Race and Contemporary Hollywood Part 03

When I last did a post on this I made it a point to add an aside concerning an aspect of race and contemporary Hollywood that is often ignored by a majority of critics. That aside concerned the prevalence of Eastern Europeans in roles often occupied by minorities (i.e.-the group that needs a Western saviour, the terrorists, the crazy foreigner, etc.). Now I'm sure at some point most of us have seen movies like Hostel or old action flicks with Steven Segal or Jean Claude Van Dame, where the bad guys were thoroughly bad and irredeemable. Of course there were Black, Latino, Arab, etc. villains, but if there was a "white" villain to be found they were more than likely Russian or Eastern European (how many times has the bad guy been Czech or some similar nationality?). Well in this post I'm going to breakdown some of the most prevalent and offensive stereotypes found in most Hollywood films concerning Eastern Europeans.

Women:

1) "Loose"/"Party Girl": Eastern European women are often depicted as being "looser" and more into partying than their Western European or U.S.-American counterparts. Movies such as EuroTrip (which was a terrible attempt at comedy and possibly satire) and, to an extent, that deplorable tripe known as Hostel portrayed the women as readily grinding on, flirting with, and, in many instances, sleeping with a man. Transporter 3 is another example. It had a Eastern European female...well I wouldn't really call her a protagonist, but they had someone/something similar, and, in short and understating, she was not the most demure of women. Not that being demure is anything to aspire to, but...well watch the movie if you really want to know what I'm getting at. (Warning: You will role your eyes right out of your head at both her character and the story overall)

2)Conniving/Opportunistic: This is a stereotype all women have to deal with, but in film it is more often than not the minority women who are depicted in the worst possible light as it concerns this. There are countless examples in films directed by U.S.-Americans, the aforementioned film Hostel being a particularly malicious example, and in every instance the woman, or women as the case may be, is made into a completely irredeemable monster or must be taught the "error of her ways" by the "hero" or "heroine". Once again, this is stereotype is not exclusive to Eastern European women, but I have noticed that there is not much mention of them during discussions involving this topic.

3)The Sexy Spy or Secret Agent: Whether it be because their accent, or the magical appeal of all things "foreign" to Western audiences, there seems to be some kind of infatuation with Eastern European women taking up the role of the evil secret agent or spy. Often they will embody one or both of points 1 and 2, and will more than likely end up dead. Just watch a spy flick, a James Bond film for example, and see what I mean.'

4) Nagging, Bodybuilder, Manish, and/or Haggish: Though not quite as prevalent as other stereotypes, at least based on the number of films I've seen or heard of, whenever an "ugly" character is needed, and they're white, they are often Russian or Eastern European. I'm sure we all know the stereotype of Russian women, and, by some twisted logic, Eastern European being "manish" builds or being bodybuilders, especially when it comes to comic relief in film or cartoons. I'm sure we all remember seeing at least one nagging and/or haggish old woman portrayed as a similar nationality. While these stereotypes are not solely endemic to depictions of Eastern European women (Black women face these kinds of stereotypes more often than others, at least as it concerns Hollywood films), you would be hard pressed to find a Western European woman or American woman, outside of possibly Italians, presented in such a light.

05) Prostitutes/Sex Slaves: Playing into the very real problem of female sex trafficking, this stereotype is prevalent in a lot of t.v. shows and films. Shows like Law and Order and Without a Trace have used elements of this stereotype to construct narratives. Movies like the phenomenal Eastern Promises used this stereotype as well. However, with the way its presented, you'd think that sex trafficking would be limited to Eastern Europe and parts of Asia (more specifically China and Southeast Asia) because, based on another flawed stereotype, the police in those countries are more incompetent and impotent than their U.S.-American counterparts. Of course, for those of us who know that the U.S. is a crap-sack country, the same problem exist in the States with young girls, especially young Black and Latina girls, being trapped into lives of prostitution from ages as early as 9 or so.


Men

1) The Gangster/Mobster: More often than not, when there's a European mobster or gangster in a film he, or in some cases she, is going to be Eastern European. Sometimes you might get a nationality from them (Czech seems to be the most popular for some reason), but more often than not they're simply, "That Zany Eastern European Bad Guy". This also ties in with the number 2 point, Eastern European men being abusers and alcoholics, as many gangsters and mobster are shown to abuse the prostitutes/sex slaves under their employ to make them seem like really bad guys. They are also shown to have anger management issues, and are highly volatile and unstable in many instances.

Grand Theft Auto IV is a good example of this in video games.

-Note: Italians are the second favorite (used to be first before the 90s or so) for sophisticated European mobsters/gangsters, followed by Asians, and then African-Americans and Latinos. However, that order is reversed when the gangsters are incompetent and/or bumbling.-

2) Abuser/Alcoholics: While definitely not limited to Eastern European men, this stereotype is quite prevalent as it concerns their film roles. Often under these circumstances the man, be it the father or boyfriend, is made out to be an irredeemable, lazy, abusive drunk who ruins the lives of those around him. Also, more often than not, their death, when they actually die in the film, is made out to be one of the high points of the movie.

