Sounds like he's just complaining to complain
right? No, Ridley says. In an interesting
admission of guilt though he insists: "Now,
maybe you think this is just complaining to
complain."
Yes Ridley, you're complaining to complain, and
I'd be complaining to complain if I wondered why
you never called attention to the lack of
hispanic roles this summer in the movies. I
mean, where my rice and bean eating brothers and
sisters out there?! Oh yes, there were some and
I'll list them in a little while, but just to
show you that Ridley is just complaining to
complain. And to completely side track for a
moment, likening this summer's slew of minority
roles in the notion that it "Couldn't have been
any more offensive if they released the
director's cut of Birth of a Nation. On Blu-ray"
is just absurd.
Now Ridley is
just pushing buttons to proclaim an outrageous
stance that will grind his audiences gears, how
else to explain that he felt one of the better
roles of the summer was Robert Downey Jr. in
black face? And while it's working (credit to
you Mr. Ridley), I think he also needs to be
corrected. Am I just getting riled up over
nothing? Is Ridley just not seeing clearly? Or
is he attempting Onionesque satire?
So now to
completely disprove Ridley, I'll explain some of
his ridiculous assumptions with the minority
roles and deconstruct his faulty reasoning while
pointing out some notable minority performances
this summer he conveniently ignored.
1.
Jack Black was cast in "Kung Fu Panda" not as a
form of mimicking or mocking Asian American
culture, but because he's big and fat. They
wanted an appeal to an American audience, so
they cast an American comedy actor. While I'd
love to say that there's nothing wrong with
that, there's also no
incidence of racism there. So by your logic if
there were a story about an American bear and he
was played by Jackie Chan, that'd be racist?
2. Mike Myers didn't particularly flog Hindu and
Indian stereotypes so much as make a tribute to
his friend Deepak Chopra who, up until a few
months ago, didn't mind it. Not to mention Myers
regurgitated some his same racial shticks in
"The Love Guru" as he did in the "Austin Powers"
films. The only thing offensive about his role
was that it wasn't funny and that Myers presumed
his shticks were still welcomed.
3. And then you credit Will Smith for providing
what I called "His version of Superman for his
fans" this summer with "Hancock" but you
completely undermine any reference to your
original article topic by explaining "but the
path was so coarse as to be unsuitable for my
kids to watch." How is that racially offensive?
Have you ever read "Watchmen"? The studios were
gunning for a more flawed superhero premise
that's become popular in Hollywood.
So now we get to the cringe inducing
omissions that you just couldn't take the time
out to research. Are you ready?
"The Dark Knight": Tiny Lister played the only
sensible person at the clutches of the Joker who
puts an end to the madman's decision to let the
Gotham law and convicts kill or be killed. He's
the buffed up convict who grabs the detonator
and decides "Enough is enough; no more killing."
Were it not for him, the Joker would have
succeeded.
"Iron Man":
Terrence Howard as Rhody, the second hand to
Tony Stark who made Stark's life easy. And will
soon become War Machine, the cooler counterpart
of the Iron Man mythos comic book fans love.
Were it not for him, Stark would have fallen
under the military. And were it not for him,
Tony wouldn't have been able to save his hide
from the press.
|
"Iron Man": Yes, the minority
influence was powerful as Samuel L.
Jackson played Nick Fury the
inevitable leader of the super team
The Avengers who makes a surprise
appearance at the end of "Iron Man."
Without Fury, the world wide
organization of SHIELD would not
work and the Avengers would not come
to pass.
"Hell
Ride": Eric Balfour played Comanche,
a Native American young man who
sought out the men who killed his
mother and took the reins as the
second in command of the motorcycle
gang The Victors by the end of "Hell
Ride." An all around dignified hero
who never submitted to stereotypes
unless it meant intimidating an
enemy. |
 |
Morgan Freeman in
"The Dark Knight" and "Wanted" as an amoral
assassin run by the loom of fate teaching our
young Caucasian hero everything he knew, AND as
the moral center Lucius Fox who saw the
corruption of caucasian millionaire Bruce Wayne
as Batman and stood up to him deciding he should
cut out his big brother tactics.
"Get Smart": Masi Oka played the better half of
Bruce and Lloyd, a tech geek from "Get Smart"
who invented gadgets for Maxwell Smart and
spawned his own spin off with his partner in a
much advertised DVD release.
|
 |
"Sisterhood 2" America Ferrera
reprised her much talked about role
in the sequel as Carmen Lowell, a
role she stole the spotlight with
from the three Caucasian actresses
in the story.
And there's a chance I'm missing
some names, too. Now you're likely
insisting that this is for headlined
films, but you'll then just
contradict the thesis of your
article with the inclusion of
Jennifer Hudson brandishing her as a
modern Hattie McDaniel, which is not
only an absurdity on a level that's
mind blowing but insulting to Ms.
Hudson who likely put a lot in to
her role. The very mention of actual
racist fare to pad and lend credence
to your article is insulting to
minorities and speaking as one, I
think you do us an injustice. |
So, to you Mr.
Ridley I say... Give us a Break. |
