More so than what they did? Saying they were illiterate isn't a comment that was associated with the stereotype? What about the way they spoke being stereotypical "street speech" that's associated with inner-city African-Americans? What, are you saying anything short of expressing they're fondness for fried chicken and watermelon wouldn't be enough to classify them as racial stereotypes? Hell, that's not even getting into their slack-jawed, gold-toothed, lazy-eye-ed, monkey-faced designs.

Jazz is an example of a stereotype and I suppose could be considered as slightly culturally insensitive. Skids and Mudflap are examples of racist stereotypes.

 

They can't read ancient Cybertronian. Doesn't make them completely illiterate. And the characterizations come from the voice actors.. If you want to blame them, fine. But the designs were made long before they were given personality. They were made to look goofy and rough at the same time. I can't take you seriously if you're implying the design team actually set out to make racist caricatures.

 

Maybe it's because I've watched a lot of Futurama, but Nitro Zeus's voice came aross as more of a Whalers on the Moon type than any kind of "black" stereotype. I've also heard people of all races use the "free at last!" line for things as casual as getting off work.

With Skids and Mudflap, while I personally don't think the intent was any form of racism, an argument can at least be made. But saying Nitro Zeus is a racist stereotype is flimsy at best.

 

He's more like a wrestler stereotype than anything. Nothing to do with race.
This pc bullshit is really grasping at straws.

 

I've said it before, I'll say it again. The Transformers don't have skin color. If there is a human character with a stereotypical language, attitude or cultural trait, I can see an argument, but since the Transformer does not have a skin color which can be tied to the use of a stereotype, one can not simply assume that the supposed "stereotype" used for the Transformer is racist.

 

The crows in Dumbo don't have a "skin color" but that doesn't stop them from still being racial stereotypes.

 

IF transformers did have skin colour, bumblebee would definitely be racist!

 

I think Dumbo was made in a different era tho!

 

Even if these movies were perpetuating stereotypes (which I don't think they are), how exactly is it going to change things for real people? I really don't see how the voice of a cgi motorcycle robot is going to change anyone's mind about a particular group of people, or affect that group of people in the long run.

 

LOL! I'm sick of people calling the movies racist. I'm black and i don't see how the twins were racist and i dont see how TLK is "racist"

 

This. Thank you.

Agreed. I hate it when people literally trot out the "well, my so-and-so friend is totally OK with it and says it's not racist, so therefore it's not racist". Some people have done it this thread and other threads already.

No, mofo. Your friend is NOT the King/Queen of fill-in-the-blank-race-gender-creed-etc. Just because your friend is cool with it does not mean all people are cool with it. I remember arguing with a TFWer about something racist against Asians a few years back, and he trotted out "well, my Chinese friend is OK with it so that means there's no problem at all" and I just wanted to roll my eyes (I put that moron on my Ignore List and never looked back).

Anyway, back on topic. I don't know if the Decepticon portrayals in TLK were problematic race-wise so much that they started blurring together with their tropes. So both Barricade AND Nitro Zeus are rocking wannabe-rapper chains and acting thuggish (though to be fair, Nitro Zeus went full thug while Barricade at least showed some restraint in his voice if not his accessories)? On top of Mohawk ALSO being a thug? That's one Con too much. I get what they were trying to do with the whole ironic/tongue-in-cheek Suicide Squad intro for the villains but it didn't quite work for me. Have them possess unique identities and personalities, please.

As for the Twins.... it was pretty blatant and in-your-face with those two. I'm glad they never showed up in any sequels after ROTF. Even if they weren't offensive racist caricatures, the Twins were the height of annoying characters and I hated every second that they were on-screen. I think the writers/producers of the live action movies got enough flack about them to never reuse the Twins, thankfully.

I'm hoping in the inevitable sequel that we see more unique Cons. They tried in TLK and I get that, but

Spoiler

most of them died anyway aside from Megatron and Barricade.

They made it a point to bring up Starscream's head in TLK (I dunno how his head remained intact after it was shown that Sam blew up Starscream's head and chest/spark using one of Que/Wheeljack's bomb-sticks but that's beside the point). Twice they brought up his head -- once with Junkyard/Wreck-Gar showing it off and then again with Megatron doing his best Hamlet impression with it.

I wish Megatron found a way to bring back his lieutenant back from the dead, perhaps as Cyclonus or someone similar possessing a warped sense of honor to at least give the Cons some more nuanced characters.

 

So only some black people can say something is racist when it beneficence you? I guess the black people like me who call the Twins racist are wrong for recognizing stereotypies when they see them.

 

He isn't blind, he just thinks differently from you.You thought it was racist. He didn't. I don't think either of you are wrong, and you're both allowed your opinion.

@Timesynch I never said that because my black friend said it wasn't racist that it was objectively not racist. I don't presume to think he speaks for all people who share his skin color. The point I was trying to make is that a lot of this stuff boils down to the individual. It's subjective.

 

It says more about you and anyone who thinks the same way. Thinking that only black people can act the way the twins did.

 

Look at the movie Cars from Disney. I rest my case

 

Yeah, it means I don't live with blinder on my eyes and can see the bullshit for what it is.

 

Oh my God. It doesn't matter how many time people pull the "I-It's not racist! You're the one who's racist for thinking that way!!!" card... it doesn't become any less stupid.

The undeniable truth is that the twins share a lot of traits with racist stereotypes. How did that happen? Who knows? The writers blame Bay, Bay blames the VAs... everyone's shifting the blame to someone else, but just given how embarrassed they all act about it even they're not denying the unfortunate implications of the characters. God, if even they're not, why do the fans? Just accept the black dot on the film series history (on what a lot of people consider to be the worst of the 5 anyway) and move on. Honestly the insistent denial that it was a thing just makes things worse.

 

CULTURAL STEREOTYPES!

If you think only black people can talk "urban" and have gold teeth, then maybe you are racist.

 

there is an unending void within me that exists solely because of the twins absence in dotm...i tried my best not to hear nothing about dotm before i went to see it as i kind of 'go dark' (had no idea about sentinel's turn for example) for a few months before each tf release...i remember seeing them pull into the nest hq & i was like, ok, yes they're in it! because despite my efforts, i do recall there being rumors of them being cut...but when i saw them roll up in with the rest of the autobots my fears were laid to rest...kept waiting for them to show up again, waiting, waiting...

i remember the day my brother told me about the role they were to play & then i read the comic & it just broke me  

havent been the same since

 

Maybe there's no right or wrong answer to the "are the twins racist question?" If it were as obvious as some claim, this debate wouldn't be happening. Some people are interpreting them as stereotypes that are associated with race, that doesn't mean those people are racist for thinking other people are racist. However, the voices are confirmed to have been created by Tom Kenny and Reno Wilson in the VA booth, so regardless of the end result I personally doubt the intent was to be any kind of harmful racial stereotype, it's just an unhappy coincidence.

I don't personally like the twins, but that's just because I thought they were annoying more than anything else. Michael Bay probably isn't racist, and in the end nothing about the characters seems to put down a group of people. They're just characters that borrow some traits from a known stereotype (race, thug, whatever), they're not meant to represent anyone or anything real.