oudeis on 8/1/2010 at 08:33
Referring back to the girl's commentary about the commercial, at one point she claims that people believe stereotypes because 'the media' push them. Having gone to a cineplex on the border of a ghetto neighborhood I can state with assurance that the stereotype of blacks yelling at the movie screen (and each other) is anything but a media creation. To quote a great bit by the comic Bobby Slayton from a long time ago, "They can make a movie called 'White Men Can't Jump' but they can't make one called 'Black People Won't Shut Up in Movie Theaters'."
SubJeff on 8/1/2010 at 09:33
The White Men Can't Jump thing reminds me of something that happened in the UK. A black girl complained her teacher was racist because the teacher had said something about black people having different average body density to white people.
When White Men Can't Jump came out I was still living in Africa. My black friends found the title hilarious, and they also found my suggestion of a counter film, Black Men Can't Swim, funny. Funny because it's true. And it's true because that teacher was correct and there is possible scientific basis to the reason we don't see many black swimmers in the Olympics.
The next thing you know it'll be racist to say that black people's skin is darker than white people's, or that they are many more times likely to have Sickle Cell disease or trait.
I was mildly amused at the HP tracking camera being labeled "racist" too:
(
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8429634.stm)
mostly because it suggests motivation of the machine, like it's hard coded to be racist rather than the obvious technological failure due to contrast insensitivity.
Having said all this I do think that just because there is too much political correctness (gone mad!!) floating around atm we shouldn't let that really cloud our judgment when it comes to real racism, which is alive and kicking and being an asshole somewhere right now.
Shayde on 8/1/2010 at 11:46
Quote Posted by Matthew
The perils of empire: we teach them all how to play cricket, then they all fucking beat us. :(
Edit: EXCEPT SOUTH AFRICA
Fuck you Matthew! :)
Q: Where do the English cricket team stay when they're playing in SA?
A: With their parents.
Matthew on 8/1/2010 at 11:50
Nice one :D
icemann on 9/1/2010 at 00:07
Quote Posted by ercles
Although I don't think that ad was particularly bad as far as racism goes, it is times like these when racial issues join the public forum that I am embarrassed to be in Australia. Anytime we do something that could rightly be misconstrued as racist (e.g. the Hey Hey it's Saturday skit) the knee-jerk defensive reactions (black people need to move on!) combined with the outright ignorance the deep-seeded problems Australia has in regards to race relations really disappoint me. The amount of politicians (especially those in cosmopolitan electorates) who come out and talk about how Australia lacks racism because they love having a chat to their Vietnamese greengrocer is fucking shameful.
Now its comments like these why we`re in the situation we`re in in our current age.
Here in OZ we often say that we lack racism because we honestly don't, speaking as someone whose been living in the country for the last 29 years. Ofcourse there's people here and there that are, but they are of an extreme minority like in any country.
Secondly have a think for a second. Which is worse: to not think of skin colour at all and instead go into sterotypes of the fans of a sporting team -insert any sporting club here- or instead due to racism issues in your own country, push standards onto the rest of the world and if something doesn`t comply with them (even though their not targeted at your country) to label the content as racist.
The ad wasn`t designed for an American or elsewhere audience. Colour of skin wasn`t a factor in it, the west indians in the ad wouldn`t have taken part if it was racist and we dont view people of other nationalities here in the same manner as in America. Here whatever race you are, your welcome. Period. Hence why the ad was done in the way it was and it was only when the ad was made aware to media elsewhere in the world that issues came up.
When countries who an ad or ads aren`t even targeted at arc up about issues not even present in the country of origin of the ad really annoys me. The bad side to the world becoming ALOT more centralised since the introduction of the internet.
Muzman on 9/1/2010 at 06:28
While the whole bit about this ad is true, the question of Australian racism is still a bit up in the air.
