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[Gfted1]

EXTRA! EXTRA! TRANSFORMERS ARE FILTY RACISTS!

 

Jive-talking twin Transformers raise race issues

 

Jun 24, 12:59 PM (ET)

 

By SANDY COHEN

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" introduces some 40 new mechanized characters of all shapes, sizes and even sexes - but it's a pair of jive-talking 'bots that critics are singling out as more than just harmless comic relief.

 

Skids and Mudflap, twin robots disguised as compact Chevys, constantly brawl and bicker in rap-inspired street slang. They're forced to acknowledge that they can't read. One has a gold tooth.

 

As good guys, they fight alongside the Autobots and are intended to provide comic relief. But the traits they're ascribed raise the specter of stereotypes most notably seen when Jar Jar Binks, the clumsy, broken-English speaking alien from "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace," was criticized as a racial caricature.

 

Wall Street Journal film critic Joe Morgenstern described Binks in 1999 as a "Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit," a reference to a black character from the 1920s and '30s that exploited negative stereotypes for comic effect. Extending that metaphor to the "Transformers" sequel was AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire, who calls Skids and Mudflap "Jar Jar Binks in car form."

 

And Manohla Dargis, film critic for The New York Times, takes it a step further, writing that the "Transformers" characters were given "conspicuously cartoonish, so-called black voices that indicate that minstrelsy remains as much in fashion in Hollywood as when, well, Jar Jar Binks was set loose by George Lucas."

 

Director Michael Bay insists that the bumbling 'bots are just good clean fun.

 

"We're just putting more personality in," Bay said. "I don't know if it's stereotypes - they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it."

 

TV actor Reno Wilson, who is black, voices Mudflap. Tom Kenny, the white actor behind SpongeBob SquarePants, voices Skids. Neither immediately responded to interview requests for this story.

 

Bay said the twins' parts "were kind of written but not really written, so the voice actors is when we started to really kind of come up with their characters."

 

"I purely did it for kids," the director said. "Young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them."

 

Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman said they followed Bay's lead in creating the twins. Still, the characters serve no real purpose in the story, and when the action gets serious, they disappear entirely, notes Tasha Robinson, associate entertainment editor at The Onion.

 

"They don't really have any positive effect on the film," she said. "They only exist to talk in bad ebonics, beat each other up and talk about how stupid each other is."

 

Hollywood has a track record of using negative stereotypes of black characters for comic relief, said Todd Boyd, a professor of popular culture at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, who has not seen the "Transformers" sequel.

 

"There's a history of people getting laughs at the expense of African-Americans and African-American culture," Boyd said. "These images are not completely divorced from history even though it's a new movie and even though they're robots and not humans."

 

American cinema also has a tendency to deal with race indirectly, said Allyson Nadia Field, an assistant professor of cinema and media studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

 

"There's a persistent dehumanization of African-Americans throughout Hollywood that displaces issues of race onto non-human entities," said Field, who also hasn't seen the film. "It's not about skin color or robot color. It's about how their actions and language are coded racially."

 

If these characters weren't animated and instead played by real black actors, "then you might have to admit that it's racist," Robinson said. "But stick it into a robot's mouth, and it's just a robot, it's OK."

 

But if they're alien robots, she continued, "why do they talk like bad black stereotypes?"

 

Bay brushes off any whiff of controversy.

 

"Listen, you're going to have your naysayers on anything," he said. "It's like is everything going to be melba toast? It takes all forms and shapes and sizes."

[Gorgon]

Good to see the vanguard of political correctness are out there fighting the good fight, warms my heart it does. Also I think 'racial stereotype' would be a fitting end to Jar Jar Binks, if it means we never, ever, see him again.

[Shryke]

uh... did they not notice that in the first Transformers movie there was already a "black" transformer?