3) Terrorist: While people from the Middle East have started to pick up this mantel at a rate far outpacing their Eastern European counterparts (i.e.-September 11th, War on Bullsh-I mean "Terror", War in Iraq, etc. influence over popular film), whenever you need a communist, white terrorist bad guy they'll either be Russian or Eastern European. A good example of this is Bad Company starring Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. Much like their mobster/gangster counterparts, the Eastern European terrorist is an extremist bad guy with anger management issues. If there's a party scene in the movie, you can almost guarantee one of the terrorist, be it the leader or one of his men, is going to be an abusive womanizer.

4) Evil Communist Soldier(s): See number 3).


Eastern Europe as a Whole

Eastern Europe as a whole is often presented as being underdeveloped (i.e.-in the industry stage of development) or less developed than Western Europe. Often many countries are presented as lacking many of the amenities that Westerners enjoy, and the currency of most countries is seen as being mind-bogglingly lower in value than that of American monies and currencies like the Euro (e.g.-Eastern European currencies are seen as being at the same level as countries like Zimbabwe, or only slightly better). The scenery is often presented in a very bleak and cold manner (perhaps in an effort to present a subliminal message about the people who live there) with most of the surrounding scenery appearing as though most, if not all countries, are stuck in a perpetual state of winter.

Occasionally the countries will be presented as being staunchly Communist, ethnic groups being highly competitive with one another to a self-destructive extent (i.e.-often fighting wars against one another, new states declaring independence, etc.), and/or retaining a Cold War/Soviet Union mindset. Further, although some mention is occasionally made of Eastern Europe being composed of separate states with independent ideologies and systems, often one gets the image of Eastern Europe being a monolithic entity like Africa and Asia.

In short, exaggerations or fabrications mixed with occasional hints of the truth.

Well, I suppose that concludes this post. Feel free to comment or what have you. Also, I hope that, to any and all readers of Eastern European origins/heritage/etc., I did a decent job of pointing out some of the offensive stereotypes or exaggerations of Eastern Europe.

The Problem with Video Games: 5 Games out of Many Which Insult My Sensabilities - A Rant

I've been meaning to do a post like this for awhile, as video games are something very near and dear to me (Yes, I know exactly how sad that sounds). However, recently my beloved hobby has taken a turn for the worse, or perhaps I'm just now starting realize it. No, that's not entirely true either. I've known for years that POC portrayals in video games are lacking at best. Maybe I simply tried to ignore it so I could enjoy my escapism.

Regardless, I've finally reached my breaking point. I can no longer support the gaming industry as it currently stands, replete with homophobia, sexism, and racism as it is. There are several reasons for this, but I thought I'd first start with a list with the most heinous offender to my sensibilities.

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Resident Evil:

More specifically Resident Evil 5. From "Tribal" Sheva to the Ndipaya, this game couldn't be anymore offensive. As stated by Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead, "it plays so blatantly into the old clichés of the dangerous 'dark continent' and the primitive lust of its inhabitants that you'd swear the game was written in the 1920s" and "there are even more outrageous and outdated images to be found later in the game, stuff that I was honestly surprised to see in 2009." The article adds that the addition of the light-skinned Sheva "compounds the problem rather than easing it." And I know some durpa durp is going to bring up that one anthropologist from that one university. Well guess what o' ye of little scholarly learning, that's just one anthropologist's opinion. As an anthropology major I could just as easily assert that the game is racist as all get out, because, guess what, just like other sciences (social or otherwise), one individual does not represent the whole field of study! So to those who thought to make that argument I would like to offer you a nice, big DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

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Street Fighter:

A childhood favorite of mine that was largely enjoyable during my naive years of pre-pubescent semi-bliss. However, this is number 2 on my list of racist video games, primarily due to it's international popularity. Yes, SF Fanboys, you heard me right. This game is so offensive in terms of its characterizations that I couldn't even bring myself to look at Street Fighter IV, much less work up the fortitude required to shell out 60+ dollars for it.

Now I know someone, or quite a few someones, is going to say, "WTF? Dumb fuk is dumb! Street Fighterz PWNS!" or something to that effect. Just so you know, I'm officially ignoring you starting...now.

As I was saying, all one needs to do is take a look at the character roster and you'll understand my sentiments. Take, for instance, your heroes in the form of Ryu, Ken, Chun-li, and Guile. Ryu is obviously one of the more fleshed out characters as he's the title's mascot, but Ken, Chun-li, and Guile are not without their depth either. While Guile is definitely a stereotype concerning white, western military men from the States, he at least looks somewhat badass despite his ridiculous hair cut. Similarly, other fairer skinned characters are at least neutral on the characterization scale. However, their browner counterparts? Meh, not so much.

