startlingly racist/sizeist trailer

I know that was the point of the jokes, but my problem with race jokes in movies/tv shows (no matter what their context is) is that it might shape the perception people have of said race/nationality/ethnicity. Even though this movie was trying to be ironic with the racist jokes and use what is called hipster racism, it is still nevertheless racism. Here is a link that talks about ironic/hipster racism: http://gawker.com/5903468/a-girls-writers-ironic-racism-and-other-whit e-people-problems/all

Here's an excerpt from that link: "To avoid getting sucked in the black hole of discussing "hipsters," maybe we should call it "ironic racism." It's a distancing gesture, racism with the acknowledgment that I should know better and I don't care. Assiduously casual, meant to demonstrate a kind of worldliness or edginess, "hipster racism" acts like a behavioral flannel jacket or a trucker cap, a rejection of perceived upper-middle-class values, still wrapped in enough layers of irony to create a distance from the mythical rednecks or hillbillies it's thought to be emulating. Whether or not the hipster racist "actually believes" the *beep* he spouts (or thinks it's some kind of sophisticated satire) is immaterial; it's a posture, a performance, a middle finger to mom and dad and all the "McCarthyist hijackers" who won't let Benjamin Leo say *beep* or whatever his beef is. (Sometimes, to be clear, it's just cluelessness.) The deep-down beliefs of the hipster racist are also immaterial, it goes without saying, to the subjects of his invective."


These jokes are not doing Indian people any favors, whether it's done for the sake of satire or not. I'm not really good at articulating myself, so please feel free to let me know if I'm not making any sense here. :)

For example, the character Apu from The Simpsons. While the intentions of the creator for that character might not have been bad, that character still unfortunately shaped a few stereotypes about the Indian diaspora in the West. I live in the US (specifically the Dallas area of Texas), and I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone make racist Apu jokes whenever they met an Indian. Or how many times they tried to imitate or make fun of the accent. Or how many times they've bragged about bothering an Indian who worked in a convenient store by telling them "Thank you, come again" in that same over the top accent. Those idiots thought they were being hilarious and edgy by doing this stupid crap.

This movie, whether the racism is intentional or not, is not doing anything favorable either. Ironic racism or "hipster racism" is still racism. Indian immigrants who live in the West already get a lot of crap from Westerners for eating curry. I can't tell you how many times both in real life and on the internet, people always bring up curry in a condescending way whenever talking about Indians. I remember when Priyanka Chopra (she's a Bollywood actress) performed at the NFL, some disgusting people on the internet were asking "does her vagina smell like curry?"

Don't even get me started on the "slumdog" joke. I also have to add, even though I am not an Indian (I'm an Afghan woman), I still understand how these racist jokes marginalize certain ethnicities/races. I mean, I as an Afghan have received a lot of racism here and get made fun of all the time by Westerners, and it does hurt me.

Very proofiglicious of you to notice.


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"Your wife's on my Wham-O"

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