From Paris With Love…and some hilarious racism!
By Deputy Editor Thea Lim
Is it a new trend in trailers to highlight comic genius and audacity, by showing just a little bit of racism? First we had the Up in the Air trailer, and now this:
From Paris With Love stars John Travolta (apparently in a reprise of his Face/Off role, plus a keffiyeh) as Charlie Wax, and the adorable little fellow from Bend it Like Beckham as his sidekick. Midway through the trailer, our two leads find themselves in a classic Chinatown fight scene. I blanch at the sight of Charlie Wax using the East Asian waiter’s “oriental” uniform to choke him, and some other shots of things emblazoned with dragons and a Ming vase…
But it’s nothing to write about. That bad feeling in the pit of my stomach is just your regular, knee-jerk (and hey, maybe not-so-justifiable) response to seeing one of my own get pulped by a member of the dominant culture.
And then my most paranoid suspicions are confirmed at 1:05, when Wax’s sidekick asks him in the middle of the Chinatown fight scene
How many more of them do you think there are?
referring to the malevolent employees of the Chinese restaurant.
Wax shrugs, there’s a cut to a women in a cheongsam, and then Wax says
My sense is…about a billion?
Classy.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Ray wrote:
I thought he was saying “By census,” not “My sense is.”
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 9:57 am ¶
Kat wrote:
Ray is right: He says “By census”. Awful.
I also hated the end scene with clueless, naive and apart from sex useless Caroline: Men save the world, while clueless women do nothing at home- and wait until he comes home in the evening.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 10:45 am ¶
Thea Lim wrote:
@ Ray
Wow, I watched the clip several times and I can’t decide. I think “By census” is actually worse than “My sense is”!
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 10:51 am ¶
mauve wrote:
I’m not surprised at all, coming from director Pierre Morel. His film “Taken” had plenty of racist undertones — all the bad guys were Muslim and/or Arab out to enslave and have sex with young white Western European girls who were kidnapped into prostitution. *eyeroll* There were even opportune closeups of Muslim crescent tattoos on the kidnappers. It was a grossly inaccurate depiction of sex trafficking in Europe that fed into “Eurabia” fears.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 11:07 am ¶
Roxie wrote:
Kat, I actually saw this movie last night (free screening) and Caroline is NOT useless nor is she clueless. This doesn’t necessarily make her an awesome character; but she definitely has her own thing going on.
In the context of the film Wax’s flippant racist remark is supposed an insincere mark of his crazy, coke sniffing, shoot-em-up, thoroughly American character. Still, :-/
While the movie was better than I thought it would be (decent action, some good laughs). The fact that EVERYONE that Wax went after, shot, hurt, interrogated, and/or killed was a poc/woc really soured it for me. It was totally unquestioned & completely unnecessary.
I wondered if anyone else found it at least ‘odd’ that here are these two awesome white guys killing all these poc w/o any sort of consideration. I mean, I know they’re all either drug dealers, gang members, or terrorists–but REALLY?!
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 12:05 pm ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist wrote:
LOL. yeah looks like a terrible movie. The only redeeming quality of the film is the yummy and SEXY Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who I could lustfully gaze at all day.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 12:15 pm ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist wrote:
I’m not surprised at all, coming from director Pierre Morel. His film “Taken” had plenty of racist undertones — all the bad guys were Muslim and/or Arab out to enslave and have sex with young white Western European girls who were kidnapped into prostitution. *eyeroll* There were even opportune closeups of Muslim crescent tattoos on the kidnappers. It was a grossly inaccurate depiction of sex trafficking in Europe that fed into “Eurabia” fears.
GROSS. I never heard that TAKEN was racist (I haven’t seen it). I was planning to watch it, but after reading your comment, I will not be watching the film anymore. Thanks.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 12:15 pm ¶
RCHOUDH wrote:
@ Mauve
OMG I remember how utterly awful that piece of crapfest “Taken” was! And I lost quite a bit of respect for Liam Neeson for starring in that s****. This movie sounds like another piece of crapfest and way to play up the nasty Yellow Peril stereotypes there! And yeah as usual the white guys are always able to kick a whole crapload of people’s butts because they’re such skilled warriors/barf!
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 12:18 pm ¶
Kat wrote:
@ Roxie: Thank you, I haven’t seen the film. But you would agree that the trailer suggests what I said, or not either? I hope she is not one of those Bond girl honey traps from the enemy… That’s also kind of old.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 12:19 pm ¶
Roxie wrote:
@Kat: Oh, I completely agree. You wouldn’t be able to catch from the trailer, but that’s on purpose. They’re trying to misdirect you. She’s not a honey trap, but does what she does out of her conviction.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 12:34 pm ¶
Lena wrote:
Totally agree with you.You expressed how I felt when I saw the Rocky movie.
