racism Tagged Articles at Cinematical

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?

Never a stranger to taking controversial stances, The Guardian is stirring up some heated debate by accusing the Simpsons character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon of being a "crude racist stereotype." Writer Manish Vij says "Culture-vulture Simpsons fans have felled entire forests in arguing that he's a parody of a stereotype, rather than the stereotype itself. But the plain fact is that most viewers are laughing at Apu, not with him. They're enjoying the simple pleasures of a funny, singsong brown man with a slippery grasp of English." Vij takes major issue with 7-Eleven's recent Kwik-E-Mart makeover promotion (which Erik told you about here), as well. 7-Eleven employees at the converted convenience stores are, as Vij puts it, "being asked to don Kwik-E-Mart costumes with Apu nametags, come to work under banners mocking their ethnicity, and bid customers goodbye with the phrase, 'Thank you, come again!'" He closes the article by saying, "Today, we expect American companies to promote racial tolerance. Yet like an outbreak of a long-dormant virus, 7-Eleven is spending millions of dollars to push a crude ethnic stereotype well past its sell-by date. It's tin-eared and unconscionable. The company should cancel Apu and issue an apology."

Now, I could definitely argue that The Simpsons is, and always has been, satire. It makes fun of anything and everything, and though it's certainly poked fun at race relations over the years, I've never seen anything on the show I'd consider racist. The Apu character talks with an exaggerated accent, but it's an animated comedy show -- everybody does. And it's certainly an equal opportunity offender. Everyone on the program is a stereotype, and those stereotypes are frequently addressed, exposed, disproved, and mocked. Stereotypes exist on The Simpsons to provoke the viewer, as all good comedy should. Fat Tony could offend sensitive Italians, Groundskeeper Willie could offend sensitive Scotsmen, Bumblebee Man could offend sensitive Hispanics, and so on. But I hardly think the intent of The Simpsons' writing staff is to spew hate.

I have to disagree with Vij about Apu being crude and racist. If anything, he's one of the more intelligent and positive presences in Springfield, and I find the author's comparisons of Apu to "minstrel shows" and "Jim Crow America" to be really pushing it. But the 7-Eleven thing is sort of a grey area for me. I haven't visited one of the revamped stores, so I don't know how the "Apu" issue is being handled, but it certainly sounds like potentially dangerous turf. What do you think? Is Mr. Nahasapeemapetilon an offensive racist caricature? Is this a serious issue or much Apu about nothing?

In this delicate era when entertainment in America is bogged by indecency concerns, political correctness and discussions of "how soon is too soon", it isn't surprising that a foreign comedy has bettered us in being more amusing, more respectful and more insightful about the touchy subjects of war, terrorism and racism.  Only Human is above all an innocent farce detailing your typical fiancée-meets-parents setup, but it uses the conventional plot for more than just a spotlight on wacky family members and screwball situations, serving also as a simple statement about some absurd perspectives on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The engaged couple in this Spanish-UK co-production is a pairing of a Jewish woman and her Palestinian beau, which undeniably takes on allegorical significance, yet doesn't lend itself to any overt political deliberation. Instead it deals with the conflict through an outsider's point of view, concerning itself with problems of generalized and accepted perceptions rather than deep, involved interests.

Hollywood eyes are on Tyler Perry's new film, Madea's Family Reunion, to see if the film will exceed the rather surprising success of last year's Diary of a Mad Black Woman, which grossed $50 million after being made for $5.5 million. Distrib Lions Gate funded Madea's to the tune of $10 million, and there will likely be more of Perry's films to come, assuming Madea's equals the success of its predecessor (Lions Gate acquired a seven - count 'em, seven - picture deal for the remaining Madea films after Diary). Lions Gate is opening the film on 2,194 screens, compared to Diary's 1,483, and has set up interviews for Perry, but did not release Madea's to press ahead of time, perhaps due to the sound drubbing Diary received from critics.