Originally posted by CelineChic@Jun 24th, 2004 - 5:58 pm
They're allowed to make fun of white women and it is funny. I'm sure if white people were to dress up as black people and make fun of them they would be considered racist.
This movie is rascist in my opinion. Its also a generalization and looks really stupid in any case.
hey i agree but what should be understood is that there isnt a level playing field to begin with (in terms of how we portray and treat african americans v. white americans) so making fun of either race does not hold the same value (im not trying to excuse the jokes against white women, but trying to explain it)
what im trying to say is, that making fun of african americans in film affirms existing racism that african americans as a group experience in the real world..so if a film portrays african americans as stupid this just strengthens peoples' existing willingness to discriminate against african americans in the real world, that is why people are upset when a film stereotypes african americans...the reverse does not happen to the same extent...while we make fun of white peolpe in films, we do not have institionalized racism against white people in the real world, so the consequences of making fun of white people on film is not as serious as making fun of black people on film (i hope im making sense)
further, the stereotypes of whites in films are mostly that they are too proper, uptight, and perhaps a little cheesy...hardly that negative when you compare it to the stereotypes of blacks in films as gangstas, people with less than perfect english...
just look at bringin down the house with steve martin and queen latifah...i thought this movie brought out the worst stereotypes of african americans as people who are loud, who have criminal records etc...it was so offensive...whereas the stereotype of whites as demonstrated by steve martin's character were that they were upstanding citizens, well-educated, and a little too uptight...benign in comparison
while stereotypes of both races are bad, stereotypes of african americans are generally more offensive and grave, given underlying racism against african americans in this country...