Kevin Clash. There's a fascinating recent documentary on him called Being Elmo.
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 15 March 2012 19:17 (twelve years ago) link
it is true that james earl jones is black, but it's only verbal blackface if you're impersonating a james earl jones character who is black, like mufasa
― the late great, Thursday, 15 March 2012 19:18 (twelve years ago) link
can we stop using the phrase "verbal blackface", it is seriously killing me bit by bit
― thuggish ruggish Brahms (DJP), Thursday, 15 March 2012 19:19 (twelve years ago) link
a james earl jones character who is black, like mufasa
ha
― Sexess - Sexual Success Or; Successful Sex (crüt), Thursday, 15 March 2012 19:20 (twelve years ago) link
Was Amos n Andy racist
― Nicholas Pokémon (silby), Thursday, 15 March 2012 20:40 (twelve years ago) link
On the radio I mean
sho nuff
― Wesley Crusher: Teenage F#ck Machine (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 15 March 2012 20:50 (twelve years ago) link
What about Robert Plant.
― pplains, Thursday, 15 March 2012 20:54 (twelve years ago) link
On the radio
AAA AAAA AAA AAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH
― Wesley Crusher: Teenage F#ck Machine (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:00 (twelve years ago) link
Robert Plant was racist on tv.
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:01 (twelve years ago) link
I guess he wasn't referring to Bobby "Boris" Pickett, was he.
― pplains, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:11 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2481212608286&set=a.1898171272617.76086.1791714244&type=3&theater
again not really 'is this racist'
― iatee, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:39 (twelve years ago) link
how is that not fake
― the late great, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:42 (twelve years ago) link
Is this racist?
I just saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said "Did I really just ask A MEXICAN for directions?!" and I'm sure it's racist/xenophobic/offensive, but I'm having difficulty understanding its point altogether.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:43 (twelve years ago) link
comments link to this: http://www.stumpysstickers.com/
― iatee, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:46 (twelve years ago) link
woah
― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:50 (twelve years ago) link
like the original boys n the hood
― the late great, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:54 (twelve years ago) link
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100921132925AApBpSk
― the late great, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:55 (twelve years ago) link
Not everything is racist, you old turd. It's a cultural issue.
frogbs is on Yahoo! Answers too?
― stan this sick bunt (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:57 (twelve years ago) link
only direction they know is el norte amirite
― the late great, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:57 (twelve years ago) link
seriously though i can't imagine living in a place where you see stuff like that on a daily basis
i mean i know living in california i'm surrounded by secret racists but at least nobody puts shit like that on a shirt or a car
otoh i remember speaking to a coworker from the south and she was saying that at least in the south you *know* who's a racist
― the late great, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:59 (twelve years ago) link
why did i say "on a daily basis", i meant "out in public"
If you go to the weirdo desert areas of California, you see some of that stuff.
― mh, Thursday, 15 March 2012 23:34 (twelve years ago) link
that's true, i always forget about the lovely vibe in places like lancaster and lompoc
i guess i also forgot about the time in kindergarten that i brought cookies for a party on our schoolbus, the entire bus started chanting TAKE YOUR COOKIES BACK IRAN and the busdriver just grinned at it
― the late great, Thursday, 15 March 2012 23:50 (twelve years ago) link
tbf it was just after the hostage crisis, and the iron sheik was mounting a major challenge to hogan's title
There's something about Casa de mi Padre, Will Ferrell's new movie that bothers me.
― JacobSanders, Thursday, 15 March 2012 23:52 (twelve years ago) link
i bet it's the fact that they're using ethnic stereotypes as the basis of comedy?
― the late great, Thursday, 15 March 2012 23:58 (twelve years ago) link
uh, yeah. for whatever reason, comedy based on comically stereotypical mexicans still seems to fly in the US - even when the mexicans are portrayed as dumb & lazy, even when they're played in brownface.
― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Friday, 16 March 2012 00:47 (twelve years ago) link
Just this morning, the local classic rock station had a news break where they mentioned Ohio law enforcement breaking up some meth labs and, in the process, rounding up a bunch of undocumented workers; they did a throw to what was supposed to be a sound bite from the scene and -- in the middle of what was ostensibly news -- played an old Cheech Marin clip from a Cheech & Chong movie.
