Does the King Kong movie have racist overtones?

by enlightenedcynic 97 Replies latest social entertainment

Spectrum

"JJRizo? is that you?"

No. why?
Abaddon

mkr
Chimps were the primates I was refering too

I realise, and whilst subject to variation in skin tone, they ain't white if you shave them;
trevor
Your comments on this thread are racially motivated
Yes but no but yes.
Is he racist towards white people in everyday life? Nope. So NOT racially motivated.
Is he from a race that has been subject to racism? Hell yes. Is it possible that sterotypical racist attitudes directed against his race in the past will cause him to see racism in a film where there isn't racism? Yes, reasonably so.
So his comments are motivated by racism, but that of OTHERS.
and do a great disservice to black people.
And YOUR service to white people is what exactly?
The gorilla belonged in the jungle on a deserted island away from civilisation - so do people who share your racist views!
My my. Well, nice for you to allow us to assign a value to your opinions.
Billygoat
It's kinda like those people that look at the pictures in the WTS art depictions that try to find Satan's face. Some people are just wired to play victim.
No Billygoat. The pictures seen in pictures are a result of the brain's wiring. People seeing what they see as racial imagary in a film about a massive ape terrorising a white woman is because there are people alive today who will remember a time where one could characterise a black man as an ape who was a risk to white women in polite company and not hear one disagreement. Whether you like to admit it or not, American society has made it's black citizens victims of decades of racism, and a few laws in the sixties don't wipe away decades of bigotry.
Spectrum
Blacks portrayed as violent gun toting rapists of white women. Usual social setting poor, destitute, aggressive.
Last time I looked Will Smith had saved the world at least three times in movies. That makes him a bigger hero than Bruce Wilis, who has only saved the world once. So what does their respect skin hue show?
Before you complain about how unrepresentative the portrayal of the living conditions of an average black American is in movies, do you know what the real-life difference is between average white living conditions and average black living conditions? Please quote references.
Anyhow, super villens are ususally English. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I might live in Holland, but I'm English. I have to ask, is stroking a white pussy racist?
Hispanic's reputation is now going through the same racist hollywood meat grinder.
No, not to the extent black people were in the past, nor will it ever, as attitudes have moved on. There might be sterotyping, but then crack gangs run by a group of Harvard graduates who pimp Ivy League hookers would not be particulary believeable.
Films about the criminal underworld tend to represent sterotypes, be they Britsh Gangster movies or American ones. The sterotypes are a result of demographics; most members of the Bloods and the Crips are black or Hispanic, for example.
A society where the criminals tend to be disproportionately of a certain race or races is where the racism is. The movies portraying that society are not nessarily racist by representing that society.
American Indians savages ready to scalp virtuous innocent white rose. Sometimes though saved by the heroic strong white man unless he gets scalped himself.
Yeah, old Westerns sucked. I prefer the newer ones where the white man is portrayed as heartless and barbaric.
South Americans - drug lords.
And if we made a movie about drug lords in 1870, they would be British - read up on the Opium War. At the moment drug lords ARE often South American.
Africans need a stupid white man to show them how to survive in their own natural environment. Ridiculous.
Hell, you watch really bad movies. The ones set in Africa with Macaws and Cockatoos sitting in the trees...
I've seen two programs in a week which describe how two seperate indigenous populations (Thai Sea Gypsies and Andaman Islanders) escaped the tsunami last year without loss of life as they were so primative they remembered the stories about a big wave coming if the sea went back too far and ran for it.
Jews are portrayed as the virtue of the world - Brain surgeons, musician, clever lawyers, upright business men, distinctly jewish names not associated with villains.
Yeah, well at the 3rd International Artistic Convention in 1908, it was decided for the next hundred years Jews would be given all the good parts as they were bored with Fagin, Shylock, and all the other fun fun roles that had been written for them in the past millenia. Get over it, the agreement lapses in 2008. I think gypsies are up for the next hundred years of good parts, or is it the gays (remember only gay Jews could already get good parts)?
The question about rizzo stems from a nazi apologist by that name who was utterly obsessed with Jews and how they controlled the world and how unfair every one was to poor Adolf, who only killed a few by accident. He benefitted us with his 'wisdom' and got his bigotted ass banned from here.
I don't think you are anything like that, but due to idiots like rizzo there is a certain enui and distain towards people who moan about Jews. The 'virtue of the world' comment sounded a bit... odd...
avishai