 

he was even the only autobot to get killed off - Jazz

[Rosbjerg]

Mind Game (

)

 

If you can get your hands on this masterpiece do so now! It's seriously the wierdest (and best) film I've seen in a long time and the trailer is nothing compared to the actual movie (in wierdness). Once you get into the rather confusing and very japanese storytelling, there's a simple yet brilliant story waiting to be discovered..

 

The God scene is especially hilarious!

[Darth InSidious]

Earlier in the week I got sizeable chunks of Logan's Run and Minority Report on the same day, and on terrestrial TV. Michael York's hamming is a wonder to behold.

Edited June 25, 2009 by Darth InSidious

[Meshugger]

Mind Game (

)

 

If you can get your hands on this masterpiece do so now! It's seriously the wierdest (and best) film I've seen in a long time and the trailer is nothing compared to the actual movie (in wierdness). Once you get into the rather confusing and very japanese storytelling, there's a simple yet brilliant story waiting to be discovered..

 

The God scene is especially hilarious!

 

Movie by Nishi eh? I think i know where that one is headed

[Azure79]

I saw Transformers. In terms of a action movie it was watchable. In terms of a Transformers movie it kinda sucked.

 

Although it was awesome seeing Optimus Prime kicking all sorts of Decepticon ass.

 

Megatron went from being pretty menacing in the first movie to overly simpering in this one. Pretty dissapointing.

 

Ugh, the twin robots. They really were bad. I haven't watched Transformers in years, and I can still think of a few characters that would have been better in the movie. If they really wanted twins they should have just put in Cliffjumper and Bumblebee. I don't remember if they are specifically twins but they had similar builds. Cliffjumper has a shoot first ask questions later attitude and Bumblebee is more prudent. That would have provided more interesting interactions while they were escorting Sam around. Or what about Prowl and Wheeljack, or Hound and Mirage. So many characters to choose from and Bay wants jive talking hatchback transformers.

 

I was hoping for the personalities of the various Transformers to be explored more, but aside from a few Starscream - Megatron interactions, the Transformers were once again mostly giant props that destroyed things. Pretty cool to watch, but no emotional investment in movie.

 

Ravage was cool.

 

Soundwave was cool.

 

Devastator was dissapointing

 

Sideswipe but no Sunstreaker?

 

Man, I still remember a lot about the 80s Transformers.

 

The overall story is ok. I wasn't expecting much except to provide an excuse for the Transformers to battle it out. There is the macguffin and the convenient character that explains the backstory. Nothing special. I felt the movie ended abruptly as the final battle only took a few scant minutes.

 

All in all, entertaining but not a must see.

[Pidesco]

In terms of a Transformers movie it kinda sucked.

 

 

That seems a bit redundant. It's Transformers and not a complete and utter satire. How could it not suck?

[Rosbjerg]

Movie by Nishi eh? I think i know where that one is headed

 

I haven't heard of him, but apperantly this is his only movie? it would seem it's kinda like an autobiography then as the protagonist is named Nishi and wants to be a Manga artist.

[Hiro Protagonist]

saw Star Wars The Clone Wars (The animated movie). It was okay. Now I'm off to watch the Clone Wars TV series.

[Oerwinde]

Ugh, the twin robots. They really were bad. I haven't watched Transformers in years, and I can still think of a few characters that would have been better in the movie. If they really wanted twins they should have just put in Cliffjumper and Bumblebee. I don't remember if they are specifically twins but they had similar builds.

 

The Autobot Twins were Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Sunstreaker was the yellow lamborghini and Sideswipe was red. Sunstreaker was the vain hothead, sideswipe the more prudent. Haven;t seen the flick yet but apparently they made sideswipe a silver corvette and didn't keep sunstreaker with him. If they wanted a single corvette transformer there was always Tracks.

Edited June 26, 2009 by Oerwinde

[Shryke]

Ugh, the twin robots. They really were bad. I haven't watched Transformers in years, and I can still think of a few characters that would have been better in the movie. If they really wanted twins they should have just put in Cliffjumper and Bumblebee. I don't remember if they are specifically twins but they had similar builds.

