MovieChat Forums > Cool Runnings (1993) Discussion > A JAMAICAN'S opinion of this movie

A JAMAICAN'S opinion of this movie

posted 16 years ago by redtape2
82 replies | jump to latest

I'm not sure why no one has posted this yet, but there were two things which struck me as blatantly obvious and I was not able to ignore them, so they ended up helping to ruin the movie for me. Both of them involved stereotypes of Jamaicans which I keep seeing in movies; and they annoy the hell out of me and a couple other Jamaicans.

The first one is the fake accents, which are driving me CRAZY. Now this takes a small amount of time to get to you since the first couple of times it comes off as amusing, and then afterward, when you begin to notice that Jamaicans who are portrayed in every movie acts like this, it borders on INSULTING. For example, after being on the earth for nearly 20 years I'm yet to hear an actual Jamaican saying "mon" after every sentence, unless they're mocking Hollywood's interpretation of Jamaican patois. Why does Hollywood never use Jamaican actors since American actors obviously can't imitate Jamaican patois well??? Hell, forget about the patois! They can't even get the accent itself right. So, this ends up where whenever I travel to the United States people keep asking me why I don't talk like they do in movies, and then telling me that I'm not Jamaican...

The second most annoying thing is how the Jamaican way of life, people and culture are portrayed on screen and thus, in this movie. We're portrayed as dirt poor and dirty Rastafarians even though our country is majority Christian, and we keep ourselves clean. We always live on the beach in shacks, even though most people don't live near the coast. I've even had people in the United States ask me if I live in a tree...Too many people, and not one of them were joking... Our women are always overweight and on their way to the market in long skirts...We have no sources of technology and everything is backward even though a large percentage of the population own cell phones for example...

Oh these are only a few, but what I'm really trying to say is that I hated this movie because of the stereotypes reinforced. Admit it. You'd feel like this too if your country kept being portrayed like this, and it seems a number of people from certain countries believe nothing else but what they see on television.

[–] Prodigious1one 16 years ago

Hi. I'm sorry that the movie displeases you. I understand your anger. I'm Haitian-Honduran, so I can relate to you, because sometimes people think that Haitians are backward and dirt poor. That's not the entire truth, that's just what the majority of the international media say about the country. They have a limited perspective on the country unless something really striking goes on, like the kidnappings from two years ago. That ended well, because none of the wealthy children kidnapped were harmed and some of the kidnappers were caught and punished.

Well, perhaps the movie was delivered in a way to please the American audience of 1993 when the film came out. Your attitude today makes sense because the current mood is to respect different cultures and to allow them to express themselves truthfully without strong stereotypes. Also the movie was done in the perspective of the late 1980s, so maybe the way of life in Jamaica was still as it was presented in the film. Also most of the movie is done in the countryside of Jamaica. Maybe country Jamaicans speak as they were portrayed in the movie and behave similarly, having less technology and such.

Remember that wide use of the cellphone is a recent phenomenon. It has existed since the late 1970s, but it was too expensive back then for many people to own one. Today (2009) it's very easy for many people to own one.

Also, I notice in the movie that some of the characters speak without a strong accent. Some of them speak similarly to the English like the elderly gentleman who is in charge of the Jamaican Olympic Committee. Also Derese's girlfriend.

[–] pc94707 13 years ago

Prodigious1one.......re your last paragraph - that's the whole point !

The actors you say dont have a strong accent are Jamaicans, and this is how we normally speak.

And as for the "mon" thing, this is just another example of the typical American's inability to pronounce the vowel "a" correctly - such as PALM, which most Americans pronounce PAUM.

[–] the_la_baker 10 years ago

like the kidnappings from two years ago. That ended well, because none of the wealthy children kidnapped were harmed

Well, as long as the rich kids were okay... The poor ones had it coming.

[–] Lanraso 16 years ago

I know what ya mean man, Im from South-Africa and im white, whenever I talk to anyone outside the borders they ask me why I am a racist, if there's any lions in my neigbourhood, and if I've ever heard of television.

