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.

[–] Lemonade_Lala 15 years ago

redtape, I've met a few Jamaicans in my life, and I never thought that their accent sounded weird or anything like that. In my opinion, they were pretty awesome people, AND I'm American...So there's hope.

"AW! I bought non-fat yogurt!...I wanted fat-free!"

[–] buckland_mistress 15 years ago

Well, all us Australians live in the middle of the outback and we all know how to play the dijeridoo and have kangaroos in our backyards and we keep them as pets. Some tourist even ask why they don't see kangaroos hopping around near the Opera House, and some tourists half expected Uluru to only be a short drive away from the Sydney Harbour Bridge...

Oh, and we all talk like Steve Irwin and we all put shrimp on the barbie.

~ In the name of the Yoda, the Gandalf, and the Dumbledore ~

[–] Hopper10 15 years ago

Wow calm the *beep* down its a god damn movie! and not even a serious one. The stereotypes are the funniest parts of this movie! Look at Talladega Nights. It exploits the stereotypes of Americans. Chill out buddy its funny learn to laugh at yourself you uptight prick

Dear Warden, You were right. Salvation lies within.

[–] buckland_mistress 15 years ago

Hopper10, I agree. Hollywood has stereotyped so many countries, including the USA. It wasn't an Oscar-bound movie, but it did send a nice warm message that people could enjoy. If for nothing else, just enjoy it for its entertainment value.

But you might want to ease up a bit with calling the OP an "uptight prick". hahaha

~ In the name of the Yoda, the Gandalf, and the Dumbledore ~

[–] Hopper10 15 years ago

ahha well sorry but i hate guys like that who take everything so seriously

Dear Warden, You were right. Salvation lies within.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] buckland_mistress 15 years ago

radosesthefirst - it's very true. It works both ways too. Here in Australia, if there is ever an American character or a British character it's very stereotyped: harsh and arrogant for the American character with one of two types of accents 1. the surfer (cool man, hey man, how's it going man) or 2. the George Dubya over-the-top Texan accent. For the British it's always the stuck-up snob with the posh accent.

I've found that Americans are stereotyped the most when it comes to movies, both on the American and the international scene.

~ In the name of the Yoda, the Gandalf, and the Dumbledore ~

[–] NarcissaM 15 years ago

So much truth to this thread.

I'm British, live in Canada. According to American Tele Canadians are...:

Stupid. We say "eh" all the time (I've only heard Newfies do this). We do not say "aboot" (again, the Newfies maybe?), we do not all speak FRENCH, I've never seen an igloo, and I don't ski.

The Brits on American TV are just as offensive: Tea drinking snobs who typically seem to get ruder and ruder until the Big Ole' American Hero on the screen reminds them "You'd be speaking German if it weren't for us!". Annoying.

[–] pfeifesj 14 years ago

Okay... what American TV are you watching that STILL portrays the British as tea drinking snobs?! I agree that British stereotypes do still exist in American pop-culture, but the snobby posh character is no longer a prominent portrayal. Rather I think American films are more likely to make the British characters (specifically the English ones) intelligent, evil, sexy, perhaps a little rowdy (Russell Brand), etc.

Besides, watch a British movie. Americans are almost always portrayed negatively these days (ex: Love Actually, Run Fat Boy Run, Keeping Mum, etc).

As someone that used to live in England and is very pro-British, I can see why British people get offended by American films, but remember it goes both ways. More importantly, Americans absolutely love the British and your accent alone can get you anywhere.

As for the Canadian thing... I find the "eh" and "aboot" thing funny, I'm not going to lie. Also, I have met non-Newfies that talk like that.

[–] princemishima 15 years ago

I hate and boycott all things disney...but they deserve a little mercy every now and then. Even when i was a kid i knew disney worked their magic and left the movie littered with stereotypes. But at the same time, I think the movie focused more on the heart and character of the team and their supporters. And the ending is one of the best of any sports movie i've seen. So I give disney a pass on this one.

