2freaky4church1 said:

I'm a person that hates stereotypes because I've been lumped into one so many times. But this movie was refreshing, you have an obviously racist old man (Clint Eastwood) and a very cultural and traditional asian(sorry I forget the mationality) family/community that is VERY VERY different to what the guy is use to. But I really didn't think he was racist, he was just a bitter old man who has a horrible family and just lost his wife and lashes out at EVERYONE, be it asian, black, latin, jew or irish. Yeah, in the end both Clint's character AND the asian family he, in the beginning, hated, culture and all...changes dramatically. In a way, giving me the hope that one day we'll break our racial boundaries like that, but we've far away from it now.

Its a slipperly slope to call ppl who consider this movie racist, overly sensitive, but I do think Spike is a bit on the sensitive side. I mean, he ragged on Pulp Fiction, come on man. Sure we have stereotypes and they are wrong, but I think when we point them out like it was done in the movie, you realize that MAYBE we're wrong about our pre-conceived notions about other races/nationalities/sexual preferences. HA, the Rocky, 'if i can change, you can change, everyone can change' motto I guess I'm going for. Thats what I went away when watching the film at least. Just my opinion.....

jone70 said:

Umm, do I remember reading in the Bible that Jesus gets shot 20 times with handguns and rifles. Sorry, but I think you both are reading too much into it.

PANDURITO said:

Good for you. Thank God everyone can think for themselves.

And to answer your question Eyup:

“People have lost their sense of humour. In former times we constantly made jokes about different races. You can only tell them today with one hand over your mouth or you will be insulted as a racist.” “I find that ridiculous. In those earlier days every friendly clique had a ‘Sam the Jew’ or ‘Jose the Mexican’ – but we didn’t think anything of it or have a racist thought. It was just normal that we made jokes based on our nationality or ethnicity. That was never a problem. I don’t want to be politically correct. We’re all spending too much time and energy trying to be politically correct about everything.”

Make of it what you will.

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW

Finally saw it, after debating for months about it whenever I'd infrequently pop into the video store.

I thought it would be a rehash of his Dirty Harry movies, shooting indiscriminately at mostly nonwhite thugs.

That element is there, but the movie is about change -- or, to be more accurate, the appearance of change.

Eastwood's character is about honor and being honorable. His life is all about preserving and defending honor. What he did in the war made him feel dishonorable (despite what he tells the priest). The climax is all about him doing something to feel honorable again. Hence the way he lands (arms outstretched. I get what same say about that pose. But it was sacrificial -- and he had to land to let the lighter come out).

Between this movie, "I Am Legend" and "Seven Pounds," I'm thinking about the prevalence of messianic movies that feature men sacrificing themselves

KoolEaze said:

just cuz U can crack a racial joke don't make U a racist...that's a silly train og thought. There's humor in truth/ignorance/tragedy...anything can be funny, depending on the perspective.



like this joke.:

a plane is weighed down and is going to crash if it doesn't drop some of it's weight. So the pilot drops all the luggage but that didn't help. So he tells the passengers the situation and that some of them will have to jump out of the plane. He tells them they will got alphabetically. A black mother and daughter hear this and the mother quickly thinks of a plan.

The pilot requests that the african americans please jump off the plane. The daughter says "Ma...ain't we african american?" The mother replies with a simple "no."

The plane is still going down,, so the pilot request that the black people....please jump of the plane. The little girl says, "ma...ain't we black?" The mother again replies with a simple "no."

With the plane STILL headed south, the pilot requests that the "colored" people please jump off the plane. The daughter says, "ma...aren't we considered to be colored people?" The mother replies, "no baby...today, we're niggers, the Mexican's can jump before we do!"


Now that's a fairly racist joke, but if U remain open to other peoples perspectives and relate them with your own...U should at least crack a smirk.


Racist jokes have their place in the world...not a BIG place, but a place none the less.


all that said...MOST racist jokes r just tasteless.

How is me being open to others' perspective and relate them to my own supposed to make that joke funny to me?

Vendetta1 said:

well not everyone is african american. A white person may gravitate towards the N-word and find taboo humor in it. Some may find humor in the superiority issue going one. Take those issues and relate them with your own/my own african american/black/colored/nigger experiences and I find humor in the "fuck symantics...i'll be a nigger in your eyes, as long as I ain't a dead one...eiter way I know who i am and I'm alive regardless of what U think." aspect of the joke. Their perspective can therefore give strength to the punch-line.


is that joke not funny to U in any way....




There's no way around dave Chappelle's joke about the black white-spremacist divorcing his wife because she was a nigger lover being funny. It's just funny, there's no way around it. If U can't find humor in that...U're taking yourself too seriously.



then again U may find both jokes funny and are just specifically asking me about the issues mentioned.

BobGeorge909 said:

Thank you for the explanation. I understand your point even if I don't agree with all of it.

rudedog said:

No, Jesus didn't get shot 20 times, but Walt Kowalski fell back in just a too perfect pose of Christ on the cross. If a guy was shot in real life like that I'm pretty sure his arms and legs would be all akimbo. I'm fairly certain that the way Walt fell back was a conscious decision on Clint Eastwood The Director's part, to tie in with the young preacher's efforts to get Walt to confession, which his dead wife wanted so much for him. The fall back was symbolic of Walt's sacrifice for the cause of good a la Jesus Christ. And I still say that was heavy-handed filmmaking.

markpeg said:

I think rudedog was being sarcastic. I'm sure we know that Jesus was not shot with handguns and rifles, if by no other way than realizing firearms did not exist thousands of years ago.

rudedog said:

Very nicely said. I think you captured the essence of the movie perfectly. It was a great movie and very well acted by everyone. I walked away from it feeling the same way you did.

2freaky4church1 said:

I haven't seen it yet. Still on the fence whether I want to or not, not because of content, just haven't decided whether I'm interested enough.

I love Spike Lee movies and I'll admit I haven't watched the earlier ones in some time, but...didn't he include a stereotypical EYEtalian or three in them? Not to mention Rosie who's a breathin/walkin/talkin stereotype and has made a solid career of it. She never bothered to lose her accent (or speak proper English for that matter ) to stretch as an actress. She just embraced her stereotypical Noooyawkrican image and rolled with it.

Stereotypes generally come from a place of truth. The minority gangbanger, the black neck-rollin' woman goin off on someone, the Italian mob crook, the Southern racist, the Middle Eastern cabbie, the Frugal Jew, the Flaming gay hairdresser... For better or worse these people usually do exist. Including a stereotype in a film/book/art doesn't necessarily mean the artist is saying all people of that given group are that.

Ok, maybe if we're talking Mel Gibson.

I will say that the movie did talk about race in a refreshing way for once, beyond my worries, certainly better than overrated tripe like Crash or worse, John Singleton's Higher Learning.

The Ice Cube and Busta Rymes charactors were assholes. Didn't excuse the guy becoming a nazi, but there ya are..lol

I saw it and loved it. Laughed at the exchanges between Walt and his barber!! People who have issues with racial remarks are taking things too seriously. I'm not OLD either!

2freaky4church1 said:

Yes you are!!

SUPRMAN said:

Yah many ppl have taken certain parts of this movie way too seriously and it sucks there is so much PC surrounding the race issue.

meow85 said:

Just saw it this past weekend and I agree