While puportinig to treat it's black characters with respect, it present two gay characters as stereotypical 'queens', and makes frequent use of the word *beep* when referring to them. Now if they had had some white guy use the 'n' word, well... I guess it was OK to be black, but not OK to be gay.
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shareWhile puportinig to treat it's black characters with respect, it present two gay characters as stereotypical 'queens', and makes frequent use of the word *beep* when referring to them. Now if they had had some white guy use the 'n' word, well... I guess it was OK to be black, but not OK to be gay
The point is not comparing race to sexuality or attraction, the point is that bigotry is bigotry, and the same ugliness is what results from it. The OP never said being gay is the same as being black, the point was the language used in the film, and although I don't agree with the OP's evaluation of "Blacula", I also feel sorry for people who think that discrimination and hatred based on someone's sexual orientation is somehow not as offensive as racism. It is most definitely, and whether being gay is a choice or a natural trait is meaningless in the matter, because religion is a choice too, and people suffer bigotry because of that as well. Yes, black people were treated as property. Gay people have also suffered extreme violence and social oppression, not only in America but worldwide, and for no reason other than their sexual orientation. The reason for the oppression is different, but the end result is the same.
Personally, I don't see "Blacula" or its sequel as being racist or even homophobic. It contains negative stereotypes for sure, but as a film it treats all of its characters as well-rounded human beings. The gay men are actually very positively portrayed as a loving, successful couple, and the fact that they are interracial is even more progressive. It also goes without saying that black characters are central to the film, and even though there are stereotypical characters like pimps and the mouthy cabbie, there are also black doctors, police officers, and business people represented as well. There are inflammatory words in the film, but the characters that use them are not portrayed in a positive light. I think this is important and (for a horror/fantasy film) groundbreaking.
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You clearly don't know the definition of the word bigotry then, and since you call gay people degenerates, the fact that you don't have a vocabulary does not surprise me.
shareIt was a very weird, contradictory and ultimately homophobic depiction.
Early on, they seemed overplayed, but mostly harmless. There was a sense that they genuinely cared for one another and, when they died, the reaction from their friends and family lead me to believe that maybe the film had intended for them to be sympathetic figures. But then the doctor, police chief and patrol man all made homophobic remarks.
When the doctor flippantly referred to them as "dead ____s," I thought maybe he was supposed to be an antagonist. We were still in the early stages of the film and the previous scene had seen him criticized as rude.
But, as the film went on, and the comments continued, it seemed like they were just being genuinely homophobic. I'm still a bit shocked by that first line. Did he really feel the need to drop a slur when speaking of the dead like that?
What you see as homophobic and weird, I see as commonplace. Everyone spoke just as people in 1972 would have spoke. In real life, these people would not have altered what they said in 1972 for fear of offending someone. So why should their dialogue be any different than what it would be in real life? It doesn't matter if you approve of it or not. It just is what it is.
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Oh come on. This was 1972 YOU are using YOUR 2010s standards on a 4 decade-old movie.
In our present "eyes" this film has some pretty bad depictions of African Americans but IN 1972, this depiction of Black America was seen as pretty positive given the movie was produced in the former shadows of Stepin Fetchit and Amos 'n' Andy.
You gotta remember that in the 1970s, teenage males would go on "fag stomping" missions.
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Why do these overly sensitive types expect all "offensive" language to be removed? Real life is full of bogotry, hatred, violence, etc. Don't we want movies to portray a realistic look at life? These same complainers would bitch and moan at some 1950s "Father Knows Best" family as being "unrealistic" and yet they expect a sanitized version of a horror flick? I want my movies go be as real as possible, and if whites, blacks, Jews, whoever is depicted in an unflattering light so be it. Some people today (a lot actually) still use the term "fag" and refer to blacks by the n-word. No one says it's polite but if it's real life then it should be fine on the screen.
shareDon't we want movies to portray a realistic look at life?
What a stupid moronic statement. So you want movies to be sanitized of any realism to appease your thin skin? Did I say I want to see racism? Another strawman argument by an idiot. The movie reflected the way things were- not the way we may want them to be.
shareAnother POS that idolizes the past as if it were the "better".
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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .
It seemed to me that whoever wrote the script wasn't seriously being homophobic. As if they were mocking the stereotypes to show how silly and ridiculous they were rather than enforcing them. Maybe I'm wrong though. I knew lots of people watching the movie would have a problem with those scenes.
shareThe gay stereotypes and homophobic remarks are why I didn't rate this film above a 5. Which is to bad, because otherwise it wasn't too bad.
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