A few things to keep in mind before you jump right into the “OMGZ, teh Japanz R Racist!” pool. Snow monkeys are revered as intelligent and wise in Japan. They even have their own temples. There is a new political drama on Japanese television that started in May called Change. The intended audience does not associate monkeys with racist images of blacks. Of course, the intended audience isn’t all that diverse to begin with. Also, The intended audience has not been assaulted on a daily basis by the Democratic primary race.

So let’s get into this.

From an American perspective, this is horribly racist. The “Change” banners, the monkey in a suit, it’s clearly a riff on Obama’s campaign. Sure, all the presidential candidates this time around have attempted to use “change” as their theme. But most of us readily associate “change” with Obama. Blacks have been portrayed as monkeys in racist cartoons and comics here in America so it’s easy to associate the monkey with Obama and therefore conclude that this is a racist commercial.

From a Japanese perspective, I don’t know. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, or in this case, a monkey. And if the snow monkey is truly a revered animal, it could be that this is their screwy way of paying tribute to Obama. Or it could have nothing to do with him at all. The monkey has been part of other Emobile ad campaigns and if this “Change” show is popular, it makes sense to do a riff on a political theme.

Is this just a cute monkey with a phone or is Emobile demonstrating a lack of judgment by replacing Obama with a monkey?

[Via Gizmodo]

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Racism in Tokyo:

Segregation in Tokyo:

Brilliant.

[Via Tokyo Comedy from Kotaku]

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I love the fact that we can embed South Park now!

Reader Kevin Bahrt sent over this clip where the boys give a presentation on the savage hypocrisy of hate crime laws. South Park usually comments on current events within the context of the show, but I’m not entirely sure what event this episode was riffing on. Regardless, I think it’s a fairly sensible assessment of hate crime laws in general. Well, as sensible as you’re going to get from the tele anyway.

[Via Comedy Central]

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Reader Devin Wolfe sent me news that BET will premier a Black Panther animated series based on the Marvel comic in their 2008-09 season.

BET Cages Black Panter

I hope that:

a) This thing is simulcast on Adult Swim or goes into immediate syndication, kinda like Boondocks, because it’d be a shame if they limit their target audience to a specific demographic with such a cool and enigmatic character like BP… It’d be like making a Wolverine spin-off cartoon only available on Canadian television because of the main character’s nationality.

b) That they do a bang up job on the animation, a la say Gotham Knight or Afro Samurai. Dear God let them tap I.G. or GONZO…

Whole heartedly agree. It’s about damn time. Regarding Devin’s second point, I haven’t been impressed with much of Marvel’s animated efforts lately. They’ve all left me rather underwhelmed while DC still manages to knock them out of the park. But I’m hoping for the best.

[Via Variety]

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Reader Wayne W sent me this story on gaming diversity. According to a 2005 survey, Black Americans are spending more money on games than other gamer demographics yet only 2% of game developers are Black. MTV conducted a five-part series asking Black video game professionals their first-hand views on ethnic diversity in games and the gaming industry.

I wholeheartedly agree that we need more diversity in gaming. And not just physical representation. We need more diverse roles for minorities in games. A game full of Black gangsters can certainly be considered diverse in terms of cast, but fulfilling stereotypical roles is almost as bad as no representation. While I think television, movies, and comics are starting to see the light, it seems that gaming has yet to catch up. I’d very much be interested in seeing the demographics of gaming professionals in 2008 to see if anything has changed in the past three years.

Thanks Wayne for the articles. Brilliant stuff. I can’t believe I actually support something MTV produced.

[Via Intelligent Gamer and MTV’s Multiplayer Blog]

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Here is the trailer for Tropic Thunder starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. Observe:

I laughed my ass off. Robert Downey Jr. playing a white actor playing a black man is somehow entirely too absurd. I fell on the floor with tears in my eyes.

So why is this funny while “Under One Roof” is shudder worthy? Clearly this is just a modern interpretation of blackface and there’s nothing all that funny about blackface.