 

The Autobot Twins were Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Sunstreaker was the yellow lamborghini and Sideswipe was red. Sunstreaker was the vain hothead, sideswipe the more prudent. Haven;t seen the flick yet but apparently they made sideswipe a silver corvette and didn't keep sunstreaker with him. If they wanted a single corvette transformer there was always Tracks.

 

yeah when i heard Sideswipe was going to be in it i naturally assumed Sunstreaker would be too

 

i don't get why they're making up all these new transformers though

i mean, where's Wheeljack? or Prowl? or Mirage?

[Gorgon]

Angles and demons.

 

The Illuminati try to blow up the Vatican with an antimatter bomb they stole from CERN Indiana Jones, played by Tom Hanks this time, tries to stop them by going on a treasure hunt across rome.

 

 

Why did this become so big, I mean one should never compare the movie with the book, but you have to admit the whole premise is pretty laughable. I left before it ended but i'd bet anything Obi Wan is the Illuminati infiltrator.

[Darth InSidious]

Angles and demons.

 

The Illuminati try to blow up the Vatican with an antimatter bomb they stole from CERN Indiana Jones, played by Tom Hanks this time, tries to stop them by going on a treasure hunt across rome.

 

 

Why did this become so big, I mean one should never compare the movie with the book, but you have to admit the whole premise is pretty laughable. I left before it ended but i'd bet anything Obi Wan is the Illuminati infiltrator.

 

Maybe I'm just the teeniest bit biased, but I think this describes my problems with Dan Hack pretty well.

 

I'm just slightly shocked how many people take this sub-airport novel crap seriously, either as good writing, or as actually in any way accurate. I suppose that's modern education, etc. Insert rant here.

[Gorgon]

Mind Game (

)

 

If you can get your hands on this masterpiece do so now! It's seriously the wierdest (and best) film I've seen in a long time and the trailer is nothing compared to the actual movie (in wierdness). Once you get into the rather confusing and very japanese storytelling, there's a simple yet brilliant story waiting to be discovered..

 

The God scene is especially hilarious!

I liked it, although the Tokyo dialect was so thick my vocabulary failed me almost completely.

[Calax]

Ugh, the twin robots. They really were bad. I haven't watched Transformers in years, and I can still think of a few characters that would have been better in the movie. If they really wanted twins they should have just put in Cliffjumper and Bumblebee. I don't remember if they are specifically twins but they had similar builds.

 

The Autobot Twins were Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Sunstreaker was the yellow lamborghini and Sideswipe was red. Sunstreaker was the vain hothead, sideswipe the more prudent. Haven;t seen the flick yet but apparently they made sideswipe a silver corvette and didn't keep sunstreaker with him. If they wanted a single corvette transformer there was always Tracks.

 

yeah when i heard Sideswipe was going to be in it i naturally assumed Sunstreaker would be too

 

i don't get why they're making up all these new transformers though

i mean, where's Wheeljack? or Prowl? or Mirage?

Honestly I was kinda frustrated that the only autobots who really talked or did anything were bumblebee, optimus, the twins, and a tiny bit of ironhide.

 

Otherwise it was just "generic soldier with name" bots.

[Omelette]

Saw Transformers 2.

 

I want my $8.50 back.

 

oh, and Calax your Byakuya icon is adorable!

Edited June 27, 2009 by Omelette

[Calax]

Saw Transformers 2.

 

I want my $8.50 back.

 

oh, and Calax your Byakuya icon is adorable!

gracias

 

Honestly I think Transformers 2 could have been a LOT better if they'd focused more on the war as a whole rather than how people were fitting in >.>

[Omelette]

De Nada

 

It would've been a lot better if they'd actually attempted to make a movie with plot and character development. Then again, I'm probably asking too much. They decided to focus on the new robots and less on the old Transformers that we knew and loved from the first film. Makes no sense to me. If only Michael Bay had hired someone to write a decent script.

