Okay, POLL do you think the Twins are racist.

Discussion in 'Transformers Movie Discussion' started by JetRaid, Jul 1, 2009.

?

Do you think the Twins are racist?

  1. Yes

    37 vote(s)
    8.9%
  2. No

    329 vote(s)
    79.3%
  3. Kind of

    49 vote(s)
    11.8%
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  1. flamepanther

    flamepanther Interested, but not really

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    I can see the similarities that would lead some people to think "racism", but mostly in the same "here we go again" sense that I can tell when people are going to start blaming violent video games for yet another act of youth violence. To me, the voices sound racially indistinct, possibly leaning white. I hear it as a mishmash between "white" redneck/hillbilly and "black" urban slang--very much like Meatwad, but with better enunciation. If they were going for a racist stereotype, it stands to reason they would mushmouth the voices more than Meatwad, not less. It's worth pointing out that both dialects are much more similar than people tend to think about, and that neither is anywhere near exclusive to the "race" that is thought of as having originated it.
     
  2. ganymede2010

    ganymede2010 Well-Known Member

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    Wait a minute, the same fanbase who thought Jar Jar was racist thinks the Twins are OK?
     
  3. flamepanther

    flamepanther Interested, but not really

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    Come to think of it, the "redneck" and "urban minority" stereotypes as a whole have a startling amount in common. I think it says a lot more about poverty, lack of education, and general social attitudes than it does about race.
    Who says most of us thought Jar Jar was racist? To be honest, I think a significant portion of the criticism against both Jar Jar and the Twins is coming from people (trust me I'm not accusing you personally here) who found the characters annoying and hated them to begin with, and who are looking for a reason to be right about hating them, instead of just looking like whiners. I'd say so far it hasn't worked.
     
  4. UltraMagnus3786

    UltraMagnus3786 That's what it is

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    too all you F-tards that refuse to believe anything in your perfect fantasy world of Transformers can be criticized, god forbid be accused of racism, let me say this:

    the twins are stereotyped charicatures. they talk in southern "black ghetto slang", their eyes bulge and their lips are disproportionate to their faces, and skids even has a gold tooth. it's not what the twins did that makes their characters questionable, but how they look, what they said, and how they said it. these traits collectively have never been attributed to any other race. all of that is fact. it doesn't matter what race their voice actors are, and questions of whether "cybertronians can have race" or whether they treated leo badly are irrelevant to the discussion.

    these characters are not "racist" per se, but rather they are charicatures. the question to ask is whether the powers that be were aware (as i'm sure they were) of what kinds of characters and overtones they were creating. a question to ask is, are they racist? that's up to you to decide, but to argue that the twins don't present a stereotyped view of gold-toothed, gangsta, jive-talking blacks is quite ignorant of the facts. it would be akin to an "irish" transformer that drank energon to the point of clear intoxication, an indian taxi transformer with something on his head resembling a turban, a small quick kung-fu chinese transformer that talked only in Confucian sayings, a little italian wise guy transformer--oh wait, they did this already--you get my drift (and should bay decide to use any of the ones I just listed, i demand a cut). stereotypes are always correlated to race/culture and are often correlated to racism, whether the intention is to harm or poke fun.

    were the twins extreme? yes, i cringed slightly most of the time they were on-screen. did i laugh when moments were funny? you bet. it's a bay movie and he's never been known to be PC or sensitive.

    don't be ignorant to the facts, but realize the stereotypes exist, then choose to enjoy the movie or hate it. i chose to love it. and for the love of god let's end this awful debate.
     
  5. smkspy

    smkspy Remember true fans

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    Yeah, I got the wanksta vibe myself also. The ONLY thing that stood out to be a possibly racist factor was their faces.

    When I saw this,
    [​IMG]

    My mind flashed to this (reads note: I've actually studied about racist depictions of minorities in the media so I'm not actually racist),
    [​IMG]

    Where it's intentional or not doesn't really matter. The Twins are just in bad taste. As general rule, when trying to appeal to a mass audience, you'd think that those in charge of the franchise would try to avoid any controveresy esp when today's ultra PC culture. Personally, I just don't care one way or the other anymore.
     
  6. TIE Bomber

    TIE Bomber Banned

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    Hell no! Some black people talk that way. The twins simply copied the way they saw some people really act. Same way Jazz copied the way he saw actual people act. Can't be offended when humans actually act that way in real life. The Transformers came to Earth & are trying to blend in. They're only copying the stupid ass ******ed behavior of real humans!


    If they talk white/American=NO PROBLEM

    If they talk Russian=NO PROBLEM

    If they talk Australian= NO PROBLEM

    If they talk Italian=NO PROBLEM

    If they talk Mexican=NO PROBLEM

    If they talk British=NO PROBLEM

    If they talk black/African= EMERGENCY EMERGENCY! RACIST RACIST! DESTROY DESTROY! BURN THE MOVIE! DEATH TO MICHAEL BAY! OFF WITH THE HEAD!


