by Carmen Van Kerckhove
The trailer for the new Ben Stiller comedy we discussed last week, starring Robert Downey Jr. as a white actor who puts on blackface to play a role originally written for a black man, is out. (Hat tip to Undercover Brother.)
What do you think?
Garbarge!! I know at least one movie that I will not be seeing. I don’t find Ben Stiller to be that funny anyway.
Highlight of the piece: Ben Stiller asking, “What is it with you people?” followed by RDJ saying, “What do you mean, ‘you people?’” followed by Brandon Jackson’s character asking RDJ, “What do *you* mean, ‘you people?’”
I think this movie can be an intelligent look/criticism at the use of blackface. but as usual, the general public isn’t going to see it this way and this has happened before. I recall the musical Showboat being criticized before it opened in Toronto back in 1993 because of the use of the n-word and the way black people were portrayed in the show (servants etc…maybe they didn’t realize that the musical takes place between the late 1800s and the 1920s?) People didn’t realize that the whole POINT of Showboat was to address racism (at least the musical did. I have never read Edna Ferber’s book) and for a show that opened in 1927, it really was RADICAL.
I kind of like the concept, and the blackface thing is iffy, but it might be handled well; it’s hard to judge. Still, there’s no way I’m going to see this movie because a) Ben Stiller’s mock-chimpanzee mugging makes me nauseous and b) the evil Asian horde.
a few quick observations:
1) Ok, it’s “Three Amigos” meets “Platoon
2) I second the “evil Asian horde” comment. Yeesh.
3) Jackson’s character seems to be positioned to call out Downey’s; he also caught the latter on the “Jeffersons” thing.
has anyone seen the trailer for the new Mike Myers movie? That’s the one that offended me all over the place in the previews…
The Love Guru (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0811138/)
Jen,
I could not get the trailer to load for me; what is so offensive about it?
ok. So maybe it’s just me…but the white dude supposedly being the “second-best guru in India”…kinda got to me the first time I saw the trailer.
i can see some humor in the movie pitch, but I worry about some of the approach [even with all the big names attached]
here’s the trailer: http://movies.aol.com/movie/the-love-guru/29105/video/trailer-no-1/2078553
I’m going to give this one the benefit of the doubt — for a while — because it looks like they’re actively ridiculing a white guy for thinking he can appropriate a racial experience. Some of it made me grin. We’ll see.
The M.Meyers movie: Stupid from the git-go, racial issues aside.
# 3,4,9, PC gone insane.
It looks stupid but I have to say the blackface story has potential. I only wish there was a comedy about Angelina Jolie pretending she was Afro Cuban or that stupid Obama guy from SNL.
Mike Myers is an idiot who should stick to Scottish accents.
The intent of the joke has to be sorted out from its actual content.
Robert Downey Junior is playing an actor who is playing a character in blackface. The joke, such as it is, is that he doesn’t realize that it’s entirely inappropriate for him to be appearing in blackface. The problem is that in order to make a joke that implies that appearing in blackface is inappropriate, he has to appear in blackface to make it. This, um, inevitably leads to dividing by zero.
– ACS
I find the ‘blackface’ very offensive… i agree with post #3: the general public will not socially critique the film.. and thus will not recognize the role that blackface has placed in history. One could also argue that this film is actually replicating history.
Secondly, why are we not talking about the way asian people are portrayed in the film? I also find that portrayal very offensive, very racist. It is demeaning and dehumanizing to asian peoples (and I would argue people of color in general) to see asians portrayed in such a canabalistic and uncivilized way. Granted, I have not seen the movie.. nor will I see the movie… I think the trailer says enough.
Let’s push ourselves to see beyond the binary black and white.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of New Demographic, an anti-racism training company. She hosts the podcast Addicted to Race and blogs at Racialicious, Anti-Racist Parent, and Race in the Workplace.
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