This movie is racist!!!!
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AlexSefton — 9 years ago(December 10, 2016 11:28 AM)
People were always a lot more open about their prejudices in the old days. They used ethnic slurs openly.
They did this for the wrong reasons, because they feel invincible not because they feel honesty is best.
The internet is a double-edged sword, though. While it does allow people to be exposed to more and different people and cultures, it does also encourage people with false beliefs to find each other and reinforce their bad behavior.
Although "false beliefs" is subjective to everyone, I agree with your point about people finding each other and reinforcing negative behaviours. This is why I believe that good well-educated adults also have the responsibility to go online and put contents on the internet with the aim to educate youngsters, the same way as a teacher or a parent would in their own society. This isn't
forcing
your belief to other people or brainwashing children or anything. It's simply mature adults being more involved in the mental and psychological development of the younger generation, not just in real life but also on the internet. I'm not talking about telling people off over the internet. But by giving advice or simply having a civilised discussion like you and I have done so far. We have a role in showing exemplary attitude which, if done in a macro scale, would have an impact on how our society would evolve. -
bing-57 — 9 years ago(December 11, 2016 10:11 AM)
by giving advice or simply having a civilised discussion like you and I have done so far.
I usually a less altruistic reason for having civilized discourse with racists; nothing pisses them off more than debating someone who won't take the bait and swear with them.
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)? -
AlexSefton — 9 years ago(December 11, 2016 11:37 PM)
I don't mean pissing off racists or anyone. I mean trying to counter the negativity that is spreading around through the cyber world. To try and influence more people to act more positive that's all.
To be honest, I'm not a good example of positive attitude myself. But I just think that if we don't even try at all, the world will become worse and worse.
You know, most people aren't aware that each year we see an increasing number of bullying, hate crime, and depression. People are more and more apathetic to one another. I believe there's a real concern in the decline of the moral of society. -
Stevicus-2 — 9 years ago(December 05, 2016 12:44 PM)
Unless you grew up in the 80s, you wouldn't understand. There was a large influx of Asian culture into the "new wave" of 80s (Japanese character letters, songs, clothes). The movie was simply a reflection of that.
I would also mention that during the 70s, there was a brief period when a certain kind of politically incorrect (by today's standard) humor was generally accepted and not viewed as intentionally derisive. Desegregation was still in process, and any overt or outright bigotry or racial animosity was opposed. Most people could tell the difference between someone who was an outright bigot as opposed to someone who's just cracking a few off-color jokes.
As for Asian culture and stereotypes, I'm reminded of an old episode of the "Our Gang" series in which one of the kids' mother is pregnant and about to have her fourth child. Just by coincidence, the kid reads in one of his schoolbooks that "every fourth child born is Chinese," which would have been true back then (as a proportion of global birth rates). But he's a kid, so he reasons that this must mean that his mother's new baby will be born Chinese. The kid freaks out, and wonders what he's going to do. One of the other kids (Spanky, I think) tells him of a Chinese family he knew of, "and they're swell," according to Spanky. So, nothing to worry about, since Chinese people are swell. They go and visit this family and play with the Chinese kid and talk to the parents, who are constantly quoting Confucius. Now, that came off as your "stereotypical" Chinese family as it would have been viewed in the 1930s and 40s. -
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bhilburn — 11 years ago(June 08, 2014 05:00 PM)
There are at least another dozen threads on this subject here.
Racist? no
PC? who cares
Funny? hell yeah?
Goooooonnnnnnnnggggggggg!!!!
"check the imdb cast list before asking who portrayed who in movies please" -
ItsEddieHaskellBeyotch — 11 years ago(August 24, 2014 11:45 PM)
Hughes was just showing how racially insensitive upper middle class whites can be concerning their relations with other ethnic types. Basically he wrote what he knew having been born and bred in that environment.
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When there's no more room in Hollywood, remakes shall walk the Earth.
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aping46052 — 11 years ago(November 12, 2014 06:30 AM)
Read tge trivia section. The Asian actor who played the Asian character, did the audition in a mock if Korean, then spoke PERFECT English. So if there was any racism it was done by Asian actor. Typical liberal response, I don't like something so it's whatever ism fits what you want to see.
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sugar_glazed — 11 years ago(February 24, 2015 02:13 PM)
The part that I found racist was when Sam and her friend were talking about Trans-Ams and boys. Sam says she wants a black one to which her friend responds in a shocked/horrified tone "black guy?!" Sam reassures her she wants a black Trans-am and a pink guy. Her friend sighs in relief. Wow.
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first-things-first — 10 years ago(April 19, 2015 03:22 PM)
It's not as politically correct today. The Black Guy reference, the Asian jokes, the Italian reference, her breast size, the geek, teens having sex, and the inappropriate reference to male homosexuals wouldn't make it today. But I don't think John Hughes was racist, he saw an opportunity to make fun of a lot of people. He was in it for the laughs. So if you got the laugh, it was okay. It's when people are in it to hurt people that we stop laughing. I remember a post that said labels were used to hurt people in some movies. They made fun of you if you were different. That's hateful. Here, they were looking for laughs, 80's style. It might look like an exploitation movie, making fun of teenagers. But if you accept that going in, then it's for the laughs. Like all the 80's horror flicks, you go in knowing the teens will not survive.
Your second life is never like your first. Sometimes it's even better -
scott-sw — 10 years ago(May 23, 2015 06:53 AM)
People need to stop using the word "racist." It is overused and has lost meaning. Asides from that, we equate it with prejudice and bigotry and there is a difference. We are not going to make any progress on the issue unless as a society we can tell the difference.
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MargiePax — 10 years ago(June 04, 2015 07:22 PM)
I don't think the Asian character was represented in a racist way. He was a horny teenage foreign exchange student. He could have been German, Nigerian, French, Argentinian or whatever. Sure, the grandparents made racist comments and treated him more like a house servant than an exchange student. But it was pretty minor and the norm for that generation back in the 1980s. That was the point.
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phyre_Iyz — 10 years ago(July 03, 2015 06:34 AM)
Exactly. If anything it showed that Dong was just an average teenager and the grandparents who hosted him has issues. He hooks up with a chick, parties, gets drunk, and is hung over the next morning. Pretty typical teenager for the time.