what should we fight about? this board has been dead. can we do uncomfortable questions tuesday?
i had a thought this weekend... is i am sam offensive? are we going to look at people playing mentally challenged characters the same way i look at people in blackface?
Re: the dramatic thread
but you could say the same thing about old movies featuring actors in blackface. not all of them were minstrel shows. the first films adapted from uncle tom's cabin featured actors in blackface, and that work is credited with sparking the civil war. even though it's full of racial stereotypes, it got people thinking about emancipation.
i cried over i am sam. i just saw it last year, after i became a parent. i don't think penn set out to exploit a stereotype, but there are scenes where the audience is invited to laugh at sam and his problems. it seems like exactly the same thing to me.
i know! that's my favorite part of the whole movie.
where are all the usual concern trolls? do we only care about racism here?
Yup. No, really, I think I agree with Meganne (whoever she is?)
I loved that movie. It was eye opening.
I think its different from black face because... well, I don't know. It just is
having spoken to my favorite resource about everything... my mommy says it's not different, and every role should go to the best actor, no matter what the discrepancy might be between the character and the actor.
i kind of agree, if we lived in a color blind world, that would be nice. i don't know what the rationale is for disapproving of black face. is it just offensive on its uh, face? is it about keeping african americans out of the film industry? i don't know what to apply here.
and this seems related... i found borat very offensive. i don't know why it was ok for sbc to mince around in immigrant face, when the real country he claimed to be from was pissed off about it and had no recourse whatsoever.
I think historically blackface was used to mock African Americans, so that's why it is offensive.
I also found Borat extremely offensive and stupid.
Maybe its the intent? Maybe it was the respectful manner in how the subject matter was treated?
I don't know. I just see a major difference. And I'm incredibly sensitive to the challenges of the differently abled.
oh i believe you. i also believe that sean penn would like to be also. it's just that the more i think about it, the more i think they are the same.
as another example, people have recommended the show "monk" to me, because my sister has ocd. they think it is a sensitive portrayal of the condition.
it isn't. i think there is a massive disconnect here, and i'm just trying to figure out how that works.
I can see where you are coming from. I definitely don't think that "monk" is an accurate portrayal of ocd. I guess maybe "sam" isn't an accurate portrayal either. I wonder what the statistics are of people in that situation-- parents with mental challenges raising children on their own.
I guess I think that there were some parts of the movie that were really striking and made you stop and think. To me that is different than a show like "monk" or even a character like tom on "secret life." those characters are meant to do nothing but entertain...
but, i don't have to deal with the issues of an adult with challenges on a daily basis. maybe its way off base.
i'm still going with the intent argument.