rolling "Is This Racist?" thread

i haven't seen the movie napoleon dynamite since it was released in theaters 800 blog years ago but i just thought of it for some reason and remembered that there is a part when one of the characters dates a black woman with a "black"-sounding name and this is supposed to be inherently hilarious. not a question, really. that was racist. i feel horrified that when i first saw that movie as a high school freshman i liked it.

borat came out around that time too i think. and team america: world police. were audiences and critics more tolerant of racial stereotypes in mainstream comedies ten years ago?

i can assure you there was nothing hilarious about napoleon dynamite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_th4LsV9kE
both xp and not xp

were audiences and critics more tolerant of racial stereotypes in mainstream comedies ten years ago?

critics maybe

My highschool classmates didn't care that much. I'm sure the kids there now read thinkpieces and are at least aware of terms like intersectionality if it isn't literally part of the curriculum. In my ed classes they are telling me to teach definitions of racism and sexism as interlocking sytems rather than discrete individual attitudes directly to high schoolers

Treesh do you enjoy the comedy of Tom Green

they made the fake fat belly painted onto the t-shirt white instead of black

that's a… sign of racial sensitivity i think??

Probably more a reflection on their expected target demo

otm

Tom Green, that's a name that really takes me back

can i have that hamburger necklace however

hey, this is racist AND sexist:

http://flavorwire.com/480990/pete-pete-was-all-white-people-slimed-author-mathew-klickstein-on-why-ren-and-stimpy-was-better-than-clarissa-and-nickelodeons-diversity-problem

re: borat, Napoleon Dynamite, Team America

All these films are horribly racist and I complained about them at the time here on ILX and people argued/disagreed w me about all of them

Shakes did you ever change your mind abt ken jeong in the hangover

a lot of classic "it's okay to make fun of [insert ethnicity]" excuses

Shakes did you ever change your mind abt ken jeong in the hangover

Thinking about it now, I guess so...? It's not quite Long Duck Dong level but it is a caricature. That movie in general has diminished in my eyes.

I originally bought into the idea that Borat was more about revealing the societal problem of racism or sexism in others through his character and therefore was a little profound in a way, though looking back those were just side effects of a movie was that quite clearly racist

Borat is almost entirely about playing off of the racism in others, is the thing. Whether it works or not is up for debate but that's pretty clearly the intention.

From DJP's link:

There are worlds where white guys get shit, too. I’m starting to do stand-up comedy now and it’s hard to go up there and talk about how hard it is to be a guy. People don’t wanna hear it! A girl can go up there and talk all she wants about how hard it is to be a girl, and she gets applauded. These are obviously some of my own personal views and aren’t as important, but I’m bringing up this stuff because it’s all very malleable, it’s very flexible.

Man, when are white men finally gonna get a fuckin' break?

Klickstein comes off like a turbo douche in that interview

imo the biggest crime of Borat is using Kazakhstan, an actual place, as a stand-in for the other because it was a convenient stand-in

well I dunno if he could've booked all those interviews or appearances or w/e using some fake country so I guess he kinda had to

Well, OTOH, a Kazakh director made an unofficial sequel to raise the country's image and the punchline to the movie was "Hey, these guys aren't even really Kazakh, they're Jews from Romania" so . . .

imo the biggest crime of Borat is using Kazakhstan, an actual place, as a stand-in for the other because it was a convenient stand-in

^^^

If I were Indian or Jewish, for example
If I were Indian or Jewish, for example
If I were Indian or Jewish, for example
If I were Indian or Jewish, for example
If I were Indian or Jewish, for example
If I were Indian or Jewish, for example
If I were Indian or Jewish, for example

and it's not that there aren't rabid anti-semites in Kazakhstan - I'm sure there are - but caricaturing them that way, the entire character of Borat, is totally racist

xp

he portrays their entire culture as backward, incestuous, nothing but poor dumb peasants etc.

every generation gets the Yakov Smirnoff they deserve

I love how dude sets the stage by pretending that massive hit "Clarissa Explains It All" was only retroactively appreciated due to Melissa Joan Hart's star turn on "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" and then jumps whole hog into "oh btw I'm a virulent racist too, let me show you all the ways I suck" with zero prompting

Wow that Pete & Pete interview went downhill rather quickly.

Blah blah blah pure, fervent nostalgia blah blah blah ren and stimpy melissa joan hart blah blah blah whitewashed suburbs blah blah blah SPEAKING OF WHICH….

In for a dime, in for a dollar.

Holy shit, wow did that interview go downhill

Like he just keeps digging the hole for himself
At least he's being more openly racist in his nostalgia. WHITE PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE TOO, YA KNOW

Imagining this full grown guy watching kiddie shows all day and getting mad that they have Indian characters.

Admit I got a good chuckle out of the little spiteful footnote that confirms the obvious that yes, Clarissa Explains It All was immensely popular

I'm gonna spend the rest of my day going up to Indian people and asking them if there's a reason they're Indian

Love the concern trolling about "sure, the character and voice actor are Indian, but why can't the producers be Indian too? Otherwise it's just racist." GREAT IDEA I'M SURE THEY'LL BE HIRING LOTS OF MINORITY DIRECTORS/PRODUCERS ANY SECOND NOW.

he is definitely rarin' to share his opinions

They’re doing it just for that reason: “Hey, here is the Jewish character” or “Hey, here’s the Indian character” or “Hey, here’s the token black,” which I think South Park does so amazingly well. For example, I’ve worked very closely with people with disabilities, volunteering, sometimes paid, and I love what South Park does. They show those characters as quote-unquote real people. They fight, they cuss, they take drugs. They do everything all the rest of the kids do. That’s great.

I don't know anything about this Clarissa show, but I don't understand why the lead had to be a girl. Couldn't it have been written by men and star a boy? Seems kind of contrived.

People WIth Disabilities: They Fight, They Cuss, They Take Drugs.
That's Great.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1493227/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

this guy made a docu about Kids of Whidney High
I am sure in the kindest of spirits

I am feeling personally vindicated that a lot of my dating red flags (grownup obsessed with childhood entertainments, enjoys Kids of Whidney High) coincide with him being an odious bigot when given the chance to reveal it

Admit I got a good chuckle out of the little spiteful footnote that confirms the obvious that yes, Clarissa Explains It All was immensely popular

yes this was amazing

I love how dude sets the stage by pretending that massive hit "Clarissa Explains It All" was only retroactively appreciated due to Melissa Joan Hart's star turn on "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" and then jumps whole hog into "oh btw I'm a virulent racist too, let me show you all the ways I suck" with zero prompting

YESSSSS But anyway, back to Pete & Pete, the best show on television.

Why was it the best? I can't really tell you that, it was just genius, better than anything else. It had a certain...ineffable quality (of whiteness and maleness). But definitely the best show ever created.

how the hell did you have cable tv as a kid?!?

I stopped pay attention as soon as he used the word "ineffable" tbh. IT'S YOUR JOB TO MAKE IT EFFABLE, THIS IS NOT MAGIC.

I have this weird image of people around my age who have all these nickelodeon memories, sorry