More importantly I must ask
WHY DO POC PARTICIPATE IN THIS KIND OF STUFF?
As a black person i’d rather see whites performing in black face than to see flava flav on tv.
I’m guessing you all are tired of all ways having to see the white guy from suburbia use martial arts to kick an asian mans ass all the time.I know I am and i’m not even Asian.I’m just sayin
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 1:39 pm ¶
DovS wrote:
With all of the racial tension and unrest that France has been dealing with lately, producing “yellow menace” cinema in a French setting is highly irresponsible.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 2:50 pm ¶
Eva wrote:
A few days ago I saw a film everybody who works in my institution has to see, about sexual and other types of harassment (racial, age, national origin were some of the types). What I came away with is that people who make comments like the ones described in the piece, are just like the people who make movies like this one, they are simply insensitive to the personhoods of people who do not look like them. It’s almost as if people who make movies like this one aren’t even aware that what they consider funny can also be seen as offensive, like other people’s feelings don’t matter.
To people like that I say, “grow the fuck up.”
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 3:04 pm ¶
Jess wrote:
@Lena:
They need the check. Seriously, that’s it.
I remember hearing on NPR, a Middle Eastern guy — I’ve been googling to see if I can dig up the interview and if anyone can find it please tell me– was talking about taking film roles.
His story was like this: He goes to the audition, and he sees it’s for a bad guy character. OK, he thinks, I have the chops to make this really work as a character. I’ll make him human and all that.
He gets to the audition, gets the part, and on the set the director tells him to ham it up and make him more “evil.” Finally, in frustration, he puts on the most ridiculous accent he can come up with and goes full-on silly. What happens? “Hey we love that!” he director says.
He says “I am doing this stupid role, it’s really racist. But I got $30,000.”
Now, at the time (he said) he was not making any money either as an actor or a comedian. His rent was due and he had loans. What would you do?
Speaking as one who works in a profession that loads of people will do for free, you find yourself making all kinds of moral choices you would rather not.
Taken not only slams Arabs generally but evidently the message is if you let your daughter go to a rock concert she will be abducted and nearly raped, and she really kind of deserves it for not being paranoid enough.
I saw the trailer. I haven’t seen the movie. But I’ll disagree a little bit with Thea.
Depending on how they construct the surrounding scene I could see it as the partner asking a really stupid question about the number of enemies to be faced, and Travolta’s character turning it around and saying “How many of them? What do you mean by ‘them?’ There are 1 billion Chinese people in the world as a whole, and as I can’t tell how many people we are facing here that isn’t terribly relevant.” Especially if he said “By census.”
I think the film can certainly be racist (like Taken above) without the particular remark in question being so. In fact Taken is a good example — Liam Neeson has no particularly racist lines I can remember. But it’s a pretty racist film. Goes out of its way to slam the French, too.
Without having seen it, I’d say there’s a good chance this I’d class it as racist film making, whatever line was put in that scene.
To me, a good example of really racist dialogue was Rising Sun — and this made it into the trailer, along with some other real gems. “Keep your hands at your sides. The Japanese find big arm movements threatening.”
I have to laugh at some of it or I’d get too depressed.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 3:27 pm ¶
ShelbyW wrote:
More importantly I must ask
WHY DO POC PARTICIPATE IN THIS KIND OF STUFF?
It’s not as if they have stacks of scripts with great PoC characters to choose from – this is it. They are trying to make a living.
And, out of curiosity, why are their individual choices “more important” than the cultural and systemic racism that marginalizes them?
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 3:59 pm ¶
Ladymorgue wrote:
Well, add this on the list of movies not to see ugggghhhhhh WHY Jonathan Rhys-Meyers!!!! When I read the comment about Taken, I almost threw up. I knew that movie was bad, but I never thought it was that bad.
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 4:18 pm ¶
Ginsu Shark wrote:
“And yeah as usual the white guys are always able to kick a whole crapload of people’s butts because they’re such skilled warriors/barf!”
Protagonists almost always are…
Posted 29 Jan 2010 at 11:27 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>The only redeeming quality of the film is the yummy and SEXY Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who I could lustfully gaze at all day.
Seconded, thirded, WEV… I’m w/ Ladymorgue – dammit, man, if you’re trying to break into mainstream American films (and VG and Tudors do not count, and only hardcore fantasy geeks know about Ghomengast), this ain’t the best way, ya know?
Posted 30 Jan 2010 at 12:38 am ¶
RCHOUDH wrote:
@ Gals lusting after Mr. Rhys-Meyers
Ummm guys I hate to tell you this but apparently he was arrested for beating up his British Asian girlfriend a few years ago (which he claimed to be in defense of her beating him). Just wanted to let you guys know that unsavory piece of info about him.