― butvi wouls (Phil D.), Friday, 16 March 2012 01:55 (twelve years ago) link
was it born in east la? maybe it was a nod of sympathy to the workers.
― the late great, Friday, 16 March 2012 02:01 (twelve years ago) link
When Nacho Libre came out I was like ugh! I saw it and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
From the previews "Casa de mi Padre" the big laugh is the "gringo" speaking Spanish and portraying a Mexican. Having lived in Austin for so many years, reminds me of drunk frat boys enrolled in a Spanish course being obnoxious on a Saturday night.
I wish more Mexican movies were translated. From the Cantinflas films to all those trucking films with fighting female truckers from the 70's. To correctly translate a Cantinflas film and get the word play across seems like a difficult task and I think that is why it has not been done.
― *tera, Friday, 16 March 2012 02:09 (twelve years ago) link
I have watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" at the Paramount with a full house three times in the past 15 years and each time people just audibly cringe when Mickey Rooney appears as Mr Yunioshi. It is written off to, well, that is 1961 for you. Just not cool that brownface doesn't solicit the same reaction or is even recognized as insulting.
― *tera, Friday, 16 March 2012 02:15 (twelve years ago) link
i haven't watched the trailer for the will ferrell is mexican movie, but doesn't will ferrell play a mexican in it? and isn't he 100% white? shouldn't be hard to see what's bothersome about that
blackface isn't ONLY offensive because of its history, it's offensive because playing dressup with other races and cultures is offensive
― if you ever leave me peggy, leave some propane at my door (zachlyon), Friday, 16 March 2012 03:09 (twelve years ago) link
I saw this bumper sticker a few months ago:
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Window-Sticker-My-truck-is-built-with-wrenches-not-chopsticks1.png
Which I found amusing because even for blind racism, it doesn't work on any level. Does this mean the Japanese have bumper stickers claiming that American cars are made with forks and knives?
― frogbs, Friday, 16 March 2012 03:28 (twelve years ago) link
I don't think anyone has said blackface is only offensive because of it's history, I think it's reason for being wrong is implicit with it's history. Yes it's Will Ferrell dressing up as a mexican that's so odd to me about this movie, I'm trying to hold off on calling it racist, I haven't seen it, only the trailer, but still.
― JacobSanders, Friday, 16 March 2012 03:29 (twelve years ago) link
also, those wrenches were probably made in China
― frogbs, Friday, 16 March 2012 03:42 (twelve years ago) link
my wrenches are made with WRENCHES not CHOPSTICKS
― the late great, Friday, 16 March 2012 03:50 (twelve years ago) link
I dunno guys I still love Touch of Evil, but maybe cause it fits the general wrongness of that movie
― Nhex, Friday, 16 March 2012 03:52 (twelve years ago) link
Touch of Evil is a great film made in 1958. A great deal has happened since then, or most of us Hispanics would like to think. Then Will Ferrell comes along.
― *tera, Friday, 16 March 2012 03:55 (twelve years ago) link
With the exception of blackface (which is just too weighed down by certain connotations to ever be completely inoffensive unless RDJ is doing it), I think actors can cross those racial lines if they tread very lightly and do it in a respectful fashion. Heston was fine in Touch of Evil because, even though it was kind of a weird decision, he didn't engage in any stereotypical bullshit. And there are actors like Cliff Curtis who play any character that's, y'know, at all swarthy. The reasons for doing so when there are perfectly talented Hispanic/Indian/Inuit/Laotian actors who would just as easily fit the bill is a whole other questionable arena of Hollywood politics (on par with "Why are there only three male Asian actors?").
― Soggy Cheeseburgers (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 16 March 2012 04:13 (twelve years ago) link
― Nhex, Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:52 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
otm. it's also less objectionable than most similar characterizations because charlton heston makes absolutely no attempt to "play mexican". he's just charlton heston with brown shoe polish on his face, stained darker than any of the actual latinos in the cast, an inexplicable absurdity at which no one raises an eyebrow. also, the film treats mexico and its mexican characters with a good deal of respect. not saying its perfect, but it's a hell of a lot less offensive than mickey rooney in breakfast. im(wg)o, anyway.