From Balrog/M.Bison to DeeJay (Yes, that's his actual name) to Elena to T-Hawk (Once again, yes, that is his actual name) to El Fuerte, all of these characters are ridiculously offensive stereotypes, and in a game practically comprised of ridiculous stereotypes that's saying quite a bit. Well start with DeeJay if for no other reason then the fact that these are his "Likes"-Shouting, singing, dancing, watching TV, and cooking shows. Yes, that's right, he likes shouting. What. The. $%#@!?

Oh, and in case you wanted to know his "Hates"-Silence, harsh people, and people who lack rhythm. Yes, that's right my rhythmically challenged readers, DeeJay is going to whoop your ass up and down the block because you can't clap on beat, because that's exactly what happy dancing blackies from Jamaica do.*

Next up is Elena. I'm not going to comment too much on this one, but I just want to highlight two things that seem to be really salient points about her character. 1) She looks like this-Those Body Proportions! and 2) That Family Photo! My GOD!**

As it concerns Balrog, T. Hawk, and El Fuerte...well the less said the better. Actually, a point of clarification on T.Hawk. Apparently the Street Fighter development staff and Capcom do not realize that those indigenous groups within Mesoamerica have vastly different cultures than those found in the Southwestern United States (which is to say nothing of the diversity to be found among those groups as well). I say this because T.Hawk has stereotypical elements of "Mexican" cultural heritage attributed to his character on top of the grossly offensive and stereotypical "Native American/American Indian" character attributes. Also, just in case you were wondering what, exactly, was so offensive about the T.Hawk link (other than the obvious) it's because the poorly enunciated thing he says at the end is, "How". Someone shank everyone on the SF IV development team with the dulled end of a "peace pipe" please...

Anyway, this could go on forever, but I'm going to move on to el numero tre.

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Mass Effect:

I'll make this simple. While Mass Effect is indeed a great game with a decent, if not entirely predictable, narrative, it suffers from the same ills of most science fiction. Those ills, if you do not already know, are the relative lack of POC and the lack of truly dynamic character attributes for those that do exist. Sure you could bring up good ol' boyscout Cap'n Anderson, or, in the second installment, Jacob Taylor or Kasumi, but that's what? Three out of God knows how many? Seriously, there are more POC in the world than there are white people, but somehow, in almost every sci-fi space narrative, white people manage to remain the visible majority. Go ahead and take a look around the game world and tell me I'm wrong; if you can count the number of POC on two hands, let alone, one then that's probably a hint that something's wrong...

Also, Kasumi and Jacob are, at best, nice ship and combat scenery. Jacob has all the character of a brick wall with a boyscout logo painted on it, and Kasumi...well I'm not even going to talk about her, but I will raucously laugh in the face of anyone who was dumb enough to actually buy that DLC.

Now I know someone's going to bring up the aliens, but you know what? **** you! I mean, really! Aliens! You're going to use aliens to explain why POC are largely underrepresented in the game world? Don't make me laugh.

Also, if you were going to suggest something about the gaming demographic or what have you, you can have a **** you too. There are enough POC gamers that Bioware could have done a little bit better with diversity. Heck, Fallout 3, while problematic in its own right, at least had a diverse cast of characters! So forgive me if Yvonne Strahovski doesn't do it for me as far as a RO (romance option), and if I prefer someone who looks a little more like this. Granted I usually play the renegade, lone wolf jackass whose only interest is pissing off his comrades and everyone else around him-What can I say? It's the misanthrope in me-, but the option would be nice.

Also, forgive my LGBTQ friends for wanting a little equal opportunity loving. To be quite honest I think it's absolutely ridiculous how much this game caters to white, heterosexual, cisgender males. If someone wants their FemShep to get it on with Miranda, Jack, or Tali, then who am I to tell them no way? Similarly, if someone likes a little strapping MShep on Jacob action (though given the fact that Jacob is just about as 3-D as a piece of cardboard I don't know why they would) or Thane, so be it. If you don't like it, don't romance them, duh? It's not complicated...

Now these complaints are leveled at the some of the fanboys and girls just as much as they are at the developers, because I can't even remember the number of homophobic bull**** I read concerning gay/lesbian romance options on various threads.***

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Final Fantasy:

F***. Final. Fantasy. (F*** the first one because he's a cooning Mr. T ripoff. I believe the second and third ones are rather self explanatory, but if not I'd like to add that he too is a coon.)

NEXT!

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Dead or Alive:

Zack. 'nuff said.

