Racist Commercial

[sidious618]

Let's also not forget about the fact that the actors in this commercial are humans, and not computer animations. So that means they are highly probably okay with it, too.

That's not at all a solid argument. Black people also appeared in The Birth of a Nation, a film that glorified the KKK. Obviously this commercial is nothing like that film but it does put to rest the idea that because black people appeared in it it therefore must be okay.

 

[sonak]

MY attitude is NOT the one that needs adjustment.

Yes, it is, but that's likely too much to hope for. When people rail against chimerical transgressions like "PC" the sense of aggrieved privilege is pretty deeply entrenched.

you really think ALL complaints against PC are "chimerical?"

some quick research would show there have been numerous cases of disciplinary actions, lawsuits, firings, etc. for perceived violations of PC.

ever checked into things like violations of "speech codes" on college campuses, etc.?

I mean, you're right that it's probably an over-used complaint, but to say there's NO validity to it is just silly.

 

[Pingfah]

I dunno. I think this is silly.

Making fun of stereotypes is the oldest thing, and it's not limited to racial stereotypes. This is harmless, seriously.

The Big Bang Theory makes fun of geeks. Anyone here offended by that?

Good grief, you've completely missed the point. The advert isn't poking fun at race or stereotypes at all. That it is for KFC is completely incidental. You obviously haven't read the thread either.

In context it's an advert about a guy getting drowned out by a bunch of noisy people and shutting them up with tasty food, and is part of a series where the same guy gets drowned out by different noisy people. That they are black is merely because it was aired during a match when they played the West Indies.

 

[JarodRussell]

Let's also not forget about the fact that the actors in this commercial are humans, and not computer animations. So that means they are highly probably okay with it, too.

That's not at all a solid argument. Black people also appeared in The Birth of a Nation, a film that glorified the KKK. Obviously this commercial is nothing like that film but it does put to rest the idea that because black people appeared in it it therefore must be okay.

Wikipedia says that all the black characters in that film have been played by white actors in blackface.

 

[sonak]

Let's also not forget about the fact that the actors in this commercial are humans, and not computer animations. So that means they are highly probably okay with it, too.

That's not at all a solid argument. Black people also appeared in The Birth of a Nation, a film that glorified the KKK. Obviously this commercial is nothing like that film but it does put to rest the idea that because black people appeared in it it therefore must be okay.

ummm, totally different eras, perhaps?

1915 was an age of institutionalized, pervasive and legal racism with Jim Crow segregation in the South.

 

[JarodRussell]

I dunno. I think this is silly.

Making fun of stereotypes is the oldest thing, and it's not limited to racial stereotypes. This is harmless, seriously.

The Big Bang Theory makes fun of geeks. Anyone here offended by that?

Good grief, you've completely missed the point. The advert isn't poking fun at race or stereotypes at all. That it is for KFC is completely incidental. You obviously haven't read the thread either.

In context it's an advert about a guy getting drowned out by a bunch of noisy people and shutting them up with tasty food, and is part of a series where the same guy gets drowned out by different noisy people. That they are black is merely because it was aired during a match when they played the West Indies.

Well that's even better then. Still didn't keep some people from feeling offended (with or without knowing the context), and my point was that they shouldn't be.

 

[Pingfah]

Well that's even better then. Still didn't keep some people from feeling offended (with or without knowing the context), and my point was that they shouldn't be.

No, you are still missing the point. Your original statement was that this particular stereotype, that you mistakenly believed was mocking black people's love of fried chicken wasn't harmful. THe fired chicken stereotype originates from it being a slave food, and it is considered offensive by many black Americans, and they have every right to feel that way.

That you would then clumsily try to compare that to a Jewish comedian writing and directing a skit on his own culture's idiosyncracies is laughable.

So you were wrong on every count.

 

[iguana_tonante]

It's a pretty big strawman to attack anyone who finds aspects of the modern PC movement to have creepy undertones of thought police and censorship as closet racists who just want to go back to the days when they could hurl racial insults with immunity.

I mean, you're practically PROVING this poster's point.

