The Big Picture: Skin Deep

MovieBob

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Skin Deep

Sometimes embracing a double standard is the right thing to do.

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Aiddon_v1legacy

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Nov 19, 2009
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well said Bob, well said. Our pop culture is about as white as a chalk factory and that needs to be fixed. Hell, I expect to get some flack in my writings since I have an Arab and an Asian
 

Mr. Omega

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Jul 1, 2010
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Strange, my mind-reading powers function on Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day. And thus everyone's thoughts are translated to pirate-speak...

OT: Agreed. I don't like double standards, but sometimes it's not a matter of it being the RIGHT solution, but being the BEST solution.
 

Vault Citizen

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As a comic book fan the reason why I rejected the idea of a black spiderman and why I'd probably dislike a black Batman is that personally speaking I can be a bit of a nut for detail. More simply put I like it better when they match and when they don't it annoys me in the same way it might annoy a neat freak if a fork is out of place or something.
 

Enoasai

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Mar 5, 2011
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Naturally Ponyville is an ideal world; why didn't I notice it before?

All jokes aside, this was a rather good episode. I do think you're right overall about embracing the double standard, although I would say that there are some (Note: very few) characters for whom changing race effects the character (i.e. their motivations/psychological profile/background heavily rely on their race, for example someone being a Hitler Youth as a child, and that informing their actions as an adult), and in those case race does matter.
 

brazuca

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Well the Hollywood thing is quite worse for asian than for black people. Just point me 3 movies where asian are not supposed to be a gang, a group of martial artists or both?
You are right, however since Thor is not a retelling of nordic culture well... Let it slide. Because if it were about it, than it would be racist. White people did colonialism. BUT not all white the same. You know, my non american forum readers, europeans. Did you get offended if someone mistake a portuguese for a spanish, french for a german, italian from a greek. Point in case.
 

Thaluikhain

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I disagree that the history of racism is relevant, as such. It's only the racism that exists in society now that matters. However, that's just a minor quibble.

In general, though, surely the main thrust of the argument is so blatantly obvious so as to not be worth saying? It's always staggering that entitlement can blind people to reality so thoroughly.
 

Prof. Monkeypox

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I wasn't mad about the race swapping in "Airbender" for it's own sake. I was mad because in the series, the good guys were Tibetan/Chinese/Native American, etc. While the bad guys were Japanese. It was ethnically mixed and the constant shifting of alliances made it impossible that any one race was depicted "better" than the other.
Then in the movie that shall not be named, the good guys were light, and the bad guys were dark (except for the token Magic Negro in Monk Gyatso)- completely undermining that whole aspect. It was actually poisonous to the racial character of cinema, while Avatar (the good Avatar) actually took steps to elevate it.

Anyway. I personally don't understand why it's such a big deal writing believable black characters, though maybe I'm missing something.
 

Elijah Newton

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*applause* Straight and to the point; excellent as usual.

I also want to point out that initially I really didn't like the stock faces used during the Big Picture. Either they've grown on me or you've become more adroit at using them effectively but in this episode they honestly made me chuckle. Well done.
 

Ancientgamer

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Totally agree bob.

The inherent need of contradiction for a moral society to exist in this fucked up world has been something philosophers have pretty much agreed on for what, the past hundred years or so? Without these so called double standers, human civilization wouldn't last to much longer.
 

Harveypot

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Very well said Bob. This was much needed in the aftermath of Thor (which was brilliant) and the casting of Elba (who was brilliant).
 

rancher of monsters

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First, is MovieBob a brony? Awesome!

Second, I really have to agree with this. As someone who hates Tyler Perry movies, my choices are even more limited if I want to see black movies, or movies with a substantial black cast or character who isn't an idiot. Hell, they don't even come out with the as many Asian kung fu movies as they used to. I appreciate continuity as much as the next nerd, but it's nice to have the occasional character who looks like me in the realm of superheroes. I'll always draw the line on historical changes, there should never be a Benjamin Franklin movie starring Cedric the entertainer, but I thought that black heimdall was cool, and he did a good job.
 

mcnally86

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I wish he went into Air-bender a bit more. I really want to know why all the Eskimo people were turned into English folk. It doesn't really make sense to have the whitest of people up there. I mean if they needed to hire white people put them somewhere else not into "tribes" in the Arctic. You can get a wicked sunburn off snow and they were super pale. I think the movie would have done better if not for them. Magic dancing ok, but pre-industrial revolution sunblock that's unbelievable.
 

Sylocat

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Nov 13, 2007
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Finally, someone comes right out and SAYS this stuff, without having to couch it with that pathetic "Now, I'm no fan of political correctness, but..." sidestepping.
 

lokun489

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I was left wanting to hear more of his opinion on the episode darn, maybe a continue next week?