rolling "Is This Racist?" thread

it's also true that i read everything that includes the phrase "throwing money at the urban poor" through a paranoid lens.

stirrings in the jug is a really good book btw

just because i'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not after me racist

looks like the entire underclass chapter is on googlebooks

is it racist that insurance company More Than puns on Morgan Freeman's name and impersonates his trademark voice-overs but uses a white Morethan Freeman to sell insurance?

e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8X4rST4YvY

i'll say no

sorta dumb tho.

probably couldn't do it in the US tho, the thought of which is kind of making me rethink

Yes.

is it just coincidence that our best-loved and most dignified african american celebrity, the star of glory and driving miss daisy, is named freeman DO YOU SEE

More of a personal affront to MF than a racial one, imo.

Read something to the effect that he gave his permission but isn't exactly a fan

struggling to see how it's in any way racist, assuming the guy in the ads is also the voice actor?

this all Compare the Meerkat's fault basically (were those racist?)

i think they might be, yeah

Accent. Verbal blackface.

okay, really?

Well, *I* find it creepy and tasteless, and that's what I come up with.

morgan freeman's voice is neither an "accent" nor "verbal blackface"

he has a very slight twang because he's from Memphis

That is not Morgan Freeman's voice, and the attempt to sound like him is based primarily on accent and very little on the other aspects. And that is not simply regional.

his voice is much more distinctive than his accent, which imo is quite soft?

...and it's the other way around for the voice-over guy, which is my point, and I hope someone not on a gotcha quest knows what I'm talking about.

gotcha

I wouldn't say the accent is particularly over-the-top or more pronounced than the "I am imitating Morgan Freeman" part of the voice

where are you from, TWU?

We don't agree. I'm from the Baltimore/Washington area.

So anyone doing an impression of Darth Vader is guilty of verbal blackface?

No.

I just don't get then why doing an impression of Morgan Freeman is considered such.

because morgan freemans face is black and under the mask vader is white

http://www.cinemaqueer.com/movie%20images/chasinghooper.jpg

I thought the white guy in the ad and the guy doing the voice impression were different guys and that More Than could have had anyone playing Morethan Freeman but chose to have that guy who bears no resemblance to the guy we normally associate with that voice.

I don't necessarily think that's racist (that's why I'm here, it's what this thread is occasionally for) but if he isn't the voice guy I would be interested in More Than's reasons for casting him.

hmm, i'm only assuming it's the same guy because, well yeah, why else.

If we were to find out that the actual voice actor was asian, can we lock the thread?

nah it's this guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbIqL-lN1B4

yeah i've just been searching. as you were.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Robert_Thompson

I don't really think it's racist tbh but this thing of turning a terrible pun on a company name into a crap ad character has to stop

it makes u remember, it will never stop

it's nice to get the occasional "no" in an "is this racist?" thread

tbf it's often a 'lady, if you have to ask....' issue

Lots of ladies in the current discussion.

i thought everyone itt was a lady and that is literally why i said that, my bad

the voice over sounds like someone doing a very bad imitation of morgan freeman, cannot BELIEVE someone landed that job with that voice, smdh

guy at bbq restaurant wearing shirt:
"My Indian Name Is Runs With Beer"

Accent. Verbal blackface.

I think this is one of those situations where claiming something is racist is more offensive than the thing itself

frogbs noooooooooooooo

down the brer rabbit hole

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2010/10/22/f16399cf-95c0-4785-974c-4fd1ba68848e.jpg

frogdude, you have made me laugh hard twice today and i want you to succeed at ilx so i wish you would reconsider participating in this thread

cmon guys, we're all friends here :sunglasses:

considering that frogbs plainly stated something I implied, I get the sense that people are freaking out solely because of subject matter and not because of what was actually said

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/s/silverchair/album-frogstomp.jpg

considering that frogbs plainly stated something I implied

yeah it crossed my mind that it could be read that way - i was hoping it was clear i wasn't saying the guy was doing a "black voice" but was doing the voice of a notable and famous black man.