[andrewmoquin]

Just saw Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen

 

In a very rare case, Japan actually got a movie before the US and the rest of the world Smiley We got it starting Jun 19!!! I'll try to keep away from spoilers until more people have gotten a chance to see it.

 

Overall I thought the movie was a little better than the first. The visual effects were awesome, but I thought there was a little too much. It was nice to watch, but it did kind of distract you from the actual story. Sometimes I wish they would have backed up the shot a little bit so we could actually see what was going on without switching camera angles every two seconds though. The story itself could have been better, but I can't say that I hated it. Definitely room for improvement though.

 

Some of the new robots I didn't really like, but I did like seeing the constructicons!! Also, the real Soundwave was doing what he should be doing, and I'll just leave it at that for now. oh, and Megan Fox is still hot!

[Aristes]

I just finished watching 300 on blu ray. I expected it to be terrible. This is my secret weapon for enjoying virtually all forms of recreation. I expect it to suck and thus I am pleasantly surprised. As it is, I thought it was surprisingly good. Yeah, yeah. It had horribly excessive sex and violence. Yeah, it was simplistic. I especially like the parts where the other Greeks were downplayed. On the other hand, the narrative was in the voice of Delios, and so the Sparatan prejudice made sense. Yes, it forgot to mention that the Athenians were the ones who defeated the Persians at Marathon and that the Athenian navy was the means by which the Greeks managed to blunt the thrust of Xerxes invasion. Still, it was entertaining. This was definitely not a chic flick and I'm perfectly happy to see some blood and guts in my films every now and then.

 

Also, having read Herodotus both in Greek and in translation, I have to say a lot of the lines and the basic story was pulled directly from what was clearly the source material for the movie. Not a bad experience, although something I clearly wouldn't take my wife to see. Hell, I can't even get her to go see the new Star Trek movie.

[Maria Caliban]

Up - great little animated movie.

[Oerwinde]

I just finished watching 300 on blu ray. I expected it to be terrible. This is my secret weapon for enjoying virtually all forms of recreation. I expect it to suck and thus I am pleasantly surprised. As it is, I thought it was surprisingly good. Yeah, yeah. It had horribly excessive sex and violence. Yeah, it was simplistic. I especially like the parts where the other Greeks were downplayed. On the other hand, the narrative was in the voice of Delios, and so the Sparatan prejudice made sense. Yes, it forgot to mention that the Athenians were the ones who defeated the Persians at Marathon and that the Athenian navy was the means by which the Greeks managed to blunt the thrust of Xerxes invasion. Still, it was entertaining. This was definitely not a chic flick and I'm perfectly happy to see some blood and guts in my films every now and then.

 

Also, having read Herodotus both in Greek and in translation, I have to say a lot of the lines and the basic story was pulled directly from what was clearly the source material for the movie. Not a bad experience, although something I clearly wouldn't take my wife to see. Hell, I can't even get her to go see the new Star Trek movie.

 

I think 300 is a hilarious concept. Its a movie, based on a comic, which was based on a movie. Apparently they're working on a sequel. Frank Miller writing a comic which will then be adapted for the screen. Sounds good to me, except for the whole Frank Miller sucks at cashing in on his own success thing. Dark Knight Returns big success, so he pulls Dark Knight Strikes Again out of his ass and its terrible. Sin City movie does well with him Co-Directing, makes the Spirit suck balls.

[Aristes]

Wait, this was based on the old movie with... who? I thought maybe Richard Burton, but I didn't see it when I looked. I dunno, but I remember seeing a movie about Thermoplyae from the late 50-70s. Somewhere in there.

[Hell Kitty]

Wait, this was based on the old movie with... who? I thought maybe Richard Burton, but I didn't see it when I looked. I dunno, but I remember seeing a movie about Thermoplyae from the late 50-70s. Somewhere in there.

 

The comic was inspired by The 300 Spartans.