"I'm uncomfortable with some elements of PC-ness."

four people come back with variations on:

"you are a complete racist!"

good response.

Too bad he didn't "finds aspects of the modern PC movement to have creepy undertones of thought police and censorship" (which would be an cogent and even understandable opinion), he argued that "the PC movement that started twenty years ago has done nothing but destroy the human brain", which seems to point to the fact that he disagree with the whole "let's not hurl racial insults with immunity" thing. (Wow, that's a lot of "quotes" in that sentence.)

 

[JarodRussell]

Well that's even better then. Still didn't keep some people from feeling offended (with or without knowing the context), and my point was that they shouldn't be.

No, you are still missing the point. Your original statement was that this particular stereotype, that you mistakenly believed was mocking black people's love of fried chicken wasn't harmful. THe fired chicken stereotype originates from it being a slave food, and it is considered offensive by many black Americans, and they have every right to feel that way.

That you would then clumsily try to compare that to a Jewish comedian writing and directing a skit on his own culture's idiosyncracies is laughable.

So you were wrong on every count.

Oh well, what can I do, I'm a Two and a Half Men fan.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkUqOYT9dlc[/yt]

 

[sonak]

It's a pretty big strawman to attack anyone who finds aspects of the modern PC movement to have creepy undertones of thought police and censorship as closet racists who just want to go back to the days when they could hurl racial insults with immunity.

I mean, you're practically PROVING this poster's point.

"I'm uncomfortable with some elements of PC-ness."

four people come back with variations on:

"you are a complete racist!"

good response.

Too bad he didn't "finds aspects of the modern PC movement to have creepy undertones of thought police and censorship" (which would be an cogent and even understandable opinion), he argued that "the PC movement that started twenty years ago has done nothing but destroy the human brain", which seems to point to the fact that he disagree with the whole "let's not hurl racial insults with immunity" thing. (Wow, that's a lot of "quotes" in that sentence.)

fair enough. I just figured he was using hyperbole, though.

 

[Pingfah]

Well that's even better then. Still didn't keep some people from feeling offended (with or without knowing the context), and my point was that they shouldn't be.

No, you are still missing the point. Your original statement was that this particular stereotype, that you mistakenly believed was mocking black people's love of fried chicken wasn't harmful. THe fired chicken stereotype originates from it being a slave food, and it is considered offensive by many black Americans, and they have every right to feel that way.

That you would then clumsily try to compare that to a Jewish comedian writing and directing a skit on his own culture's idiosyncracies is laughable.

So you were wrong on every count.

Oh well, what can I do, I'm a Two and a Half Men fan.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkUqOYT9dlc[/yt]

Whatever, I didn't personally determine if this stereotype should be offensive or not. I merely note that many people obviously are offended by it, but I lack the necessary arrogance to drudge up multiple videos to promote the agenda that they are wrong to feel so, and that racial stereotyping is all good fun.

Apparently you don't suffer from the same.

 

[sidious618]

Wikipedia says that all the black characters in that film have been played by white actors in blackface.

No, it doesn't. It says that white people did use blackface to portray blacks but there were also black people in the film. If you'd like me to find other examples of blacks/Native Americans/hispanics portraying roles that are racist I'd be happy to find them for you.

ummm, totally different eras, perhaps?

Irrelevant to the point I was making.

 

[JarodRussell]

No, it doesn't. It says that white people did use blackface to portray blacks but there were also black people in the film. If you'd like me to find other examples of blacks/Native Americans/hispanics portraying roles that are racist I'd be happy to find them for you.

We could do that. But we'd need to analyse it properly: are they really racist in context? Did the actors know about it or were they tricked into doing it? Did they have a choice? And, yes:

ummm, totally different eras, perhaps?

Irrelevant to the point I was making.

Are you kidding? It's absolutely not irrelevant.

 

[Pingfah]

No, it doesn't. It says that white people did use blackface to portray blacks but there were also black people in the film. If you'd like me to find other examples of blacks/Native Americans/hispanics portraying roles that are racist I'd be happy to find them for you.

Did the actors know about it or were they tricked into doing it? Did they have a choice?

