Who's to Blame for 'Transformers' Controversy?
This blog post was contributed by Julie Chung, ZIO editorial assistant.
What made people think that two of the characters of the newTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie, Skids and Mudflap, are stereotypically black? Is it the big ears, buck teeth, or the fact that they can't read that gives it away? (By the way, what fictitious robots can't read, honestly). The urban slang is one thing, but is the gold tooth really necessary?
This inherent racism isn't bothering anybody apparently, with Transformers crushing the Wednesday box office record with its $60 million dollar opening day. Portrayed by voice actors, Tom Kenny (who also plays Spongebob Squarepants) an
d Reno Wilson (who's African-American), the characterization of Skids and Mudflap was said to be led by the film's director Michael Bay, by the two voice actors themselves. Bay responded by saying that the cartoonish tendencies of the two robots were developed based on the improv work of the two voice actors and what they thought would fit the characters. So...whose idea was it to add in the gold tooth? Furthermore, Bay's defense was that he intended for the characters to appeal to kids, without having any concern of how this would affect the audience's reaction to the obvious black demeanor the two robots carry. The screenwriters of the film, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, admit they were surprised and somewhat ashamed when they saw the outcome of the development of the two characters, but they told Film School Rejects, "if anything, it just shows you that we don't control every aspect of the the movie" (via slashfilm.com).
Comments
Racism in the controversy?
June 29, 2009 - 9:27am — crob (not verified)Ok, so there is one major problem with this racism claim. No matter what the animator’s had in mind when creating the characters one fact remains…**they are not actually black!** (in color I mean). So by saying this is racist against blacks is implying that you believe those things are true of a black person and so you believe these characters represent a black person.
"Is it the big ears, buck teeth, or the fact that they can't read that gives it away?"
Really? Those things give away the fact that the characters are supposed to be black?
I've read a couple articles about this and I find it odd that this hasn't dawned on any of people crying racism about these characters.
That's an intriguing argument
June 30, 2009 - 10:58am — Jim RohnerAdditionally, it's also worth noting that it doesn't seem as though any of the racism claims are being raised by any minority group or organization. You'll read all about the racism on film websites all over the web, but I haven't read anything (though that's not to say it doesn't exist) from the NAACP or any such group decrying the film.
Skids and Mudflap
November 3, 2009 - 5:54pm — Anonymous (not verified)OMG. Are you people serious. These two characters had me laughing my butt off, not because they used slag when they talked, or one had a gold tooth or big ears. They were just funny characters who were twin brothers and faught like brothers.
So I am native american, if I get a gold tooth, does that make me a racist? My spouces little brother has big ears, does that make him racist? And they could read honestly. Just not old prime language. HELLO!!! I can't read korean or chinese or even spainish but that doesn't mean I am dumb or racist. Give this a rest!
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