[–] jbridgman11 16 years ago

I'm sure it is probably a little insulting, but I am from Arkansas, so I have heard all of the toothless inbred hillbilly jokes. However, I love both Sling Blade and Deliverance. Sling Blade, actually set in Arkansas, could easily offend me because of its portrayal of the locals. Deliverance is set in the deep South, and looking at message boards you get plenty of comparisons to the backwoods in the Ozark Mountains. I know that these movies are portraying stereotypes, just like Cool Runnings does, but I don't get offended. I hope that no one thinks that all Southerners are toothless hillbillies who rape tourists, just like most people don't think that all Jamaicans are dirt-poor Rastafarians.

[–] town_plagiarist 16 years ago

Also don't forget the positive stereotypes portrayed:

All Jamaicans are happy-go-lucky, carefree and stress-free optimists who love to enjoy life no matter what it brings them.

Jamaicans love nothing more than to party and enjoy themselves.

It's very hard to make Jamaicans angry, they are usually almost unreasonably forgiving of transgressions against them.

All Jamaicans love reggae music and smoking the herb. (To me, a very positive stereotype)

Jamaicans are intensely loyal to other Jamaicans, even if they don't get along personally.

Jamaicans love the sun and summertime, and it is always sunny and perfect weather in Jamaica.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Honestly, I think as far as stereotyping goes Jamaicans are portrayed in a much better light than lots of other nationalities / cultures. I'd rather have a stereotypical Jamaican as my close personal friend than nearly any other stereotypical individual.

All Jamaican women portrayed as overweight? No, most of them are attractive. All American women are portrayed as stick figures, and the "normal" ones are usually there to be the butts of jokes. Don't even get me started on how badly Hollywood messes up how American women are supposed to look!

One other thing: this movie shows Jamaica in an extremely positive light. I would absolutely LOVE to live in the Jamaica they portray in this movie.

[–] BilgeXA 15 years ago

You're raging over an old Disney movie. Sucks to be you.

[–] sejzelle-m 13 years ago

bil0r, i agree with you. it is a movie, so you should just like it for what it is. and i've seen a couple films that have jamaicans in them but their accents are HORRIBLE, but now that i think about it, i think they only did that so that the american or british audiences could understand what they're saying, instead of having the amazing patois in there. don't get me wrong, it bugged me too, a whole lot, but the overall movie and the message was great. this is one of my favourite films now :D

[–] stuzroz01 15 years ago

Hey at least your country gets recognised - I am Scottish and also British but Hollywood only seem to recognise the word English to mean British - this film is a perfect example - England are down as a team at the Olympics - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh

I have a couple of Jamaican friends who say exactly the same things you did - it's a good point, well made. Peace out

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pops_mcfly 15 years ago

You mean the same way that white people are portrayed as stupid or racist(especially if they are southerners)in all the movies made by black people?

Slobberknocker!

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] drx_o 15 years ago

I am a Jamaican myself and I have accepted all the stereotypes and the poor accents, but I still enjoyed the movie as does alot of my Jamaican relatives. I think this movie was one movie being made by Disney brought Jamaica in a more comedy light towards children watching this movie at the time. And even know I get a smile on my face when I watch this film.

[–] Deckarrd_B26354 15 years ago

Let's not forget the fideldy-dee Hollywood portrayal of Irish people.

Stereotypes is what Hollywood is generally about, people prefer stereotypes as they can relate more to them, mainly because they are unintelligent and don't know any better...

[–] slg26 15 years ago

I live in Canada, and it rarely even gets recognized by hollywood even though the general perception now is that we are full of terrorists. Back in the day, the general stereotype was all canadians were eskimos that lived in Igloos and had no electricity.

So what's worse, not being mentioned, or badly stereotyped?

[–] fiveforme 15 years ago

I'm Canadian, too, and I understand the OP's disappointment. I vacation regularly in Jamaica, and was once asked by an American where I keep my dogs while I'm away...as in sled dogs. And he was serious. He thought that was our method of transportation. And, of course, there's the notorious "eh" that we all got stuck with thanks to Doug and Bob. But it's all good. The bottom line of this movie is that Jamaicans are some of the best people on earth, bad accents and all.

I love the Jamaican bobsled on display at the airport in MoBay!

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]