Robots that are Insults in Disguise?

So there's this article on MSN.com about how two certain robot characters on the new Transformers sequel fit a racist stereotype for comic relief. Are you freaking kidding me? Ryan and I have had this discussion several times when we're feeling deep and philosophical. This has nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with a culture. Yes, initially this culture was limited to those of African-American decent and hence the stereotype, but today it's a culture shared by African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Caucasians, and Latin-Americans alike. And probably several other diverse racial groups.

This kind of 'belittling', as they are just short of calling it, is not aimed at those of African-American decent but at the culture that started with an African-American majority way back when. That is no longer the case, however, and I really wish people would get off of their high horse about how it's all about 'putting the black man down'. Because it's not. It's one of the cultures that some African-Americans are a part of that we find comical simply because this specific culture, honestly, can seem a little ridiculous to those of us who aren't a part of it. Doesn't Hollywood just as often use the culture of those who thrive in a world of suburbia as comical relief? Couldn't that be seen as a jab at white people? Or the mocking of "mountain people" from the South, who are also usually portrayed as whites? What about that? Do I complain about that? No. I laugh. Because it's funny. I'm Southern, and I still think it's hilarious. Because it is not aimed at my skin color or the fact that I am from the South, but it is instead a joke about the culture that many people from the South seem to share that is funny in certain Hollywood contexts.

The robots are funny. That was their entire point. It's not an attempt to put down any one racial group. It was a jab at a culture. And I think everyone needs to laugh about it and move on. In face, those that share that culture should laugh the hardest because they understand it even more. And I know anytime I hear a joke involving military life or Southerners, I laugh harder than anyone around me. Because it's funnier when you know someone who acts exactly like that from your high school or who lives two houses down or is even in your own family. No one is trying to insult African-Americans by mocking a culture. Laugh and get over it. Laughing at yourself is the best way to show confidence in who you are exactly the way you are in whatever culture you may be a part of, regardless of your race.

And on that note, I'm going to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen this evening. : )