Tuesday, November 17, 2009

racism? and you're surprised?

everyone is up in arms over universal's decicion to remove the "black actors" from the poster and list of stars of the stupidest looking movie ever: couple's retreat

apparently the studio was advised to "simplify the poster to actors who are most recognisable in international markets" because the movie got the worst reviews ever and probably isn't going to make a lot of money on the international market.

here's my problem with everyone acting all outraged about this. in the US version of the poster, they need a HUGE red arrow to even point out the two actors. sure, the other two couples are pretty distant, but faizon love and kali hawk are significantly farther away. they kind of look like they accidentally walked through the photo shoot and are looking at the camera going "whaaaaat."

shouldn't the people who are outraged about this decision also be outraged that movies about white people have to throw in token black actors so that they can at least look politically correct and not racist?

i'm not saying it isn't bad that the production company did this, i'm just saying that it's important to not just look at the symptoms of racism. the film industry is racist. so instead of attacking an airbrush job once in awhile, why don't people do things like stop paying to see movies that stereotype and tokenize anyone who isn't a white yuppie?

yes, complain about the poster, but don't just stop there and expect that things will change.


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