Michael Bay Puts a Bounty on Racist Transformers

[Druyn]

Oh, I think I spotted them

Thats obviously fake. There aren't nearly enough explosions for that to be a Michael Bay movie. Also, I noticed a distinct lack of slow motion boobies.

 

[YOUM@D123]

I'd rather he give that 25 000 dollars to anyone who can spot a Transformer in the new Transformers film. Or one that isn't partially obscured by a ball of flame or a piece of US Military hardware.

That's a good point.

Also, I've heard that Megan Fox won't be in the movie, which I think is a bad move. I could tell her apart from everyone else, and her character was less annoying and cliched.

...were we watching the same movie?

 

[TheRealCJ]

I'd rather he give that 25 000 dollars to anyone who can spot a Transformer in the new Transformers film. Or one that isn't partially obscured by a ball of flame or a piece of US Military hardware.

That's a good point.

Also, I've heard that Megan Fox won't be in the movie, which I think is a bad move. I could tell her apart from everyone else, and her character was less annoying and cliched.

You mean the badass mechanic chick with daddy issues and the inability to have her life validated unless Shia Lebouf says that he loves her?

Yeah, totally not cliche.

 

[Thaluikhain]

You'll note I said "less" cliched. Possibly this was too subtle a dig at more or less everything in those movies.

 

[pieguy259]

I heard if you play Transformers: Dark of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz at the same time, there's a bunch of freaky coincidences.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I'm not sure Bay really needs to resort to cheap stunts to get people to come and watch Dark of the Moon. Remember, Revenge of the Fallen made back its entire $200 million production budget in less than a week.

Then why did he name a specific amount for the bet? Oh yeah, because all of the Transformer nerds (what is their name?) will then get the DVD and the Blu Ray, no matter how bad the film is. And spend hours looking for them. $25,000 payout for that level of sales? He'd be a fool not to edit them back in.

Hollywood never makes bets without a reason.

I'm still not getting the part where it makes sense to edit them back in. Read the article again. He doesn't say he'll pay the first person to spot them, he says he'll play anyone that spots them.

Golden Ticket time. One copy has them edited back in. That "lucky winner" gets 25,000. More people pore over the video.

Opening Weekend of Transformers: $109 million
Short "fracas" with a "deleted preview", 9 hours later he has adverts in 39 different columns.

Possible increase in sales: Let's say .1%. That's $100,000. That's paid for 4 people to find it.

Hollywood are having trouble selling DVD/Blu Ray on the day of release though, so why not add something into one of them to boost their sales exponentially.

I'm not saying he HAS done that, but he'd be a damn fool not to consider it. Especially as he can later deny them.

$25,000 does seem a very strange number to pull out of the air though. I'd have said a million or so if I was asked off-guard.

 

[loodmoney]

Oh, I think I spotted them

Spoiler: image

Thats obviously fake. There aren't nearly enough explosions for that to be a Michael Bay movie. Also, I noticed a distinct lack of slow motion boobies.

Well, if you squint, the bloom of the explosion in the lower right (where the orange robot is) kind of looks like a boobie. And it's a still, which is the slowest kind of motion there is.

That $25 000 is as good as yours, Ranorak.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

How can we tell? I mean they all look alike.

 

[Belated]

If you looked at those two Transformers and thought "black people", you are the racist here. Not the guy who designed them. And yet, we all did. We all saw the resemblance to stereotypes. Why? Because we're all a little bit racist. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbud8rLejLM]

But y'see, movie characters like Skids and Mudflap, or Jar Jar Binks, we should not be trying to avoid them. We should allow them, and try to avoid thinking of them as racially-charged. Treat their personalities, not as racially-charged, but as unique personalities that just happen to resemble old stereotypes. Treat it like coincidence and nothing more.

Stop. Do not suspend me for this post. There is nothing wrong with any of it. Everybody IS a little bit racist. And "black people" is not an offensive term as long as "white people" is still acceptable, which it is. And that song wasn't inappropriate either. Though it is meant for comedy, there is truth in it and it can be informative.

 

[YOUM@D123]

If you looked at those two Transformers and thought "black people", you are the racist here. Not the guy who designed them. And yet, we all did. We all saw the resemblance to stereotypes. Why? Because we're all a little bit racist. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbud8rLejLM]

But y'see, movie characters like Skids and Mudflap, or Jar Jar Binks, we should not be trying to avoid them. We should allow them, and try to avoid thinking of them as racially-charged. Treat their personalities, not as racially-charged, but as unique personalities that just happen to resemble old stereotypes. Treat it like coincidence and nothing more.

Stop. Do not suspend me for this post. There is nothing wrong with any of it. Everybody IS a little bit racist. And "black people" is not an offensive term as long as "white people" is still acceptable, which it is. And that song wasn't inappropriate either. Though it is meant for comedy, there is truth in it and it can be informative.

thats cool and all. but lets drop the whole ''race'' thing.and conclude they were just overall annoying characters...

