that hasn't taken it in the shorts somewhere at some time.)

4) White assaulting black is a hate crime, right? How come the opposite isn't usually considered hate crime? (I think the concept of "hate crimes" is a stupid one, but I ask because we do have them)

5) If over 90% of white people had voted for McCain in 2008, do you all think we would have heard "RACISM" in the media ad nauseum? If you said yes, then why was there absolute silence over the 90+% of the black vote going to Obama?

 

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White Guilt by Shelby Steele is a good look at modern racism.  What it is and what it isn't.  http://www.amazon.com/White-Guilt-Together-Destroyed-Promise/dp/0060578637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267732860&sr=8-1

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!