White Chicks - am i reading too much into this or what? ;)

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there's a frog in my snake oil
1
Woah, i had a real problem with this one. Not something i would've chosen to see, but seeing as i have...

Here's a brief plot summary:

Two black FBI agents keep messing missions up by trying to do everything themselves. When they crash a car while transporting two spoilt rich white girls who are targeted for kidnapping, they decide to take the places of their bruised charges at a high-profile gathering. Cue pisstakes of priviliged society, racial stereotypes and other easy targets.

And here's my reactions:

-The general generic comedy is pure ****e. Animal stunts. Fart jokes. Slipping on spilt beads. Animal infatuation. Laughing at unfunny jokes in the hope that they become funny. The Wayans brothers's stuff at its worst.

-Some of the all-purpose parodies of race and 'class' are kind of amusing. Whether it's the white airhead heiresses or the black football 'turncoat', there are some good performances and occasional spot-on jokes.

-And now the big problem....

2
i came away with the feeling that they'd mashed too many ideas/cinema-cliches together, and whether through accident or design, conscious intent or unconscious belief, one of the results was that the idea of White was aligned too closely with the closer-to-reality idea of white-dominated-wealth-and-power.

What i'm saying is: the imaginary, unifying, perception of a skin-tone/broad group (Whiteness - as in the Blackness that was parodied in Bamboozled) was aligned too closely with realities that are only true for a minority.

I got a feeling that, beneath the shallowness and simplicty of much of the presentation and humour, there was an assumption that it's ok to lump all whites in with the white-dominated power-structures of many multi-'cultural' countries like the US and UK.

3
That, to me, came close to racism. Damn close.

I feel, as distance from this mainly derivative and only-occasionally-creative comedy-lite takes hold, that i may just be reacting to the novel situation of my skin-tone being the main focus of broad-stereotypes (the black characters were much more diverse and potentially-intelligent in nature than all the other characters). But i still question whether there isn't a negative trend going on here, that reinforces stereotypes that cut deep, under the broad fluffy fleece which was presented to us.

Thoughts?

Is it ok to lump an idea of what 'Whiteness' is in with the fact that white races still hold majority priviliged positions in the biggest english-speaking societies - and have been responsible for great oppresion of black races?

Is that ok? Or is that damaging?

This was a throw-away comedy. But i think that that particular issue pulsing beneath it's skin can do more long-term harm than good. Especially when it's blurred amongst easy-access/rough-and-ready comedy veneers.
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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here



I think you wasted two hours of your life watching the movie, then another 30 minutes analyzing it in a post
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Just back from my Alaskan cruise.
Highlights - art auctions at amazing prices, got my Divine Comedy original edition for the cost of the frame. All you can eat steak, lobster, shrimp, ribs... hmmmmm
Low points - Seen it all before not living too far from Alaska



there's a frog in my snake oil
Originally Posted by Tolstoy
I think you wasted two hours of your life watching the movie, then another 30 minutes analyzing it in a post
I got paid to watch it (ain't saying how ).

The reason i got het up about it is coz i hate it when dumbed-down films contain assumptions that i think can be genuinely damaging (and which can get assimilated precisely because it's a don't-question-it type of film).

A good example of what i'm talking about is U-571. It's full of over-extended they're-evil-incarnate/we're-complete-good-guys assumptions woven into a standard chunk of big-bang entertainment. (It removes any humanity from the Nazis etc by historically-inaccurate portrayals of them machine-gunning sailors in life rafts for example). The upshot? Another subconscious strut supporting imperialistic-style ideas of automatic moral superiority in the minds of some of the less-questioning members of US society.

In this case, it just pissed me off that the assumption that Whites=despicable-evil-oppressors was so prevelant throughout the film. That sort of thing doesn't get us anywhere, it just makes resolving continuing race-related strife that much more difficult.

