Supposedly this movie is racist
The busy bodies see "black youth" when the Gremlins eat fried chicken. Could it be the person seeing the racism is...actually the racist?
shareWell, after seeing the replies to this post (Including my own) I decided to do what SandyR said and google it. Sure enough there are a few things to read but this one says the same thing OP said:
https://www.indiewire.com/2012/06/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-joe-dantes-gremlins-109725/
"5. According to some, the film is super-racist.
Not everyone fell for the film, however. At the time, and for years afterwards, criticism that the movie used the gremlins as a racist caricature of black youth emerged. In her seminal “Ceramic Uncles & Celluloid Mammies,” Patricia Turner pointed to the creatures eating fried chicken, breakdancing to hip-hop, and wearing newsboy caps and dark glasses at night as reflecting “negative African-American stereotypes,” and as recently as this year, Complex Magazine labelled it as one of the 50 most racist films ever made. One of the strengths of the film, arguably, is the mutable nature of the creatures; most took it as a critique of capitalism, rather than a racially-targeted message, but it does strike somewhat of a sour note on a rewatch (although nothing compared to, say, “Transformers 2“). Certainly when you’re being defended by the horrible assholes of white supremacist site Stormfront, it’s hard to feel that you’re on the right side of history."
Now had you posted that link or something similar in your original post you would most likely have had less people calling you a liar. Just some advice for future posts, take it or leave it 😊
I still stand by my original post that this is all getting so old. There is always someone offended by something.
That article is a lot of "It's been reported that a book by someone says that some have said it was seen by people to be racist."
You never hear these actual people being cited. It's always through about two or three layers of "Yeah that probably could have happened, and now that it's been said....."
Nothing at all that warrants "This film is racist now."
This belongs in the forum for people who are pre-occuppied with the tiny minority of gas bags who will make a study out of anything remotely controversial. It has nothing to do with Gremlins.
breakdancing to hip-hop
Here is song that is playing during the break dancing scene. In what world is this considered hip hop?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1XYBafAOf0
If you have to lie to get your point across, it probably wasn't a very strong point in the first place. share
Honestly, I find the whole thing ridiculous. Patricia Turner needs to find something better to do with her life rather than look for racism everywhere.
shareShe literally wrote a book about this, so there is financial incentive for her to stretch anything that she can in to racism. Who knows if she really even believes this, or if she tried to start controversy to sell her book.
shareWow, I didn't know that she wrote a book. I had never heard of her before or after this, so I have no idea how much she believes in her accusations. I mean everyone is entitled to their opinion but you won't see me in line to buy her book.
To be perfectly honest I am sick to death of the racism card being played everywhere. People wanting old movies to be edited to remove certain scenes, jokes, etc is absolutely ridiculous and should not be allowed. Literature being removed from schools because they have deemed them racist. Such things can be used as a learning tool if desired.