Irrelevant also, you are just lurching from one poorly thought out argument to the next. Why is it so important for you to defend people's right to be racially insensitive, and paint those that find racism offensive as being PC whiners?

Anyway, the participation of Black extras in anything considered to be racist is certainly not any indication of whether it actually IS racist or not. And nothing you are suggesting here demonstrates otherwise, you are simply attempting to tie the conversation up in knots.

This advert in particular (unlike any of the material you have posted to attempt to justify it) was wrongly perceived as being racist because it seems to portray blacks as noisy tribal folks who are irritating a single white guy, who discovers he can quiet them merely by giving them Fried Chicken, simple folk that they are. Whereas in fact, they were all black simply because Australia was playing a team from a predominantly dark skinned country, and the joke was a running one applied to many situations.

That's what you are defending here, and that says a lot about your attitudes.

 

[TheMurph]

Nothing wrong with the commercial.... other than it being for Cricket and KFC!

 

[JarodRussell]

No, it doesn't. It says that white people did use blackface to portray blacks but there were also black people in the film. If you'd like me to find other examples of blacks/Native Americans/hispanics portraying roles that are racist I'd be happy to find them for you.

Did the actors know about it or were they tricked into doing it? Did they have a choice?

Irrelevant also, you are just lurching from one poorly thought out argument to the next. Why is it so important for you to defend people's right to be racially insensitive, and paint those that find racism offensive as being PC whiners?

Anyway, the participation of Black extras in anything considered to be racist is certainly not any indication of whether it actually IS racist or not. And nothing you are suggesting here demonstrates otherwise, you are simply attempting to tie the conversation up in knots.

This advert in particular (unlike any of the material you have posted to attempt to justify it) was wrongly perceived as being racist because it seems to portray blacks as noisy tribal folks who are irritating a single white guy, who discovers he can quiet them merely by giving them Fried Chicken, simple folk that they are. Whereas in fact, they were all black simply because Australia was playing a team from a predominantly dark skinned country, and the joke was a running one applied to many situations.

That's what you are defending here, and that says a lot about your attitudes.

So we're both saying the ad is harmless, but for different reasons. Stop bitching.

 

[Pingfah]

No need to get upset. Admirable you at least have the honesty to wear your prejudice on your sleeve though.

 

[sidious618]

ummm, totally different eras, perhaps?

Irrelevant to the point I was making.

Are you kidding? It's absolutely not irrelevant.

Why? I can't see how.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I have been giving this all some thought especially after considering questions asked in the Political Correctness and Stereotypes thread.

The woman from TYT said she didn't care if the black people were Jamaican, West Indian or from African - a white giving fried chicken to black people to calm them down is racist. By saying this she dismissed the West Indian culture as being irrelevant, all that mattered to her was hiw things were in the culture she from up with. She was saying that she saw all black people as the same.

In another video, one that I can seem to find again, another commentator said there was no why of telling that the people in the commercial were West indies and not African Americans. She said if they were West Indian they would have been wearing team sweaters to identify them. I was dumfounded, didn't she notice that the people were dressed in maroon which is the colour of the West Indies team?

The different between the American commentators and the Australian public is that the American only noticed the colour of the skin whereas Austtalians noticed the colour of the clothes.

 

[RandyS]

It's a pretty big strawman to attack anyone who finds aspects of the modern PC movement to have creepy undertones of thought police and censorship as closet racists who just want to go back to the days when they could hurl racial insults with immunity.

I mean, you're practically PROVING this poster's point.

"I'm uncomfortable with some elements of PC-ness."

four people come back with variations on:

"you are a complete racist!"

good response.

Too bad he didn't "finds aspects of the modern PC movement to have creepy undertones of thought police and censorship" (which would be an cogent and even understandable opinion), he argued that "the PC movement that started twenty years ago has done nothing but destroy the human brain", which seems to point to the fact that he disagree with the whole "let's not hurl racial insults with immunity" thing. (Wow, that's a lot of "quotes" in that sentence.)

fair enough. I just figured he was using hyperbole, though.

No, I just didn't express myself all that well. I'd try again, but what would be the point?