Out of all of the ethnic groups that disney has offended, Jaimaicans can atleast claim some positives in their movie. Anyone expecting not to see stereotypes in a disney movie hasn't seen song of the south. Its depiction of slavery in america was.....unique.

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[–] Nik68 15 years ago

I'm of Italian descent, so naturally there will be the obvious Mafia stereotypes. But I keep it pretty cool, whenever someone brings it up I tell them if they keep talkin like that I'm gonna call my Uncle Vinny to take care of them.

[–] Fozzy_Fozzbourne 11 years ago

I love a good stereotype

Where I live in England(North East) we are seen as fat, lazy,slackers who like to drink

People from Yorkshire are seen to tight
People from East Anglia have incestuous relationships
Cockneys are chancers, spivs and wideboys
The Welsh Shag Sheep
The Scots all hqve ginger curly hair and like whisky
The Irish are terrorists

[–] Full_Of_Surprises_54 14 years ago

Hmmm i think that your anger may be an indivdiual thing rather than a national thing - i just returned from a holiday in Montego Bay, Jamaica and everywhere i went there was a reference to Cool Runnings - the cafe, the bobsled excursions, images in the airport, the waiters and waitresses even quoted a few lines from the film. They seemed extremely proud of it and every sentence that i heard ended in "mon." No-one was bothered by it. I found Jamaicans to be incredibly relaxed and happy people, so much so that they were even pleased to teach the tourists Patois and encouraged us to assimilate into the Jamaican way of life by saying things like "mon" and "irie." It was amazing to learn.

But i do understand what you mean about stereotypes and how annoying they can be, especially when the rest of the world refuses to believe that people can be different to how they expect them to be. I'm British and i do get agitated when i hear Hollywood's interpretation of the British accent - only the queen speaks that way. And its even more laughable when closed-minded people assume that EVERYONE in England talks in the same way. There are different dialects across America - a New Yorker speaks differently to a Texan, its exactly the same in England - A Geordie speaks differently to a Cockney.

But try not to fret over it, it happens to us all. I doubt there is a film out there that truly portrays a culture or country in absolutely the correct light. Everything is exaggerated in Hollywood.

I'm saving my sick-days till when I'm feeling better (The Faculty, 1998)

[–] cableaddict 14 years ago

When I started reading this thread, Cool Runnings was on, about half-way through.

I immediatley started listening for how many times any character said "mon."

I read the entire thread, then kept watching a bit. 20 minutes have gone by. Guess how many "mons" there were?

ZERO.

I think perhaps the OP is a little too over-sensitive.

[–] llogan98 14 years ago

I'm Jamaican and we're really not that nice. There was once a period of time this year when like 6 people died ever day. THERE ARE 2.6 MILLION IN MY COUNTRY. Six people! You have no idea. Not saying we're mean or anything but...the whole, being stereotyped as 'laid back' and 'easy-going.' Eh, the way my country's going we're piratically American. We're getting more Western everyday....

[–] Full_Of_Surprises_54 14 years ago

llogan98 yeah i know what you mean about the dangers of Jamaica, when I went I was told to never leave the hotel grounds unprotected and when I was on an excursion I saw 2 AK47s when the locals were stripping cars, for someone who has never seen a gun in their entire life it was really disturbing. I also heard about the murder rate, so I get what you mean. But I think that in holiday resorts, the positives of the country are highlighted and the negatives are downplayed - I mean who would want to wake up in the morning and hear that they have a fairly large risk of being murdered after spending all that money on a holiday. So I saw the very best of Jamaica in the hotel complex, and it was pretty damn good =)

I will NOT speak to you until you put your head on straight! Death Becomes Her (1992)

[–] meshuggahner 14 years ago

Australian's are always portrayed the same in American movies too, but it comes across more as a reflection of America's laziness & stupidity than a jab at any of the cultures they parody. Chill out bro, it's just a movie

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] filmfanaticNorCal 14 years ago

You are right, but they had me fooled. If they had used real Jamaicans, however, we probably wouldn't have understood a word of the movie.

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