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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Sound like a bunch of black people stirring the pot. Why does this not surprise me? I would like to see the country become a country where everyone is equal. Instead of blacks and gays being put on pedestals, for our kids to worship and admire. Like they are some kind of Fabrage egg. Can’t says the ganster image is bad, might offend some black people. Can’t say gays are wrong, might offend some gay people. White people - Say whatever you want, no body cares.
This section of the paper is titled, “A Conversation About Race”. But looking through this archives it appears it is just a “A Conversation About The Black Race”. Welcome to America there are lots of races with issues, I would like to either rename your column. Or actually look at other perpectives. I am sure Abrab and Bosina in the St. Louis area have it rougher than blacks. Why not do some reporting? Instead using this as a “poor me” column.
Joe: We will not be renaming this blog.
An examination of the blog archives will show blog entries that not only address concerns and issues of groups or people of color other than African Americans, we also invite readers to contact us with topics, links and appropriate issues for the blog forum. We’ve addressed issues of where in St. Louis does racial harmony exist, looked at the treatment of current Supreme Court nominee and Latina Sonia Sotomayor, and asked if history is ignoring the biracial parentage and history of President Barack Obama while championing his Black African heritage.
We welcome any and all voices to the conversation. We only ask our story commenting rules are respected.
I have not seen the new Transformer’s movie, but I do remember watching the Amos and Andy show with my father growing up and it was the funniest damn show I have ever seen.Till this day I laugh it.
Yaaaaawwwwnnnnn!
Darryl Swint - Why didn’t you answer my question? You started this post, you said you were going to see it. Did you see it and what did you think?
Darryl Swint - When can race be taken off the table? The popular answer is when everyone is treated equally. Although a noble idea, it will never will be accomplished. Some “ignorant” people won’t hire other people because they are different. Whether those differences are the color of their skin, the way they talk, where they grew up, religion, weight, height, moles on their chins. But lets say for example “overweight” people, where given preferencial job opportunities and college opportunities. Do you think there would be more “dislike” for “overweight” people, even at no fault of their own? I think a lot of African American problems; are problems shared by the poor of any race/weight/height/people with moles on the chin. To make these issues race issues, isn’t going to fix the problem. It just create diversity and make it “us vs them”. Instead of looking for ways to help the “African America” wouldn’t be better served by looking the factors that cause these differences. Every boss, I have ever had would hire the best candidate for the job. I think it time for all us poor people to realized, we are all in the same boat. And quit playing the race card. Until people realize the issue are more based on economic reasons rather than your mole on your chin we are just going to keep fighting each other for the same 2 jobs. It time to wipe the slate clean for everyone.
Who cares? There’s not much worthy of attention coming out of Hollywood these days — at least not mainstream movies.
This is amazing - folks using Amos & Andy as an example and they weren’t even born yet - hey guys, guess what, I WAS! We listened to them everytime they were on the radio and EVERYONE LOVED THEM! BLACK OR WHITE! No one gave a d$$$ back then - it’s these “Johnnie Come Lately” people that want to make a federal case out of everything relating to even a hint at race! Who is the biggest racist out there? Could it possibly be blacks because they find fault with EVERYTHING! Such victims! Professionally in pain and abused on a daily, 24/7 basis! Good Grief, don’t any of you ever get tired of it? Do you constantly have to shake that tree to see what falls out of it! NO ONE ever screamed ‘racism’ when Amos & Andy were on - they just laughed themselves silly because it was rediculously funny! They were clever, and no one was thinking ‘black’ or ‘white” - DUH! That stuff only arrived with the NAACP, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrachan?, all all those other jerks stirring up the pot on an every day basis - for what? When are those folks going to realize that all that does in cause negative thoughts and ideas against black people because its always causing problems? When does the learning begin and the garbage end?
Joe
I agree with you, there are racial and other issues in this country. Perhaps you are right, and, although noble, the problem will not be solved. This can be discussed at another time. You made an excellent point in your last post that needs to be discussed.
You said, and I paraphrase because my kids are hyped up right now, “I think it is time for us poor people to realize we are all in the same boat.” How true is that? It seems like there are two types of people in this country: The rich, and everybody else. The rich make up 2% of the population, but they make the decisions for the other 98%. We do the hard work (teaching, policing, firefighting, cashiering, cleaning, construction) but the people who sit in their office and delegate (superintendants, managers, CEO’s etc.) get paid the big bucks. Where is the fairness in that? And it seems like the 2% is doing a masterful job of keeping the 98% at each others throats over things that do not really affect them (gay marriage, abortion, the death penalty, racial issues). If a gay couple gets married, will my life be better? Probably not. If they are banned from getting married, willit make my life worse? Probably not. Yet these are the types of issues we let dictate our choosing of leaders.
I think that 2% loves an issue like this movie. It deflects matters away from real racial issues, and it causes prominent black leaders (who I suspect have their own interest in mind, not the interests of black people as a whole) to go on tv and start politicking, turning off many people, white and black, who just dont want to hear it.