Imperious Entertainment

For a while now Chuck D. of Public Enemy has argued that Hollywood owes African Americans reparations for the negative images and stereotypes it has promoted. I don’t know if we will every get reparations for this, but I do know that negative images of blacks in the media still exist. In movies negative images seem less overt than in the news, or sports (Fighting dogs in a house Michael Vick owns =24/7 coverage; A women gets raped in a house Patrick Kerney owns =2 minutes of coverage), but there are strong cases that these images are still prevalent in movies.

There are blacks out there like, conservative writer John McWhorter, that say we are too sensitive and that man people play the “name that stereotype game” when they watch movies and television. While it is true that there are some out there that throw a fit every time there is a black drug dealer (ignorant thug), or an overweight grandmother (mammy), or when there is a singular black person with no defining characteristics (the token). But there are times and places where these roles are appropriate, because no matter how you cut it there are black drug dealers, some of us have large and highly religious grandmothers (sorry grandma), and there are black people who relate better to upper middle class whites.

1 J= terrible- stay away and tell others to stay away

2 JJ= not worth it- if you must, wait for the dvd

3 JJJ= ok- won’t be pissed leaving movies, but wont be overjoyed

4 JJJJ= good movie- will enjoy but could have been better

5 JJJJJ= excellent movie- you will regret missing it

Transformers:JJJ (weak story but enough adventure and special effects to make the most snooty movie fan enjoy themselves)

Comments (6)

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written by She Said , July 17, 2007

I REALLY appreciate you highlighting those two moments in Transformers. I was so uncomfortable when everyone started laughing at Bernie Mac cussing out his mama/grandamama. Then, when the inconspicuosly named autobot "Jazz" started break dancing and introduced himself like "what up b*tches" I was threw. Maybe not the Bernie Mac scene, but the characterization of Jazz was such blatent neo-blaxploitation. Perhaps Jazz was an original Transformer from the comic but, if that was the case, please believe that there was a conscious executive decision to keep him exactly as he unfortunately was.

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written by Jamaar , July 17, 2007

Wow I've seen it all now!! We have the Al Sharpton of movie critics!! I saw Transformers and I agree that the scene with Jazz was unnecessary, but was anything more uncomfortable than Joe Pesci's line in Good Shepherd when he said, "even the niggers have their music??" I never felt more offended by a factual statement!!

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written by carl winslow , July 18, 2007

this loser obviously knows nothing about movies! this is the same guy who thought he was cyclops two years ago! now transformers, was amazing, i creamed in my pants all 3 times i saw it! order of the phoenix, amazing! compared to the book, it follows exactly, and the character development was amazing. obviously you just want there to be a game of quittage every time a harry potter movie comes out. you must be from the house of slitherin along with draco malfoy, cuz u suck! and lastly knocked up is just as funny as 40 year old virgin, it does not deserve your sympathetic 3 stars, its better than that and better than you! u know nothing "Black Cloud", nothing!

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written by T Pickens , July 22, 2007

I did a research project on stereotypes in commercials for all races and thing the saddest commentary is that execs and others rely on these stereotypes to sell everything from soap to movies. I don't have a problem with the token, the overweight grandmothers or the drug dealers. I have a problem with the fact that they seem to be the only characters used. Now if we had more romantic leads (not just in movies where the whole cast is Black), executives, lawyers , et cetera then I might feel more comfortable with the way that blacks are represented in movies. I'm looking for movies where the people represent something more than just a stereotype.

By the way, it can be done. Look at the Dove soap commercials.

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written by "Frank Abagnale" , August 12, 2007

I agree with statements about the transformer character, Jazz, being portrayed as the cool black guy. And unfortunately, he is the only one from the group that's killed...what a coincidence. But I will have to disagree with your rating. It was a excellent movie overall from start to finish.

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written by Fujiwara , October 22, 2007

Why is it so easy to bring the race card into movies? I can't say that because I'm not black, I wouldn't understand the negative stereotype involved, but you can't blame it on a single movie to further that. Take a look at society today, where black people STILL and DO talk that way. If there is any sign of negative stereotype that exists, it definitely will be in movies, but the stronger support comes from every other black person acting this way. Jazz definitely was one of the coolest autobots, and yet you'd all look beyond the fact that he was the smallest of them, not to mention oversized by Megatron, that he died simply because he was the "black guy?" Shame. The fact is, saying that if white people can enjoy watching their own kind being made fun of, other people of a different race should be able to laugh about themselves--something that will always come up depending on what can be questionable content on terms with how acceptable it is to various cultures. So, I guess if a black guy directed this film and made fun of his own kind, it would be okay? Not like a non-black person to make this film, it wouldn't, because it would be too racist. People really need to grow up and start seeing things in black and white.

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