Why do people think this movie is racist?

[SWAGSUKE]

One thing's for sure, a WWE forum with a bunch of 20-somethings is not the place where the world's racial issues will be resolved.

 

[Stopspot]

Well to be more specific, a black comedian wrote it, directed it and produced it. But as Black Wizard mentioned, even if that wasn't the case, it wouldn't mean it was racist.

Here's the problem. Right now, we have an incorrect understanding of what racism is. For racism to exist, it has to meet two criteria: 1. A specific race is identified as being different from others and 2. That difference is negative towards the race being identified.

Nowadays, people seem to think that even indicating that someone is of a certain race is racist. I've literally seen people get angry because people have referred to someone by their race. And they had nothing but positive things to say about the person.

As someone with a deep understanding of sociology, I see nothing racist about this movie.

It's not so much racist as "racially thought provoking".

People have posted the summary and as it says, it's not so much about race as it is about upper middleclass hubris and how that form of "we're the good people" mentality can make it hard for people outside of the upper middle class. And the movie uses race as its tool to get that message across since it is easier to convey than if they started to kidnap lower middle class - working class white people. Since a lot of people still unknowingly tend to draw the correllation of upper middleclass = white, lower class = minority.

 

[Jacob Fox]

It's not so much racist as "racially thought provoking".

People have posted the summary and as it says, it's not so much about race as it is about upper middleclass hubris and how that form of "we're the good people" mentality can make it hard for people outside of the upper middle class. And the movie uses race as its tool to get that message across since it is easier to convey than if they started to kidnap lower middle class - working class white people. Since a lot of people still unknowingly tend to draw the correllation of upper middleclass = white, lower class = minority.

That I definitely agree with and I think your wording of racially thought provoking should be utilized more often.

 

[Solid Snake]

I forgot about this movie completely. I do actually want to watch it and plan to eventually here. It got good reviews and I think now that time has passed and people got to see it, they are more understanding of it. It was a way to grab attention and really focus on an issue in an artistic way. Movies that can move people to feel emotions and get people to think outside the box is a true art form to me. I never really thought much of Peele because I only known him for acting silly on Youtube and then getting that show with the other guy on Comedy Central but he is a talented guy.

 

[Swift]

People are pussies.

 

[The Phenom]

People are pussies.

I finally agree with you on something lol

 

[Solid Snake]

People are pussies.

Don't insult cats! :kitler:

 

[InSaNe]

People are pussies.

Yeah. My mom watched it, so I watched it too. And it's not even close to being racist.

It is just like @Stopspot says here...

It's not so much racist as "racially thought provoking".

People have posted the summary and as it says, it's not so much about race as it is about upper middleclass hubris and how that form of "we're the good people" mentality can make it hard for people outside of the upper middle class. And the movie uses race as its tool to get that message across since it is easier to convey than if they started to kidnap lower middle class - working class white people. Since a lot of people still unknowingly tend to draw the correllation of upper middleclass = white, lower class = minority.

Spoiler: Movie Spoiler

But towards the end of the film, you learn that the enemy wants a younger person's mind, that he's willing to cut the head, alive... to move the brain to the old man's head. Thus making him 'likable,' to the black man's friends so he can do x action down the road.

 

[Closed]

who even cares lol

The movie is apparently pretty good. It even hit $193,940,260 in the box office. For a first time movie that's pretty good. They better expect sequels because they sure as hell will probably be getting them.

I also have it on my watch list. I'll probably give it a watch once I'm free. Although the only place I can watch it right now is in Dublin, so yeah I need to travel there. The movie has a fun plot. Why do people take a fit because of nothing these days? Enjoy good movies because this seems to be one of them

 

[Jacob Fox]

So I finally got a chance to see this movie tonight. I've been wanting to see it for quite a while. Now first, I want to mention that this a damn good horror movie. There is actually an interesting twist moment where I said out loud "Holy fucking shit!" because I honestly did not see it coming. Besides that, it gave me a certain kind of discomfort that several times made me want to look up the ending online because I was tense and wanted the tension to end. That makes a good suspense movie.

Now in regards to the movie being racist, I think I can speak more to that now that I have seen it. And there really was nothing racist or even marginally racist about the movie.
I'll explain in a spoiler tag because I don't want to give the movie away to those who want to see it. However, if you do read this, it will reveal much about the ending of the movie, including the twist I spoke about. If you don't want any part of the plot revealed, don't open this spoiler.

Spoiler: Movie

All right, so in basis this movie is about a woman who has a black boyfriend. She takes him home to meet her family. Her mother is a hypnotist and psychiatrist while her father is a neurosurgeon. She hypnotizes the boyfriend, supposedly to get him to stop smoking. The next day, at a party, he meets a lot of people... some are black and acting REALLY strangely. It almost seems at times that there is something making them act against their will. You occasionally see glimpses of this... as if someone is buried within and trying to break out.

So this is what the movie really is. The girl goes out and dates black men and brings them her house under the guise of meeting her family. What they are really doing, though, is selling the black person to the highest bidder as a conduit for older people to live inside. Basically, they transfer the brains of the older people into the black people's heads. They, however, have to leave a small part of the original brain in, so the original person is still there, but like a viewer who doesn't really control what is going on.

The movie uses a little bit of racial tension. The main character Chris is a bit uncomfortable around a slew of white people who keep on pointing out to him that he's black. They talk about Jesse Owens, Tiger Woods, and the most amusing one that Obama was the best president of their lives. The reason I find it amusing is that I have racist relatives and they really act like this to cover up their racism.

However, the racial tension is a macguffin. At the end of the movie, when asked why black people, no answer is even given. In fact, the older man who is getting Chris's body couldn't care less that he's black... he just wants to be able to see through his eyes since Chris is a photographer.

This movie actually seems to be a commentary on white liberals who try too hard to prove they're not racist. I am sure you know the type. The person who puts all black people on a pedestal because they're black. The person who will use "African American" because they think "black" is offensive. It, in fact, seems to be why they are pocking black people. They are trying too hard to convince people they are not racist. So the strongest way they can do this is by becoming black themselves. Now, the movie doesn't say this at all. It's just what I got from it.

But anyone who feels this movie is racist really needs to take some time to understand what racism is. I have black ancestry myself. I am descended from a slave owner who had children with one of his slaves. My dad's side of the family talks about it in hushes tones as if it is something to be ashamed of. I acknowledge it simply as part of who I am. I don't go around saying "I'm black," because that would be stupid. It would be me adopting a current cultural identity and history that I don't have. But if I did, and I started trying to adopt the history of racism in an attempt to gain that cultural identity, that would be wrong in my view. However, if I chose not to acknowledge it at all and hide it, that would be racist in my view.

This movie is not about the people who don't acknowledge it. It is about the people who overcompensate for it. Those people are not racist... they're just trying to hard to prove that they're not.