Have i just wasted another 15 minutes?? . I dare say



I haven't seen it, I saw the shorts and decided this is a movie to be avoided regardless of the meaning
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Originally Posted by Golgot
I got paid to watch it (ain't saying how ).
how much?
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"A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theater admission and the babysitter were worth it."
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there's a frog in my snake oil
Originally Posted by MichaelMyers
how much?
More than the ticket price

Still dunno who's gonna pay me back for my time tho



Originally Posted by Golgot
am i reading too much into this or what?

Yes.
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



Standing in the Sunlight, Laughing
Originally Posted by Golgot
...Is it ok to lump an idea of what 'Whiteness' is in with the fact that white races still hold majority priviliged positions in the biggest english-speaking societies - and have been responsible for great oppresion of black races?

Is that ok? Or is that damaging?
The movie didn't introduce that stereotype, believe me: it's a sadly prevalent misconception in Los Angeles that white+female=spoiled. It's just as damaging, divisive and stupid as it's always been, but someone finally decided to put it on a screen and laugh at it. What it may do, is provide common vernacular to dismiss that narrow-minded notion: "oh yeah... I'm so spoiled Damon Wayans will be playing me in the movie." People who don't know many white people are already familiar with the stereotype, and people who do know a lot of them know better than to buy into it. So, no. I don't think it's showcase in a movie is all that damaging. The best cure for ignorance is getting it out in the open, no?
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Review: Cabin in the Woods 8/10



there's a frog in my snake oil
Originally Posted by Holden Pike
Yes.


Guess this kid commenting on IMDB is too then ....

I think that the movie was funny and not at all racism. White people hated black and black people hated white for using them as slaves. What is up with everyone saying that this movie was racist?
Originally Posted by SamsoniteDelila
The best cure for ignorance is getting it out in the open, no?
I'm just worried about the effect of 'ignorant' ideas on unquestioning minds . Parody would be better than reinforcement, no?



there's a frog in my snake oil
Current thoughts (having trawled through the IMDB forum.... And no, I'm not wasting my time . This is modern day brain-slavery here )

Negative points:

One poster called this film 'reverse discrimination'. I still think it goes further than that. Talking about white-dominance of power-structures is fair enough, but connecting all whites to that factual situation is just a hate-maintaining mind-set. It doesn't get anyone anywhere.

Plus points:

Makes you think about it.

Negative point:

The film's mainly an extended fart gag

Plus point:
(alright, some of the jokes and performances made me laugh a bit )



Respectful Beginner Critic
Question: Did you ever turn off the movie before the end, or leave the cinema before it ended? My family, including me, to be blunt, thought it was an utter pile of garbage.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Question: Did you ever turn off the movie before the end, or leave the cinema before it ended? My family, including me, to be blunt, thought it was an utter pile of garbage.
I might well have done, if I hadn't been being paid to review it. I did think it was pretty low grade comedy. And as it progressed I felt insulted to boot.

But in retrospect I'm glad I watched til the end, if only to experience what it's like to be discriminated against, for a very short while (and in a pretty benign format). It did give me a feel for how it might be to see your 'race' portrayed simplistically and stereotypically. Imagining that on a repeat basis wasn't pretty, and made me think about what even my contempories have seen in terms of TV/film portrayals while growing up (70s/80s etc).





Guess this kid commenting on IMDB is too then ....





I'm just worried about the effect of 'ignorant' ideas on unquestioning minds . Parody would be better than reinforcement, no?
A mind is a terrible thing to waste, no?
The way the media operates today it does spoon feed a lot of stuff; it just depends who is watching and what they are watching.
Mostly it's a question of education and interpretation.
There is a lot of stuff out there that is potentialy damaging but that's why we have parental controls and movie ratings
Is it the era for some kind of reverse discrimination, sure, but it's up to the individual to make of it as he may.
The issue of race in the US has always been a topic and will continue to be so. Our brothers across the seas are also acutely aware, but sometimes it's good not to read too much into a comedy and just enjoy it, or not.