For me, the funny is in the reactions of the people around him. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but from the preview it’s pretty clear that everyone around Downey thinks he’s absolutely nuts. Blackface is so incredibly wrong and yet, it somehow works in this context. It’s Downey’s absolute commitment to the role that makes it so right.

Unfortunately, this aspect of the film threatens to overshadow the actual plot. I don’t think I could watch this without marveling at how wrong it is to see Downey in blackface and how wrong I am for laughing horribly at him. I no longer care what the hell is going on as long as I get to be horrified at Downey in blackface.

So fair readers, will I burn in hell for laughing at something so wrong or does this smell of the awesome?

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Reader Mikey D sent me news that Flavor Flav, who shall now only be referred to as Foofy Foofy, is starring in a sitcom that premiers tonight. Palm firmly on forehead I clicked the link he sent and there it was, “Under One Roof.”

*groan*

Fresh Prince meets pile of shit.

There’s not a whole lot of real info on the site so I thought I’d poke around to see if anyone had seen an episode. Apparently, MyNetworkTV didn’t feel confident enough to send out screeners to TV critics. But Mary McNamara of the LA Times managed to sneak a peak at a rough cut. She describes the cast as one note characters who reflect a wide variety of American stereotypes:

Winston (Kelly Perine), now a shallow, materialistic real estate baron, lives in the requisite McMansion carefully appointed with just about every stereotype imaginable: the stringy, implanted white trophy wife named Ashley (Carrie Genzel); a wimpy (possibly gay) son (Jesse Reid), a princessy (possibly stupid) daughter (Marie Michel) and a staff that includes a gibbering Chinese cook in a Mao jacket and a drunken Mexican gardener called Pablo. Pablo has replaced the former gardener, Mario, who, for a time, lives in one room of the mansion with nine family members, a chicken and a goat.

Nothing says funny like a Ching Chong Chinaman cook and a drunk Latino gardener.

The producers of the show apparently don’t understand how anyone could take offense. In the words of executive producer Claude Brooks, “It’s all about the big laughs. And we’re equal opportunity offenders.”

Now, to be fair, it is possible to offend your audience and get away with it. “South Park” takes shots at everyone and is balls funny. The key is intelligent writing. I seriously doubt that there will be much intelligence in this show.

The only draw for this show is Foofy Foofy. For the life of me, I can’t understand why a train wreck like him gets multiple reality shows and now a sitcom and a train wreck like Britney only gets a cameo. You replace Foofy Foofy with Britney Spears, I’m watching me some “Under One Roof.” Foofy Foofy seems to bring in the big bucks. There’s clearly an audience for his brand of buffoonery. But I don’t think you can bottle whatever he has up and try to package it up to sell. Foofy Foofy is best when he’s himself. On a sitcom, he has to learn lines, hit marks, wear makeup, rehearse. None of that sounds like Foofy Foofy.

Forget the blatant stereotypes or clueless producers or all of that. This show will fail because Foofy Foofy won’t be Foofy Foofy. He’ll be Foofy Foofy playing Cali Cal, a mere shadow of Foofy Foofy.

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40 years after his assassination, America has yet to fully realize Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream of true unity. From a legal stand point, certainly there have been tremendous strides. Everyone is now fairly equal in the eyes of the law. And yet, socially, we’ve made little progress. Sure, the racial divide isn’t as overt as it once was. But we’ve got big problems and we’re not getting very far.

Moblogic is one of the few newscasts that I watch on a regular basis precisely because of what happens when the interviewee grabs the mic from Lindsay and turns the question on her. Instead of throwing up a smoke screen or ending the segment, she answers honestly. Fucking brilliant. And this is coming from a CBS sponsored newscast.

I hope Obama becomes our next president. Forget the war, forget the economy, forget everything the media typically focuses on. I want Obama to win because I want him to help us come together. It’s the new damn millennium and it’s about freaking time we come together as Americans rather than fracturing apart as ethnicities. True, we should embrace our differences and celebrate our own identities. But at some point, we’ve got to come together and work together as a truly united nation.

