Comments on: African Men, Hollywood Stereotypes (video)

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:57:00 +0000

To be fair, Africans in African action movies are no different.

To be sure, most action movies tend to wallow in paper-thin stereotypes. The big problem is that it’s so rare for Hollywood to made a film set in Africa which isn’t an action movie. Other ethnicities and nationalities get featured in romantic comedies, mysteries, fantasy films, teen sex romps, adventure stories, dramatic biopics, sci-fi films, period pieces, angst-filled vampire snore-fests, etc. But almost all African men depicted in film (especially black African men) are either action-movie stereotypes or an inconsequential extras.

By: robgarcia

robgarcia — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:42:00 +0000

I think I have just been stereotyped.

By: bluest_one

bluest_one — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:33:00 +0000

I think the diction of one of the guys is a little hard to understand; they probably didn’t want to make him feel bad by applying the subtitles only when he spoke.

By: benher

benher — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:34:00 +0000

Hollywood sends the same racial stereotypes down from central casting for every film imaginable. Yet another reason not to waste 120 minutes of your life ingesting one.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:46:00 +0000

:D Thanks!

By: Wreckrob8

Wreckrob8 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:03:00 +0000

What is non-accented English, please?

By: skeletoncityrepeater

skeletoncityrepeater — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:58:00 +0000

He, or She, referring to Sirkowski 2 levels above.

By: skeletoncityrepeater

skeletoncityrepeater — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:57:00 +0000

He said “African action movies”. Someone’s got their undies in a bunch..

By: zefuture

zefuture — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:44:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIfMRbb5KBQ

By: millie fink

millie fink — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:28:00 +0000

Really? African movies have no more variety than that in their portrayals of African men? Or is it that they actually do, but you’re only remembering the characters who fit the stereotypes?

By: Susan Carley Oliver

Susan Carley Oliver — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:58:00 +0000

I love that they are offering the blooper reel for as little as one Paypal’d dollar – great marketing, team!

And remember, this is the same fantastic group that brought us Call Me Hope. Keep up the good work!

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:46:00 +0000

MY first experiences with African men were the ZANU operatives in the Bay Area, with whom I worked quite closely for a number of years. Funnily enough, they were putting together arms and other resources for a revolution. YMMV.

By: Robert Baruch

Robert Baruch — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:13:00 +0000

Can’t remember where I saw this, but there was a joke with two guys talking, and one gets subtitles. He gets annoyed that he’s the one with the subtitles.

By: Sirkowski

Sirkowski — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:54:00 +0000

To be fair, Africans in African action movies are no different. And statistically, the main recurring bad guy in Hollywood movies is the American government.

By: millie fink

millie fink — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:44:00 +0000

You mean like, American girls in general? Or a certain kind?

By: ymendel

ymendel — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:07:00 +0000

The trouble is the vagueness of “by”. Maybe he means “when you live beside the machine gun, you die because of the machine gun”.

By: Drabula

Drabula — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:52:00 +0000

The first actual and protracted contact I had with a bonafide African male was during a stint in the Model United Nations at university. I found his “otherness” intriguing and he was such a natural, laid back guy, like when he casually announced that he was off to hire a prostitute one night (!)

I wish I had kept in contact with him. That one, short-lived time with him steered me towards having a decidedly positive outlook towards Africans and if anything, made me biased in their favour.

By: SedanChair

SedanChair — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:50:00 +0000

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-223210418534585840

By: vrplumber

vrplumber — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:34:00 +0000

They were in the process of filming for the Understanding American Girls Documentary series, but the entire film crew was killed. With machine guns. And rocket launchers.

By: sarah shevett

sarah shevett — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:54:00 +0000

I feel that there should be one of these for American girls..

By: Mister44

Mister44 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:46:00 +0000

I see what you did there.

By: joeposts

joeposts — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:32:00 +0000

I’m not sure if I’m confused, or you.

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:18:00 +0000

Or the bumbling main character in a sci-fi allegory of the Aparthei—oh. We’re talking about BLACK African men… never mind.

By: Josh Michaud

Josh Michaud — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:14:00 +0000

The accent is a bit thick? I’ve noticed this watching PBS docs that even when the person is speaking English, if they have a foreign or heavy regional accent they will subtitle it. Maybe some people have more difficulty understanding accented English then others?

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Ridiculous. Albino actors have filled many roles in Hollywood!

1. Ruthless Assassin
2. Minion
3. Minion to a Ruthless Assassin
4. Primary antagonist in a “Moby Dick” adaptation
5. Low-budget ghost

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:09:00 +0000

Yeah, but did you see the blooper reel? At one point they accidentally undermine the entire message by riddling the cameraman with machine gun bullets in the middle of a grim one-liner.

By: SamSam

SamSam — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:09:00 +0000

Not everyone understands all accents. Hell, I've even seen subtitles for folks from West Virginia, which I'm sure my Tanzanian friends would be very grateful for.

By: Dan Hibiki

Dan Hibiki — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:03:00 +0000

I’d suggest mixing things up, but seeing as how China is becoming quite the popular Hollywood investor the only target left are …. Tibetans. Those damn evil spontaneously combusting peasants!

By: ymendel

ymendel — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:02:00 +0000

Not just the swarthy ones. Albinos have a bum rap, too. Y’know, except for the magic ones like Powder.

By: Zelda Lin

Zelda Lin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:58:00 +0000

Why are there English subtitles? They’re SPEAKING English.