Posted 30 Jan 2010 at 6:42 am ¶
Nissa wrote:
Wow, they both look like they have been foundationed-up to within an inch of their lives. Seriously, is Travolta supposed to look like that?!
I have never seen the hype about Rhys-Meyers, sorry ladies!
‘Taken’ was sooo racist and anti-Muslim that is was actually both infuriating and hilarious. It was like a train wreck- you couldn’t look away. Personal favourite touch though- Arab security guard with the heavy kohl lined eyes. Nice attention to detail! I don’t expect anything good from the people who made that and it did make me like Liam Neeson less. The Transporter, whilst entertaining was also pretty full of stereotypes esp the sexually available rebellious ‘other’ woman- what is with that one?!
Of course, we are all too politically correct and should be fine about being mocked and sidelined in films because its just a film and need to lighten up! (ugh!)
Posted 30 Jan 2010 at 10:36 am ¶
Kat wrote:
@RCHOUDH: What a loser. Even if he wasn’t an abuser: I somewhat never understood the hype. I really don’t find him attractive. The swooning of others mystifies me.
Posted 30 Jan 2010 at 5:23 pm ¶
maus wrote:
You think Travolta’s involved in racist stuff now, you should see what his messiah L Ron Hubbard had to say in Dianetics and Scientology.
http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/deny.htm
http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/legacy.htm
http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/target.htm
He doesn’t seem like a terrible guy, but he’s definitely been indoctrinated with some terrible ideas along the way, considering Hubbard’s tone and how his words are taken as the literal gospel on how the practitioners are trained to view and act on the world.
Posted 31 Jan 2010 at 3:38 am ¶
Stefan wrote:
“I’m guessing you all are tired of all ways having to see the white guy from suburbia use martial arts to kick an asian mans ass all the time”
why? are asians somehow better at martial arts? Is it in their genes? Why did you have to say that in the way you said it?
are white people incapable of beating up asians beacose you think all asians practice martial arts every day? That’s some preaty ugly stereotyping right here
one might asume a FBI field agent (which Travoltas character here is) would get some sofisticated hand to hand combat training (regardless of race) and would be able to beat up a random asian, or why should the asian be better for simply being asian?
Martial arts isn’t an Asia only invention in fact it has been practiced all over the world since forever althrough most european martial arts died out with the invention of firearms due to loosing usefulness and it is basicly disgusting that some people think all asians would know better martial arts than a white guy just beacose they are asian. I can’t tell a martial arts expert by simply looking at his race, can you?
Posted 02 Feb 2010 at 6:18 am ¶
Jess wrote:
@maus
I’d put Hubbard among those who are so not because of any deep personal animus but because of the culture he grew up in. Remember he was born in 1911. That doesn’t excuse the stuff he wrote there, but it certainly makes it more understandable. You know what is sad? What he wrote was mainstream back then.
Dunno much about how that’s influenced Travolta — i dont’ recall Travolta saying much about race, ever, but correct me if I am wrong.
Posted 02 Feb 2010 at 12:09 pm ¶
Thea Lim wrote:
@Jess
I’d have to disagree with you there. Apart from the fact that there were plenty of people who were anti-racist in 1911, I really reject the notion that if mainstream culture is blatantly racist, it somehow normalises the racism (or just general hatred) in the writing of someone from the culture.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that every human being has rights – arguments that state “well, they were just a product of their time” seems to suggest that it is somehow difficult to grasp the very straightforward and clear tenets of anti-racism, when these tenets actually are obvious to anyone who values human life. No matter what time you are from, there is a way to be a decent human being, and it’s not hard to figure out how.
For example, few of us here at Racialicious have a formal (university) grounding in anti-racism, yet we are able to talk about at it at length, as our many of our readers.
And if you think about it, in 100 years people will probably be excusing movies like “From Paris with love,” because they were just a product of their (very racist) time.
Posted 02 Feb 2010 at 2:11 pm ¶
just watched it wrote:
Why so Racist ???
It’s actually more than just racist, they had the word god (Allah in arabic) in the background on the wall in one of the scenes and how dare they disrespect the belief of millions .
That movie was a waste of everything and would not recommend it to anybody
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 1:51 am ¶
Dave wrote:
It’s funny but, I never even thought the remark was racist until I saw this. I just thought Rhys Meyers meant how many more bad guys were there to kill, and Travolta replies “my sense is, about a billion” – i.e. a joke at high body-count action where the good guys kill off seemingly hundreds off nameless thugs.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 6:26 am ¶