emigran
Practically Family
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Great list...
Butch Cassidy ought be on it...
Butch Cassidy ought be on it...
The racism of Rooney's character is the most offensive part, but even if he was playing the role as an American annoying neighbor (i.e., taking out the horrible racism), the slapstick, the screeching, the sheer goofiness of his character didn't fit the style and thoughtfulness of the rest of the movie - it's like he was forced into the movie by some studio exec who saw that some "focus group" said loud, stupid, obnoxious characters are what people want.
There was a radio show in the thirties in which a little white guy named Eddie Holden played a Japanese houseboy named Frank Watanabe, who was sort of a Jeeves-like character who was always getting his dopey English master out of trouble. Eddie Holden's portrayal of this character was far, far less obnoxious than that of Mickey Rooney thirty years later. "Progress.'"
Yes indeed.Out of the Past
. . . Flight of the Phoenix . . .
Miss Golightly, I protest! Having lived in Japan, you might think I would agree with you, but my Japanese wife was very entertained by Rooney's performance and didn't feel it was racist at all. She thought he was spot-on with the accent, too.The Hollywood happy ending thing bothers me in the movie, but not as much as Mickey Rooney's obnoxious, insulting and idiotically racist performance. I know times were different - and I try very hard to think about things in the context of the time - but even given that, his character is inconsistent with the thoughtfulness, the style and the tone of the movie. He comes off like nails on a chalkboard.
Miss Golightly, I protest! Having lived in Japan, you might think I would agree with you, but my Japanese wife was very entertained by Rooney's performance and didn't feel it was racist at all. She thought he was spot-on with the accent, too.
There is someone in every ethnic group who is a comical goofball. No one thinks the eccentric Caucasians in the party scene represent ALL white people; just show a comical Asian and you're thought to be making a "statement" about a group. Jerry Lewis has been just as goofy and no one says he is offensive to Jews.
An off shoot of that is your comment about the eccentric Caucasian being fair game - is that a double standard or because Caucasians have been, as I've been told, "the dominant power group" it is okay to highlight negative aspects of Caucasians but not other groups as those other groups have to overcome unfair historical representations. My view is it is either fair or not fair to point these things out for all groups, regardless of past history - but that is not the majority view today.
....I agree 100 percent with your views on Mr. Lewis. I'm pretty broadminded when it comes to comedy, and I like rowdy slapstick as much as the more refined stuff, but Jerry Lewis has never, not even once, done anything to make me laugh, not even back to the Martin & Lewis days. He always strikes me as the most annoying kid at the birthday party, going out of his way to draw attention to himself by smearing cake on his face and jumping up on tables ooking like a monkey.