Whether you like to admit it or not, American society has made it's black citizens victims of decades of racism, and a few laws in the sixties don't wipe away decades of bigotry
It ain't the only society that made black citizens victims.....
Yeah, old Westerns sucked. I prefer the newer ones where the white man is portrayed as heartless and barbaric.
Try watching the ones with Randolph scott from the late 50's and early sixties, ride lonesome is one....They'll blow your mind, they're so good.
MidwichCuckoo

What do you say?
racist overtones? lol - NO!! Why? Just because the 'leading lady' is WHITE? Lol- I haven't seen the new film, but I believe it is set in the 1930s (as the original).....if there was ANY hint at racism, I'm sure it would have been slaughtered by the press.
Abaddon

avi
As my great great great great great great great great great grandfather was the first European to run the Middle Passage, I obviously agree with you.
However, talking about the reaction of an American to a Hollywood movie made mention of the many other examples superfluous.
Merry Christmas, by the way.
zagor

nah, mate you're reading too much into it. I don't think Peter Jackson had any intention to casue offence, all he did was to follow the old story line, thats all. I think people should stop measuring everything in terms of skin color, its stupid really. We are all human regardless of our pigmentation.
Spectrum

Abaddon,

Independence day - Will smith the muscle, Jeff Goldblum (Jewish Character) the brain that saved the world.
Bad Boys - gun toting Black guys with very bad language
LA Confidential - Blacks raping a white girl white man kills the bad black guys.
Star Chamber -A Black person I think was raping a girl or doing something nasty.
English Patient - I was flabbergasted you could cut the racism overtones with a knife. If you have seen it guess which part I'm talking about.
And hundreds of others that I can't remember now.

" Before you complain about how unrepresentative the portrayal of the living conditions of an average black American is in movies, do you know what the real-life difference is between average white living conditions and average black living conditions? Please quote references."

I know there is a lot of poverty in the US but this thread is about racist portrayals.

" No, not to the extent black people were in the past, nor will it ever, as attitudes have moved on. There might be sterotyping, but then crack gangs run by a group of Harvard graduates who pimp Ivy League hookers would not be particulary believeable."

Have you seen Denzel's film Training Day.

"A society where the criminals tend to be disproportionately of a certain race or races is where the racism is. The movies portraying that society are not nessarily racist by representing that society."
This is where I disagree it is the intention behind deciding to make that movie that way. And even if some have no permeditated intention the damage that is done is great and unforgivable. I have many black friends and none of them are represented by racist hollywood's usual spin on black people, of course they are agrieved.
I grew up believing that Native Americans were the savages where as in fact whites were the savages.

" And if we made a movie about drug lords in 1870, they would be British - read up on the Opium War. At the moment drug lords ARE often South American."

I've watched quite a few latin and italian made movies and non had anything to do with drugs lords and mafia I imagine a few do. These are the very societies hollywood wishes to represent. It's not just about what goes on in these societies as you contend but it's the racist spin that Hollywood wishes to apply.

Africans need a stupid white man to show them how to survive in their own natural environment. Ridiculous.

"Hell, you watch really bad movies. The ones set in Africa with Macaws and Cockatoos sitting in the trees... "

Now I very rarely go to the cinema and rarely watch a film all the way through.

" I've seen two programs in a week which describe how two seperate indigenous populations (Thai Sea Gypsies and Andaman Islanders) escaped the tsunami last year without loss of life as they were so primative they remembered the stories about a big wave coming if the sea went back too far and ran for it."

I heard that very few mammals were caught out by the disaster. Their instincts told them to run for the lives.

"Yeah, well at the 3rd International Artistic Convention in 1908, it was decided for the next hundred years Jews would be given all the good parts as they were bored with Fagin, Shylock, and all the other fun fun roles that had been written for them in the past millenia. Get over it, the agreement lapses in 2008. I think gypsies are up for the next hundred years of good parts, or is it the gays (remember only gay Jews could already get good parts)?"

Well they certainly stuck to that.