You do not have to dig very far to find people's terribly funny views on the Abos, the Vietnamese, the Chinese, the Lebs, the Greeks, the Indians, Muslims in general, Maoris, anyone who doesn't speak english etc etc. God forbid we bring up boat people.
It's almost a problem that most people have rationalised a very particular, very defensive definition of 'racism'. Basically: Hitler. That's it. If you're not actively Hitlering as a nation or an individual you aren't racist and it's a terrible slur. "Look out the window!", they say "there's no strife and herding into camps and gassing etc." We haven't had segregationist and sundown policies in simply ages (well, depending on how one looks at the intervention). We've only had one decent race riot in the last 30 years. Not racist. Well ok, I'll play along. How about Australia is largely prejudiced, provincial and stupid, and self righteously so, instead? Hey, not racist. I guess it's a fair charge that the word has been overused since, I dunno, the 60s, so it's their fault. Still, there's a fuzzy area around it that it would be a mistake to ignore.
Paulie Hanson's popularity was no accident. We're the lucky country because of our inbuilt (almost religious) resistance to taking things too seriously. That's why facism has had a hard time flourshing here, despite our ability to turn very nasty over certain things. A cultural release valve, if you like. It doesn't clear us of all charges though. So, yeah, while it's generally a nice place to live and people seem to get along fine for the most part, there's a resentful ill informed undercurrent that can go either way and it's worth keeping an eye on.
(I do find it funny that these Americans are pointing fingers at our ads though. When I was cataloguing US advertising I got a frankly creepy picture of the place, not that I've ever been there. Most disconcerting was the fact that there's ads aimed at different races. There's some McDonalds meal coming out and you'll get the white skewed ad and the black skewed ad. The black skewed ad has no white people in it at all. Or there was the, I think, Dodge SUV ad that had some smooth gangsta guy rolling through the neighbourhood with his super shiny factory rims, pumping out the beats etc, but he's got his family in the back and they're all dressed the same. The baby in the baby seat is dressed all Harlem Nights as well. Ok, that's a bit of a joke, but when you go to that much trouble the divide between cultures has to be massive, I'd think. Despite all my PE listening and Spike Lee watching, it was an eye opener. Still, in Singapore your whole racial background is on your passport so I dunno with this stuff.)
Ladron De La Noche on 9/1/2010 at 08:27
This needs to be made clear and something which in all the hundreds of statements I've read by Australians on various sites it seems to sail straight over their heads. Kentucky Fried Chicken is an American company, it answers to America. Just as Pizza Hut, McDonalds and other fast food chains in other countries across the globe are American. In Asia, Latin America and the Islamic nations. That the Australians say it is or not racist is irrelevant, it is in the name of an American company. KFC America which saw this ad going nowhere but downhill pulled it and rightfully so. The ad had not even gained any real traction here, then again I've become sour to American television programs and watch just the news mainly. CNN, MSNBC, PBS and
Fox .
I specifically remember a KFC outlet in an Islamic nation being bombed and it wasn't because Colonel Sanders served a plate of bad chicken or ads depicting dozens of boisterous uncontrollable Negroes pacified with a bucket of spicy fried chicken.
Here it is. (
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2005/11/15/in_depth_world/photoessay1043602.shtml) link
@Subjective Effect
Read this. (
http://run-down.com/guests/je_black_athletes_p1.php) link
Kolya on 9/1/2010 at 12:06
Quote Posted by Ladron De La Noche
Kentucky Fried Chicken is an American company, it answers to America. [...] That the Australians say it is or not racist is irrelevant, it is in the name of an American company.
American food chains have run localised ads for years and for a good reason, because simply reusing the American ads just won't roll and lead to at least as much misunderstandings.
KFC didn't pull this ad because they're an American company but because it brought them bad publicity.
SubJeff on 9/1/2010 at 14:32
Yeah Ladron, I already knew most of that and some of the limb measurements they report are pretty obvious to anyone who has spent any amount of time with black people. Living in Africa for 18 years it was all obvious to me.