    Same thing happened with Jazz & if any of the robots have a black voice in the 3rd movie it will happen again.
     
  7. NGW

    NGW Rawr

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    As has been said. It's that "ghetto/hard/street" culture/mannerisms that they are stereotyping, if it is any race those are applied to being stereotyped along with it, its the WHITE kids take on it that seems to stand out from them. Not black.

    Stop TRYING to be offended over nothing.

    And yet most people (here at least) immediately thought:

    [​IMG]

    and

    [​IMG]
     
  8. Reaper2006

    Reaper2006 Elite Sniper

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    TIE Bomber strikes again :D 
     
  9. BairdimusPrime

    BairdimusPrime youtube.com/billythekidsnobullshittoyreviews

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    definately not, a 50 yr old co worker of mine pointed out in a convo we were having that they might come off racits but the writers/voice actors whomever are just representing another group of our society but in the tf's way... so.. yeah... dunno if that will make any sense but i agree
     
  10. flamepanther

    flamepanther Interested, but not really

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    But there are a lot of people, myself included, who initially thought "redneck" when we saw those faces for the first time. To me, the only thing that really indicates "racist stereotype against blacks" specifically is the gold tooth... which fits but isn't really a clear indicator, especially with the wannabe gangsta angle on it. Every other supposedly black stereotype facial feature I've seen mentioned is just as easily found in non-black stereotypes like Cletus Spuckler. I don't even see the "big lips" stereotype some people have mentioned. It looks to me more like they have no lips at all--just teeth. Either way, good ol' redneck archetype Cletus has big protruding lips too.
     
  11. WWMEGATRON

    WWMEGATRON Well-Known Member

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    F*** no !!! :rolleyes: :mad: inquisiti They are too idiots to be racist :lol 
     
  12. Darkwing48

    Darkwing48 Heroic Decepticon

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    Take it from someone who lives in one of the hardest neighborhoods to grow up in. I've got friends in all types in Compton, yes including gangtas. Crips, T-Flats, all of that. None of them seriously talk exactly like them. The "slang" of the twins is only used when making fun of someone. But no one's face came up in my mind when I heard them talk.

    The gold tooth thing only tells you the type of culture they are relating to Hip Hop. No more no less. Just like Jazz, althought to me he was more emulating black culture, but I think that was because I knew Darius McCray was playing him. (Like Orlando Jones said in the movie Evolution: "...the black dude died first.")

    Look at the movie "Next Friday." The guy who played Little Joker was so funny. In I had no friends who talked like that.

    I guess both movie's where making fun of the perceived stereotype, but not a race. I love there interaction and I can think many from my hometown can agree. But yes I also think this dead horse should be put 6ft under.
     
  13. shroobmaster

    shroobmaster Well-Known Member

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    Jar Jar is racist? What the hell is that thing supposed to represent if he's racist?!
     
  14. smkspy

    smkspy Remember true fans

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    I can get the redneck look also, but like I said; these guys are in such bad taste that their very concepts should have shot down on the drawing board. What sane producer would ok these? I could understand if this was Bamboozled or even Tropic Thunder, but Transformers...really? In my mind, someone wanted the inevitable controversry that would be associated with the Twins.

    And just I got that particular image in my head because I'm currently researching Disney cartoons during the 1950s, and it was a picture that I recently saw while doing my research so it was fresh in my mind.

    eh, I can get the comparison Sloth, but I'm just not seeing it for the Fly.
     
  15. flamepanther

    flamepanther Interested, but not really

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    I agree that it's bad taste, but bad taste often amuses, and therefore also sells. What were they thinking putting Sloth (or the Truffle Shuffle for that matter) in Goonies? What were they thinking about any of the bajillion stereotyped or grotesque (often both) characters across the various incarnations of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? What were they thinking when they adapted Toxic Avenger as a cartoon for children? What were they thinking approving all kinds stuff from... jeez, just about anything Jim Henson ever made? Grotesque, grossly stereotyped, just generally tacky stuff gets approved by producers all the time, even in connection to something partly meant for kids. The Twins are nothing special, really. Whether that's OK, or kinda sad, I'm not really sure.
     
  16. deltaprime

    deltaprime The Christian Transfan

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    They're stereotypical. Some people may find them offensive, I just find them stupid.
     
  17. smkspy

    smkspy Remember true fans

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    Agreed that it sells, but it kinda seemed like we left all that behind in the 1980s. The Twins just seem like something that shouldn't get a pass with how easily people get offended over the littlest the things now, and for the most part they are getting one. Myself? I could careless. I love offensive things and offensive speech, but that doesn't stop me from regarding these characters as somewhat offensive.
     
  18. planetjacker

    planetjacker Critters burn real good. TFW2005 Supporter

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    Racist? No.

    Horribly stereotypical? Yes.
     
  19. blueandwhite

    blueandwhite Well-Known Member

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    Annoying? Yes. Racist? No.
     
  20. megatronkicksas

    megatronkicksas Well-Known Member

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    God I hate political correctness. :rolleyes2 
     
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