" The question about rizzo stems from a nazi apologist by that name who was utterly obsessed with Jews and how they controlled the world and how unfair every one was to poor Adolf, who only killed a few by accident. He benefitted us with his 'wisdom' and got his bigotted ass banned from here."

Poor rizzo!

" The 'virtue of the world' comment sounded a bit... odd..."

There is nothing odd about it. It's a fact of hollywood.
trevor

It is always possible to support any agenda we may be trying to push by using selected quotes. There are many films where black people are positively portrayed but non of these have been mentioned.
Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor which features an entirely black cast. Doctor Dolittle where he replaces the middle class white Rex Harrison. Whitney Houston in the Bodyguard as a rich successful black diva. The body guard is white and so is the hit man. The chauffeur is black - so I guess we have to conclude that the film has racial undertones after all!
Why not celebrate the successes of black people and build on their achievements in a positive way, instead of living in the past and discrediting the attempts of society build a better world that is not motivated by racism. Letting go of the past is the first step towards healing and advancement.
funkyderek

Spectrum:
These are your examples?! They were really the best you could come up with?
Independence day - Will smith the muscle, Jeff Goldblum (Jewish Character) the brain that saved the world.
Will Smith is less suited to playing a brainy scientist than Jeff Goldblum, nothing to do with race. I could similarly claim that this film stereotypes white people as nerdy and awkward. (It doesn't of course, but it's as relevant as your claim.) What about films like Lethal Weapon or Die Hard With A Vengeance where a white guy is the muscle and a black guy is the brain?
Bad Boys - gun toting Black guys with very bad language
Die Hard - gun toting White guys with very bad language
LA Confidential - Blacks raping a white girl white man kills the bad black guys.
That's what you got out of that film?
Star Chamber -A Black person I think was raping a girl or doing something nasty.
Never heard of the film. Do you object to all films that at any point show any black person committing any sort of crime?
English Patient - I was flabbergasted you could cut the racism overtones with a knife. If you have seen it guess which part I'm talking about.
No idea. Please enlighten me.
And hundreds of others that I can't remember now.
That's convenient. Although, your standards are so low you can pick any film with a black person in it (obviously any film without a black person is racist by omission) and put a negative spin on it. The Shawshank Redemption: Morgan Freeman is content to spend 50 years in jail while the clever white man finds a way out. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: Sidney Poitier has to be incredibly successful and charming (acting white?) to win over his white in-laws. I can only guess why someone would perceive every portrayal of someone of their "race" as intended to be representative of that "race" and then try to see the most negative aspects.
" Before you complain about how unrepresentative the portrayal of the living conditions of an average black American is in movies, do you know what the real-life difference is between average white living conditions and average black living conditions? Please quote references." I know there is a lot of poverty in the US but this thread is about racist portrayals.
You missed the point. It's not racist to portray things as they are, even if the way things are is due to racism.

I've watched quite a few latin and italian made movies and non had anything to do with drugs lords and mafia I imagine a few do. These are the very societies hollywood wishes to represent. It's not just about what goes on in these societies as you contend but it's the racist spin that Hollywood wishes to apply.
That's utter nonsense. South American and Italian directors are making films about their own countries and culture. Obviously they will not all be drug or gangster movies. Hollywood makes films mostly about the USA. If they want to make a Mafia film, obviously the mafiosi will be Italian or Italian-American. If they make a film about drug smuggling, they will have quite a lot of South American characters. If they make a film about religious fanatics bombing America, they will very likely use Islam. None of that is racist. Nobody is going to believe a film about cocaine growers in Canada, the Belgian mafia or an Amish jihad.
Africans need a stupid white man to show them how to survive in their own natural environment. Ridiculous.
What films show anything like that?
Now I very rarely go to the cinema and rarely watch a film all the way through.
That figures. You seem to have missed the point of most of the ones you have seen.
"Yeah, well at the 3rd International Artistic Convention in 1908, it was decided for the next hundred years Jews would be given all the good parts as they were bored with Fagin, Shylock, and all the other fun fun roles that had been written for them in the past millenia. Get over it, the agreement lapses in 2008. I think gypsies are up for the next hundred years of good parts, or is it the gays (remember only gay Jews could already get good parts)?"