― Fozzy Osbourne (contenderizer), Friday, 16 March 2012 04:25 (twelve years ago) link
I agree that it is by no means a parody or satire or disrespectful and it is the way things were done back then despite having access to real Mexican actors. "Salt of the Earth" was an excellent example and awesome for 1954.
Yunioshi...disgusting and so is "Casa de mi Padre".
― *tera, Friday, 16 March 2012 04:33 (twelve years ago) link
Also plenty of Hispanic folks are of mostly or entirely European ancestry. Will Ferrell (or anglo american high schoolers playing the Sharks in West Side Story) don't need to paint their faces to be able to portray Hispanic characters.
― Nicholas Pokémon (silby), Friday, 16 March 2012 04:34 (twelve years ago) link
It might be fair to wait until it's at least been released before we start decrying Casa De Mi Padre. Especially seeing as how Will Farrell seems overall like a pretty decent dude who hasn't previously given us any reason to believe he's a latent racist.
― Soggy Cheeseburgers (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 16 March 2012 04:38 (twelve years ago) link
I dunno guys I still love Touch of Evil, but maybe cause it fits the general wrongness of that movie― Nhex, Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:52 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i mean tbh i always read heston's brownface as welles just highlighting (oof) the pulpy artifice of the entire project. granted i was mad lifted the first time i saw it.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 16 March 2012 04:40 (twelve years ago) link
This is true and half my family in Mexico have green or blue eyes, they are fair skinned and one group blonde. my mother is only a 2nd generation Mexican on one side and 3rd generation Mexican on the other. Her family were the oppressors before the revolution. My paternal grandmother is 100% Apache. Her people were the oppressed in Mexico and the US.
My sibs and I vary completely, my sister passes for "white" my brother has red skin and more Native features, you've seen me on wdyll.
Incidentally, there is still a lot of the fair skinned/dark skinned game being played in Mexico, along the border and in other parts of the US. The fair skinned, colored eyed, lighter haired Mexican and Mexican American girls were considered more attractive than the darker skinned, darker eyed and brown/black skin girls. That sort of thing.
The Hispanics in "Giant" were done up in a strange purplish/eggplant hue but the make-up on Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor wasn't so hot either, the make-up in the film was weird.
But um..."Casa de mi Padre" is a "comedy". that is the thing...How many people know that they are racist or involved in something distasteful when it comes to Hispanics? For example. When you have an entire state in the US that has taken blatantly racist measures in the name of "protection" and "security" you have to wonder.
― *tera, Friday, 16 March 2012 04:55 (twelve years ago) link
Well...off the top of my head, I can't come up with many meaningful ways in which Will Farrell is really comparable with Arizona's conservative fringe, is the thing.
― Soggy Cheeseburgers (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 16 March 2012 05:02 (twelve years ago) link
Like, the movie might be the worst thing anyone ever did, but reserving judgment until the thing is available for public consumption seems like a reasonable approach to me.
― Soggy Cheeseburgers (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 16 March 2012 05:03 (twelve years ago) link
Hmmmm I won't be buying a ticket or lining up at Redbox. While I gave Nacho Libre a chance, I was a different person. Then Indiana happened. A movie like that in places like Arizon or some spots in Indiana just does more harm than good.
Having lived briefly in Indiana, being Hispanic made more of an impact on my life than it had having lived in Texas my whole life. I felt ignorant. I began to feel I had mistaken invisibility for acceptance. I had issues growing up in Del Rio, TX the places was segregated until 1976 and I have told over and over that from Castroville to Del Rio down Highway 90 was the most racist place towards Hispanics, Blacks and Native Americans in Texas at one time. But by the time I entered college I had no chip on my shoulder and felt accepted, never looking for or finding racism in my every day life. Rarely. I remained in Austin for 21 years or so. But man, Indiana...eek!
Then when we moved to Baltimore it was,"What are you?" something I got a lot of when I once visited Philadelphia for 10 days. But really a great experience, I don't mind being asked that but I wonder why I am in some parts.
Are you Hispanic Deric? Just wondering because I would hope it is understood how something like than just comes across to some Hispanics. I don't expect non-Hispanics to understand or agree with me, but it s what it is. Cable TV has loads of non-edifying programming depicting White America in ways I find exploitive and wrog. I just don't watch them and I wouldn't let my child watch them.
― *tera, Friday, 16 March 2012 05:13 (twelve years ago) link