Okay, enough politics for one day. That’s why I set up that other blog!

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Vogue finds itself at the center of a little racial controversy. The above cover for their March 2008 edition is accused, by some, of portraying Lebron James as the stereotypically savage black man lusting after Gisele Bundchen, the universal white woman in distress. Mind you, these charges don’t come from James or Bundchen. In fact, word is they quite like the cover.

I don’t see it. I mean, I do, but I don’t think the racist arguments hold much weight. Maybe if Gisele was half dressed and screaming, maybe you could entertain thoughts of a rape fantasy. But she’s quite clothed and looks quite happy and Lebron looks like he just dunked on a fool.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But I think we’ve gotten to a point where political correctness has gotten in the way of honest expression. To even think that Vogue intended to make a statement saying black basketball players are savage white woman rapists is absolutely insane.

So, fair readers, what say you? Is this cover racist? Is Vogue racist? Or is Gisele just happy to pose with Lebron for a cover with her?

UPDATE: I don’t want to get into the habit of republishing too much, but I thought Jason Whitlock had an interesting take on the Vogue cover. He wonders if someone should write a handbook entitled “What Will and Won’t Piss Black Folk Smooth the **** Off.”

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A brief look at last night’s nominees reveals that of the sixteen actors up for Best Lead and Best Supporting actors, only one, Ruby Dee, was a minority. Okay, maybe two. Javier Bardem is Spanish so while I guess technically he’s a minority in this country. Regardless, the Academy Awards once again demonstrated a woeful lack of diversity. Yes, yes, foreign films were very well represented. I’ll give them that. But other than that, the lack of color sorely disappointed me.

Is the Academy racist?

Though I think the lack of diversity at the awards every damn year is infuriating, I’m not sure this is an entirely fair question. The academy votes based on the pool of movies that are made every year. If there’s a lack of diversity at the awards, it’s more than likely that there was a lack of diversity in movies that year. The year might indeed have a large slate of diverse films, but they may not have quite been Oscar worthy. I mean no one would put Who’s Your Caddy or How She Move or Step Up 2 the Streets up for Best Picture.

Is Hollywood racist?

After all, they make the movies. If there’s a lack of diverse films, aren’t they responsible? My gut reaction is to always blame Hollywood for sucking eggs. But it’s possible that they’re just out to make money, aren’t they just playing to their audiences? I mean, if people really wanted diversity in their movies, wouldn’t Hollywood be making those kinds of movies? The studios follow the money. If there’s money in comic book movies, BAM, we have a billion comic book movies. If there was money in diverse casting, shouldn’t we be seeing more diverse casts?

Are audiences racist?

Ah, now we get to the heart of the matter. More than likely, when we go to the theater we don’t care about the ethnic make up of the cast. We’re looking for some good entertainment, a few hours to suspend disbelief, and maybe a laugh or cry or two. Race is probably the very last thing on our minds. In this regard, it’s more unawareness than it is outright racism. And since there doesn’t seem to be any vocal clamor for more diversity in film, why would Hollywood change? Tickets sales are down, sure, but that’s more likely due to technology than anything else.

Is there a way to break the cycle?

I think more directors are slowly waking up to the fact that diverse casts are a welcome change that audiences will certainly appreciate. And I think for real change to occur, it’s going to have to start with the directors and casting directors. I’d like to think audiences could effect change from the bottom up, but I don’t think most of us even consider ethnicity when watching movies. When we see it, we appreciate it. If we don’t see it, we still pay our fifteen bucks.

It’s the new damn millennium and we should be much further along in terms of diversity than we are. Part of the problem is that we don’t pay attention to ethnicity. In some sense, being blind to color is what this American experiment is all about. But when we fail to notice, we also miss out on opportunities to celebrate our differences. We end up getting cookie cutter entertainment that does little to stimulate our imaginations. We could be celebrating out diverse backgrounds and instead, we’re celebrating the same bland stuff year after year.

And while I don’t think Hollywood is necessarily racist, they sure aren’t going out of their way to celebrate diversity.

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