Is 'The Goods' Racist?
Filed under: Comedy, Politics, Paramount Vantage
Apparently, the Japanese American Citizens League thinks so. The group is angry about a scene featuring a racist rant against the Japanese that leads to an ass-kicking of the lone Asian in the group, played by Ken Jeong, who is of Korean heritage.
The AP reports there are other things in the movie that the JACL are displeased with besides the Pearl Harbor rant given by Jeremy Piven's character, Don Ready, like when he uses the word "Jap" and engages in other human resource department nightmares.
Paramount Vantage responded, "We understand that when presented out of context, jokes and situations in the movie about a variety of topics might be offensive to some people... To be very clear, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is in no way meant to be mean-spirited, disparaging or hurtful to any individuals and we regret any offense taken."
If you want to chat about whether or not The Goods tickled your funny bone or pissed you off, producer Adam McKay wants to hear about it. He announced last weekend on Twitter that he'd respond to calls about the movie and live-stream his answers, and based on how it went last Sunday, he is planning to do it again. He's also responsive to Tweets (and is very, very funny), so I suggest you follow him, Goods or no.
Have you seen The Goods? Were you offended?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-18-2009 @ 5:24PM
Mike said...
Admittedly, I haven't seen the movie yet. But, like most protests and outrage, I'm betting there's more smoke than flames here. With comedy, if you're not offending someone you're not doing your job. Especially R-rated comedy.
There's no rule that states everything we see in every movie has to be politically correct. The world isn't politically correct. The very fact that we're talking about a car salesmen movie featuring a Pearl Harbor rant should discount whatever stock anyone would put in the character's speech.
Nobody is expecting this movie to set an example for anyone. People need to lighten up. Either you think something's funny or you don't. Either it's in good taste or bad. But at the end of the day, it's just a silly little movie. We're not talking about a crime against man.
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8-18-2009 @ 6:51PM
Mr A said...
Honestly, being half Japanese myself, and I could care less, but to play devil's advocate, if it was the "N" word, would this play out differently?
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8-18-2009 @ 10:14PM
Adam said...
"True Romance", "Pulp Fiction", and "Jackie Brown" are films written by Tarentino that use racial slurs about blacks, yet no one bats an eye. Hell, one of QTs most iconic scenes is littered with the terms "Moolie", "Eggplant", and that word that shall not be typed. 3 poins, from the corner, fading away with 3 seconds on the game clock.
8-19-2009 @ 7:59PM
eugene said...
You mean if a bunch of white people stood around, made fun of black people, called them niggers and then beat the crap out of the one black person in the entire movie?
I'm sure al sharpton would be picketing outside the theaters and there would be non stop coverage by CNN.
8-18-2009 @ 7:31PM
madgamer said...
They left out the part where right after the beat down starts to take place, Piven's character stops them and points out that they need to make it up to the guy as they "just participated in a hate crime." They do and move on. In the context of the movie, it was kind of funny. I liked the movie overall, and this is indeed just a bunch of smoke.
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8-18-2009 @ 7:52PM
stevenh said...
you lost most of us at "have you seen the goods?"
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8-18-2009 @ 8:50PM
jason said...
Im just wondering when we can watch something without someone or somegroup whining about racism,sexism, homophob..etc. geez its getting rediculous on how weak minded we have become and how everyones self esteem is so weak/built on falsehoods that it can be shattered by everything.
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8-19-2009 @ 7:33PM
The_Avon said...
So, ignoring racism, sexism, homophobia makes a culture and society strong-minded? Uh-uh, don't see the merits in that. People get angry at the treatment of their identity, be it race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, etc. and it's because they are used as a joke (which itself is usually based on stereotypes). It's easy to for those who do not identify with the punt of the joke to laugh it off and claim it in the name of fun, but it's not funny for everyone and that shouldn't be ignored either.
I saw the "The Goods" and I didn't find it very funny, offensive jokes aside. Although if you take out the misogynist, racist, and homophobic characters, there wouldn't be much left. I saw it as a movie whose goal was to offend and somehow make it humorous, but it just didn't work.
8-19-2009 @ 7:58PM
jason said...
No the problem lies when people are oversensitive and undereducated about their culture/selves. Ususally thoes people have no problem making fun of others, but when the joke turns to them they get bent out of shape. If you have a strong self image and self knowledge than a joke has no effect. Think about how many comedians make fun of others? They ALL do. The people who are most "offended" usually perpetrate the sterotype the most and do the same to others. Its 1 thing to find a joke unfunny, however, if a joke can shatter your whole self image, and self esteem. than the problem lies with you not the joke. EVERY joke is a sterotype, thats what makes them funny and its not the lies in the joke that causes people to wince...its the truths
8-18-2009 @ 9:19PM
Kevin said...
Who has less shame: Lloyd (from Entourage) or Ken Jeong?
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8-18-2009 @ 11:57PM
YouFaceTheTick said...
If that ad pisses them off how much does Ari Gold drive them crazy?
"You owe me $10,000, Ari"
"Yen, Lloyd. Yen!"
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