10 Responses to “Is Oscar Racist?”

1. Kindless Posted: Feb 25th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

   1 Those bastardly white people… Actually I don’t think this is that big of an issue. If minorities weren’t represented, then they didn’t work hard enough to be. I really don’t care about the color of anyone’s skin, so long as they show a certain level of maturity and intelligence. And, this might sound racist of me or something but, I’d rather not see movies with forced diversity. McDonald’s commercials already do that, and they’re sadly painful to watch because of that.

2. Marty Posted: Feb 25th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

   2 Honestly, I think it boils down to the studios, and even arguably the actors themselves. You look at a guy like Will Smith or Densel Washington, who have overcome all levels of all racial prejudice, they gets play in Middle America, and they can headline movies…because I have no doubt, they turn down shit roles and fight tooth and nail to get good ones. However, on the other side of the coin, it seems like every week Ice Cube, Martin Lawrence, etc. are in a flick that either involves how OUTRAGEOUS and/or wise ass they are, and/or another family reunion movie…that again, features how OUTRAGEOUS their crazy family is. Same wavelength, do I need to see another movie where Jackie Chan or Chow Yun Fat present themselves as either some badass martial arts master or a mystical teacher of some variety? Sure, everyone’s gotta take roles to pay the bills, but don’t you think if they stood up, realized how they’re sort of being typecast/pidgeonholed into the same movies again and again, that studios would take notice? At the same time though, I know that there are young actors who would be just as willing to jump into these same, redundant roles. Like I said, I do believe the issue is on both the sides of the actors AND the studios, but it’s going to take someone with clout to change it.

3. SamuraiPenguin Posted: Feb 25th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

   3 Well like you mentioned above i don’t really feel it is the Studio’s fault that there is not much diversity in films or television. they are just giving the audience what they feel is what the audience wants to see, hence ass load of sequels and Meet the Spartan type of films. It really comes down to a director brave enough to take a chance(something new directors are not doing) and make a flick that has a minority as it’s lead and what not with out making it bluntly obvious that they are a minority. Like you said no one pays any real attention to race in a film or much less really cares. Which is why there shouldn’t be any problem with having a minority as talent. Being a minority i would nothing else than to see more of them in films and comics without being exploited in some way.When it comes to film I and others who feel as you do about film and comics hope to add more racial diversity to films with out beating the viewers eyes with it. Hey sometimes the best way to see change is to do it yourself.

4. Taellosse Posted: Feb 25th, 2008 at 3:21 pm

   4 I’d say this is a case of shared blame, if blame is due. “Hollywood” isn’t a monolithic machine with a singular vision. It’s a series of competing companies all out to make as much money as possible. The most efficient way to make money is to give customers something they’ll pay money for without being outraged or overly challenged. Thus, movies that feature ethnicity tend to also stereotype–stereotypes are generally safe because they don’t challenge anyone’s preconceptions. The kinds of movies that are likely to be Oscar-worthy are thus less likely to have major characters with ethnic backgrounds, because you don’t get 3-dimensional characters who are stereotypes. Thus, while Hollywood isn’t challenging the audience’s stereotypes with any regularity, the audience is accepting those stereotypes at the same time. But, in the end, making movies is a business, not a social experiment. They’re out to make money, not gamble money on forcing social change. It’s our job to expect them to improve things, not their job to force us to want it.

5. Drezz Posted: Feb 25th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

   5 Until a company comes out and decides to be “groundbreaking” and cast minorities in the usual “whitey” roles, we’re going to be subject to the usual whitebread formula bland crap that comes out of Hollywood. For every 1 good movie that has potential, there are at least 10 that are sheer garbage pulp. Sad that in order to get a minority into a major role, Hollywood has to take a chance or be innovative by casting an Asian man in a role reserved for a guy like Matt Damon or Marky fucking Mark Wahlberg.

6. sidewinded Posted: Feb 25th, 2008 at 5:48 pm

   6 I’m a little disappointed and angry at this post. I’m soooooo sick of people getting upset when they don’t see 100% diversity and they start shouting out the R word. This PC nonsense has got to stop. While I agree there needs to be diversity, you create watered down, forced, and painfully written movies, when forced to put people who might not necessarily fit a role based on skin color (which by the way, who really cares about that anyway? I sure as hell don’t, if you do… maybe you’re the one who’s racist! Chew on that for a minute).

7. Jami Posted: Feb 25th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

   7 Author Comment @sidewinder, though the title of the post poses a question about racism, I’m pretty sure I was arguing that it isn’t as simple as that.

8. Tugboat Posted: Feb 26th, 2008 at 7:50 am

   8 I think force-fitting a minority into a role just to give a movie diversity is as wrong as it gets. Hollywood needs to write some quality f**king movies that have people in them representative of the population at large, not a raft of stereotypes. I work with a pretty diverse bunch of people, and I don’t seem to be surrounded by chinese martial arts masters, black people who perpetually talk street lingo, wise, slender Indian intellectuals, nor ignorant white rednecks. I’d like to see a diverse cast playing roles as individuals who are more than a stereotype based on their skin color.

9. Marty Posted: Feb 26th, 2008 at 9:22 am

   9 Random part that I thought I’d share as an aside… One of the things that Heroes got a lot of recognition for with their first season was for having an ethnically diverse cast, that, shy of locales, didn’t make a big deal of the characters ethnicities. I believe they even won an award for it. How does NBC respond? THEY TELL THE WRITERS THEY WANT MORE MINORITIES! THAT ARE STEREOTYPES! I honestly believe this is how we ended up with the almost insultingly bad character arcs of Maya and Alejandro. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

10. Wilfredo Posted: Feb 27th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    10 Yes, I think Hollywood is racist. Latinos are still relegated to roles of servants or thugs. I once interviewed the late, great Raul Julia why is it that Latino actors are still playing these stereotypes, and he responded that it was for the lack of roles. And actors have to work, no? In response to a couple of the commentaries here, these actors are making the effort to getting better roles, but as long as the xenophobic climate exists in the United States, the roles that Raul Julia played (a triple threat on Broadway, btw) will be few and far between. Thank you for your patience.