Well they certainly stuck to that.
" The question about rizzo stems from a nazi apologist by that name who was utterly obsessed with Jews and how they controlled the world and how unfair every one was to poor Adolf, who only killed a few by accident. He benefitted us with his 'wisdom' and got his bigotted ass banned from here."

Poor rizzo!
He was a blatant anti-Semite. Why do you feel sorry for him?
Spectrum

"These are your examples?! They were really the best you could come up with?"
You want me to list them all do you? You'ed be shocked if anything.
"Independence day - Will smith the muscle, Jeff Goldblum (Jewish Character) the brain that saved the world.

Will Smith is less suited to playing a brainy scientist than Jeff Goldblum, "

What hollywood racist decided that. Why couldn't a latino be the saviour of the world. Oh silly me Latinos are just dopey drugs barrons. Of course it's racist.

"nothing to do with race." LOL. Dream on Funky

" I could similarly claim that this film stereotypes white people as nerdy and awkward. " If you saw my first post I said look and the percentages and a racist pattern is immediately obvious.

"(It doesn't of course, but it's as relevant as your claim.) What about films like Lethal Weapon or Die Hard With A Vengeance where a white guy is the muscle and a black guy is the brain?"
Yeah a black guy with a big gun.

"Bad Boys - gun toting Black guys with very bad language Die Hard - gun toting White guys with very bad language"
Look at the percentage of black character rolls. That's the issue. Of course they are going to make films with white guys holding guns.

"LA Confidential - Blacks raping a white girl white man kills the bad black guys. That's what you got out of that film?"

That's what the put in that film. A film about bad tempered and corrupt cops padded with black rapists of white women. Open your eyes Funky.

"Do you object to all films that at any point show any black person committing any sort of crime?"
No but the frequency with which it is done stereotypes black, latino and Native Americans.

"English Patient - I was flabbergasted you could cut the racism overtones with a knife. If you have seen it guess which part I'm talking about. No idea. Please enlighten me."
A Nazi interrogator brings in a cute looking young nurse into to interrogation room, and say's "this is a muslim girl" and the next thing you see is the muslim girl chopping the thumbs off William Defoe.
Absolutely loaded with racism.

"And hundreds of others that I can't remember now. That's convenient. Although, your standards are so low you can pick any film with a black person in it (obviously any film without a black person is racist by omission) and put a negative spin on it. "
No it's not convenient. The more I could have remembered the more the point would have been made.

The Shawshank Redemption: Morgan Freeman is content to spend 50 years in jail while the clever white man finds a way out.
NO, YOU missed the point, a black man in jail AGAAAAAAAAAAAAIN. Give it up Funky

"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: Sidney Poitier has to be incredibly successful and charming (acting white?) to win over his white in-laws. "
In The Last Supper who was the most psychotic. Of course you guessed it the black guy.

"I can only guess why someone would perceive every portrayal of someone of their "race" as intended to be representative of that "race" and then try to see the most negative aspects."
That's right you've guessed it Hollywood is racist.

"You missed the point. It's not racist to portray things as they are, even if the way things are is due to racism."
In which case Geobels could be justified and accepted as the norm. Right?

I've watched quite a few latin and italian made movies and non had anything to do with drugs lords and mafia I imagine a few do. These are the very societies hollywood wishes to represent. It's not just about what goes on in these societies as you contend but it's the racist spin that Hollywood wishes to apply.
"That's utter nonsense. South American and Italian directors are making films about their own countries and culture. Obviously they will not all be drug or gangster movies. Hollywood makes films mostly about the USA. If they want to make a Mafia film, obviously the mafiosi will be Italian or Italian-American. "

It's all about percentages Funky

"Africans need a stupid white man to show them how to survive in their own natural environment. Ridiculous. What films show anything like that?"
Tarzan. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA what idiot came up with that idea. You mentioned whose going to believe Amish jihad, yet they believe of a stupid white man well versed in jungle affairs, which incidentally requires generation of accummulated knowledge to survive in. LOLOLOLOL

"Now I very rarely go to the cinema and rarely watch a film all the way through.
That figures. You seem to have missed the point of most of the ones you have seen."
No they are boring and racist.

"Poor rizzo! He was a blatant anti-Semite. Why do you feel sorry for him?"
I don't, but in terms of Hollywood they have shown themselves to be anti-Gentile.

Does the King Kong movie have racist overtones?

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