*Edit: Not enough said. I almost forgot the mind boggling sexism! Let us not forget the blatant male fan service that is so beyond creepy that those who actually bought the volley ball title(s) (I wouldn't dare to suggest that they were actual games) should be drawn and quartered without some much as a fair trial. Really, those "women" (using the term loosely, especially since I'm discussing nothing more than animated frames/pixels/etc.) are constructed in such an anatomically impossible way that one would have to wonder if the whole series was based on the creator's wet dreams...wait, never mind, that's exactly what the series is: one big wet dream after another. *Shudders*

Now don't get me wrong; I love the female figure (tall, full, skinny, athletic, etc.), but the objectification found in this series just makes me feel dirty, and not in a good way.

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And I think I'm going to cut it off here. I'm starting to get a headache. However, there are countless other games I could list where POC are either 2-D characters, scenery, or nonexistent. I'm not even going to start on the homophobia, and transphobia doesn't even come up in discussion (except maybe in the case of characters like Flea from Chrono Trigger). Regardless, you can give me the excuse that gave developers are white or Japanese if you want, but that still doesn't make them any less guilty of the offenses listed and then some.

Anyway, feel free to comment with additions for the list, possible counter arguments, or what have you.

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*It's a ****ing national past time next to having the IMF and the United States cripple their economy.

**Now I may not know much about the distinct Kenyan tribes, but Elena's family looks more like a Native American stereotype than anything remotely "Kenyan"-which is near impossible to define given the nation's diversity. Now, I admit I may be wrong, so if someone has any information on peoples from Kenya that contradicts my assertion feel free to share.

***I did notice that a lot more people were pro-lesbian ROs, however. But given the demographic (hetero, cis, white males) I guess that was something of a given...

Race and Contemporary Hollywood Part 02

Wow...I was actually supposed to post this a long time ago. I guess I could blame my old laptop, a lack of free time, or whatever, but those are poor excuses so I'll just apologize. Sorry for the long wait, those of you who were waiting that is. Now, without further ado, onto Race and Contemporary Hollywood Part 02!

Now, when I last left off I was discussing a myriad of things, but I'd like to address one issue in particular that I merely glossed over. That issue is the continued pigeon holing of POC in what are considered major films. Here's a quick test for you, how many "major motion pictures" can you think of, off the top of your head, that featured a POC who was not portrayed in a stereotypical manner that, I assume, most white people within the audience are meant to feel comfortable with? Do you have a number in your head? Good. Now, take those films and ask yourself how many times, if any, a POC was the lead or a major character and did not die; get reduced to a secondary character; or did not abruptly start playing into a "Hollywood Standard" stereotype? Do you have another number? Good. Now, if that number is less than 10 films, I want to know if that's a problem for you.

Personally, off the top of my head, I can't think of one "major motion picture" that didn't screw up in one of the ways listed above.

-Aside- Also, has anyone else noticed how Eastern Europeans tend to be depicted in major films? I don't think I can think of many, if any, positive depictions of Eastern Europeans off the top of my head, which is also disconcerting.-End Aside-

And thus I, at least, have a problem because, despite what many may claim, I've seen far too many movies, recently, depicting that good old favorite form of white American entertainment. That's right, that age old form of buffoonery exceeding the antics of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck; comedy so vulgar, offensive, and jarring that you'd have to be, quoting Green Day, an American Idiot to enjoy it; comedy that makes every intelligent POC want to boycott Hollywood until the end of time. That's right my friends I'm talking about: Cooning! (Here's a link for those of you who don't know, and perhaps blessedly so, what cooning is - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coon *It's the fourth definition under the Verb header*)

Now I know what some of you might be thinking. "Well X I don't remember seeing much blatant cooning lately!" To those of you who are thinking this, or thoughts that closely mirror it, I would have to kindly ask for you to view these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89iqd4nQjVQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3o88DOj94I&feature=related (not two of the best links admittedly, but what were you expecting for a movie that was just released?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYLpxV288d0 (once again, not the best link (someone actually thought this scene was funny enough to add ridiculous music?), but I'm working with what I've got right now. Also, from what I've heard, this scene NEVER existed in the book, so that begs the question-Was it neccesary!?)

And I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. And these are just the depictions of African Americans! I could do a whole series of posts on this kind of deprecating humor and how it affects Africans (because we all know that the peoples of Africa are just one big hegemonic group with no individual states, cultures, or identities. Or at least that's what Hollywood would have you believe) and other POC.

Anyway, I think that's it for right now. If I keep going I'm likely to start foaming at the mouth and spewing green fluid out of my eyes, and I've already had to clean up that mess once today. I'm not sure what my next post will be on (maybe something on the music industry, or Hollywood's troubled history with women *especially WOC*, but I'm not sure yet; however, I am open to suggestions), but it won't be on this, at least not for right now...I have to wait for the boiling blood and deeply embedded snarl to recede from my face otherwise it might get stuck like this.