Accusations of black racial stereotypes in Transformers 2
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, one of the summer’s biggest movies, is garnering controversy over two minor Autobot characters, Mudflap and Skids. Moviegoers and reviewers note the pair speak in broken English, bicker constantly and allege they reinforce negative stereotypes of African Americans. Director Michael Bay maintains the characters were developed by voice actors Reno Williams (who is black and voiced Mudflap) and Tom Kenny (who is white and voiced Skids).
In AP Entertainment writer Sandy Cohen’s story, Bay defends the characters by saying their speech, behavior and cadence are the result of learning of American culture through the Web. Bay describes them as “wannabe gangster types.”
Wilson says if the characters had learned of American culture through country music, they would have country accents and speech. “It’s not fair to assume the characters are black,” Wilson said in Cohen’s article. Kenny did not respond to Cohen’s interview request.
Are the character’s a futuristic Amos ‘n’ Andy, bringing negative stereotypical portrayals of African Americans upon the film’s predominantly young audience? Could the characters be perceived as social commentary on negative aspects of U.S. hip hop culture? Do you buy Bay’s story of how the characters’ personas were developed?
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Seriously?
movie was great. they were obviously not black stereotypes, just annoying. the “moviegoers” (sounds like just darryl swint) who allege this must still be mad about the solstice’s character jazz in the last movie. I’ll admit jazz was black, he was the only autobot to get killed off.
It’s hard to comment when there is no audio clip.
nidf: I have yet to see the movie, so I don’t count myself among the moviegoers who have raised objections about the film. I plan to see the movie by this weekend. Concerns with Mudflap and Skids have been raised in stories in the New York Times, E! Online, Associated Press and the Washington Post among others. The articles I’ve read make no association with the Autobot Jazz you mention.
FTP: The only legal way media can obtain audio of the robot characters is if such audio is released by Paramount Pictures or Dreamworks SKG. To my knowledge, this has not been done.
Here’s my question:
What is more offensive to the black populace - the images/portrayals of ‘Amos N’ Andy’?…or the images/portayals of gangsta’ rappers?
For my entire lifetime (48-years-old/Caucasian), I’ve been told that ‘Amos N’ Andy’ represented comic negative portrayals of black men and, consequently, the early 1950’s television show has largely been censored and unseen by the general public since the height of the Civil Rights movement. For the record, the characters were created by two white men in the 1920’s who performed the characters for two decades on radio; the characters in the television show were black.
I contrast that with the images and sounds of rap music, largely performed by blacks over the last 25 years. Much of it is centered on narcissitic behavior, vulgar and rude language, sexual promiscuity, repetitive lyrics/sounds (thus, in my opinion, lacking creativity) and images that communicate destructive behavior. Many rappers have died via the behavior described in the music. Yet, the music remains hugely popular with all youth, particularly black youth.
My opinion?
The unfortunate aspect of ‘Amos N’ Andy’ is that, by and large, these were the only types of roles available to black men and women throughout most of the first half of the 20th Century - with more ‘respectable’ roles available only in black cinema. This was corrected as more blacks became mainstreamed into Hollywood, which allowed for the buffoonery of ‘Sanford and Son’ to coexist alongside an ‘I Spy,”Julia,”The Jeffersons,”Room 222,’ etc. I never heard any complaints about the characters in ‘Sanford…’
HOwever, it’s my belief that the ‘damage’ caused by the stereotypes portrayed in the gentle comedy of ‘Amos N’ Andy,’ whether done by blacks or whites, doesn’t even compare with the destructive and nihilistic images and behavior of rap music, particularly within the black community. To me the fallout has been horrendous…
I always thought replaying small segments to offer criticism or editorialize on was within “fair use” principles.
Wow…what is with the hyper-sensitivity? I am a country boy, always have been. I say “ya’ll”, “fixin”, “djeet yet” etc but I definitely do not get my knickers bunged up when some white actor (or black actor) knowingly stereotypes a “redneck” as being slow witted or backwards. I usually get tickled by it. So why is it that if modern media portrays images of…get this…modern media, the ACLU goes on a rampage about racism?
I have always believed that if something I see “hurts” me, it is because it has struck a chord with me somehow. Sort of a “stikes kinda close to home” type of thing. Maybe that’s what is causing this “uproar”.
Darryl,
Are you old enough to know who Amos ‘n Andy were?
The characters in the Transformers movie are just that, characters. Not only that, they’re robots! Somehow, I just can’t see the screenplay writers going out of their way to make social commentary while creating a story about 18-wheelers that morph into robot warriors.
Saw the movie. Loved it! Thought it was awesome. Must we always seek out the negative in everything?!
Try to focus on the message of the entire story. Good always triumphs over evil even when it looks like evil has the upper hand.