 

[The Human Torch]

I never thought of them as racist, but more as annoying. Then again, I am a white guy from the Netherlands, I am all that into all the racial stereotypes that America has.

Anyway, bet accepted.

 

[Arkvoodle]

Check please.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Out of curiosity, what was his justification for putting them in the other one in the first place? They were godawful characters that did nothing but irritate and aggravate. For a series of movies that unironically slaughters the stereotyped or ethnic characters, what is the point of having anything like them? They're not even stereotypes. They are the caricatures of stereotypes, embodying everything that we have moved past, or should move past. So what was his paltry reason for including them anyway?

 

[Ranorak]

Oh, I think I spotted them

Spoiler

Thats obviously fake. There aren't nearly enough explosions for that to be a Michael Bay movie. Also, I noticed a distinct lack of slow motion boobies.

you're right, and I forgot to paste in the American flag and tanks, too.

 

[Ellen of Kitten]

It's a pretty safe bet that the Twins aren't in Dark of the Moon:

I dunno, if I was a washed out hack trying desperately to get people to watch my latest series of explosions, I might balance 2000 extra movie tickets against 25,000 extra people to watch the movie. Especially as I could then include them in the next film as a "treat to the fans".

I'm not sure Bay really needs to resort to cheap stunts to get people to come and watch Dark of the Moon. Remember, Revenge of the Fallen made back its entire $200 million production budget in less than a week.

Interjecting myself here.

You might have a point there, but... I'm personally not going to watch his movie. I felt like this was a flimsy way to trick people to come to opening night to try to win something. Whether or not it was, isn't really relevant. Even if they were in the movie, Bay has the power to have them cut before the final version ships. So it's not even a serious challenge.

The only way you'll get me to watch this 3rd movie is if Bay retro's it up. Classic Optimus, classic Megatron, classic Starscream, ditches or heavily downplays the human element. Or have an MST3k version. I'll watch that.

 

[General_Potatoes]

They probably not in there but that doesn't stop me from trying.

 

[Sonicron]

Speaking as someone who mostly enjoyed the previous films, I'm looking forward to the new one, especially seeing how Megan Fox and the Twins won't be in it, and the review from that first press screening makes it sound significantly better than the other instalments.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

If you looked at those two Transformers and thought "black people", you are the racist here. Not the guy who designed them. And yet, we all did. We all saw the resemblance to stereotypes. Why? Because we're all a little bit racist. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbud8rLejLM]

But y'see, movie characters like Skids and Mudflap, or Jar Jar Binks, we should not be trying to avoid them. We should allow them, and try to avoid thinking of them as racially-charged. Treat their personalities, not as racially-charged, but as unique personalities that just happen to resemble old stereotypes. Treat it like coincidence and nothing more.

Stop. Do not suspend me for this post. There is nothing wrong with any of it. Everybody IS a little bit racist. And "black people" is not an offensive term as long as "white people" is still acceptable, which it is. And that song wasn't inappropriate either. Though it is meant for comedy, there is truth in it and it can be informative.

I had to stop at "Jar Jar Binks" and "We should allow them."

It's not recommended to argue for two hated characters by bringing up an even more despised character and saying "we should allow them."

You are correct in the point "that we're all a little bit racist."

Look at my name. I work with kids. They can see race as well. There's a long debate whether it's is taught by peers or naturally learned, but the fact is that they notice differences and can't "treat it like coincidence." Kids as young as six know that Skids, Mudflap, and Jar Jar Binks have the characteristics of real ethnic groups. They also agree that these three are the most annoying characters.

Whether racialist thinking is passed on through nature or nurture I think that perpetuating these stereotypes through the media is extremely damaging for children and society overall. ESPECIALLY in the case of Skids, Mudflap, and Jar Jar which were deliberately created to appeal to and marketed with towards children. It sends the wrong message to impressionable youth: that is okay to make fun of others.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

I'm not sure Bay really needs to resort to cheap stunts to get people to come and watch Dark of the Moon. Remember, Revenge of the Fallen made back its entire $200 million production budget in less than a week.

Then why did he name a specific amount for the bet? Oh yeah, because all of the Transformer nerds (what is their name?) will then get the DVD and the Blu Ray, no matter how bad the film is. And spend hours looking for them. $25,000 payout for that level of sales? He'd be a fool not to edit them back in.

Hollywood never makes bets without a reason.

I'm still not getting the part where it makes sense to edit them back in. Read the article again. He doesn't say he'll pay the first person to spot them, he says he'll play anyone that spots them.

So one person finds them, posts it on the Internet, then an extra billion people find them, and Michael Bay is bankrupt and in severe debt forever?

However beautiful an idea it is, I'm with Logan on this one. It'd be an unbelievably stupid move on Bay's part. I think it was just an exaggerative joke...