3 ms·

You’re right. But this is pure satire. The joke is that the white plains-folk are way dumber than Sheriff Bart. It’s a mockery of how stupid racism is.

kedean 7y ago
I understand that its a mockery, but the word carries a lot more weight now than it did. Even just rewatching it with someone who knows nothing about it is really weird, because I have to genuinely worry if they're getting the sarcasm or if they think it was just made by racist people. It's not a casual word anymore, and that definitely affects how the film works. It couldn't be made today in that state, because nobody would be comfortable with the language used, regardless of its historical accuracy. A TV show about
- andrepd 7y ago
  It could (many films use the "nig---" word repeatedly, look no further than tarantino) and honestly it should. Racism in the USA was brutal and still continues to this day. We should not try to whitewash it because the word, of all things, offends us. That sort of mentality is what leads people to try to ban Huckleberry Finn from school libraries, because the depiction itself offends their sensibilities, regardless of the underlying message.
  - kedean 7y ago
    I'll concede Tarantino films are a good example. I think maybe the difference is that Hateful Eight, Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, and Django aren't comedies, and it tends to be a lot less casual. I recall most cases in Django being very hateful, used for a purpose. BS dropped it very casually, as if the characters were normal people talking that way every day (which is pretty accurate). I'm not claiming anything should be whitewashed or censored at all, just that language in a modern context has an effect on how a movie comes across to the audience. I don't think that a modern audience would find it funny without the social atmosphere of the 1970s. I'm making no claims about the quality of the movie itself, as it actually was made. Similarly, if Huck Finn was written today, I do think it would have a really hard time. It works because of the place it has in history.
conistonwater 7y ago
They're not dumb, they're the common folk, the clay of the Earth.
- dctoedt 7y ago
  > they're the common folk, the clay of the Earth. "You know ... morons." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg RIP Cleavon Little (1932-92) and Gene Wilder (1933-2016).

kedean 7y ago

I understand that its a mockery, but the word carries a lot more weight now than it did. Even just rewatching it with someone who knows nothing about it is really weird, because I have to genuinely worry if they're getting the sarcasm or if they think it was just made by racist people. It's not a casual word anymore, and that definitely affects how the film works. It couldn't be made today in that state, because nobody would be comfortable with the language used, regardless of its historical accuracy. A TV show about

andrepd 7y ago
It could (many films use the "nig---" word repeatedly, look no further than tarantino) and honestly it should. Racism in the USA was brutal and still continues to this day. We should not try to whitewash it because the word, of all things, offends us. That sort of mentality is what leads people to try to ban Huckleberry Finn from school libraries, because the depiction itself offends their sensibilities, regardless of the underlying message.
- kedean 7y ago
  I'll concede Tarantino films are a good example. I think maybe the difference is that Hateful Eight, Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, and Django aren't comedies, and it tends to be a lot less casual. I recall most cases in Django being very hateful, used for a purpose. BS dropped it very casually, as if the characters were normal people talking that way every day (which is pretty accurate). I'm not claiming anything should be whitewashed or censored at all, just that language in a modern context has an effect on how a movie comes across to the audience. I don't think that a modern audience would find it funny without the social atmosphere of the 1970s. I'm making no claims about the quality of the movie itself, as it actually was made. Similarly, if Huck Finn was written today, I do think it would have a really hard time. It works because of the place it has in history.

conistonwater 7y ago

They're not dumb, they're the common folk, the clay of the Earth.

dctoedt 7y ago
> they're the common folk, the clay of the Earth. "You know ... morons." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJbSvidohg RIP Cleavon Little (1932-92) and Gene Wilder (1933-2016).