... just even considering and putting it out there for discussion. Life has become tedious enough with all the control-freakery and censoring on expression. Don't you find it tedious that people actively and hawkishly look for, to uncover, something that gets called "racism"? It stifles honest creativity based on 'saying what you see', and the funny side of misinformed impression. Stereotyping is a type of honesty and what comes of it is better out than in. Writers are double-checking themselves these days so much - and it shows, it's forced and formulaic to not offend the proxy offendees. And it's bs because it's art and storytelling. If things should change it should be organic not by agenda or council. These guys above are humouring you, saying it's a parody. In a way it is, but not by intention - because it wasn't then, and shouldn't now, be an issue. This kind of 'racism' is a hammed-up delight; let it be and stop picking! More of a general comment than directed at you btw.
Thanks for explaining. I partly agree and partly disagree with you. I agree to the extent that I resent people crying "racism" at issues such as the lack of a non-white character on a particular show (such as Midsomer Murders), or forcing others to apologise for using "politically incorrect" terms.
However, I disagree with you in the sense that I believe that actual racism - views that show indifferent ignorance about other races or cultures - should be discouraged in any artistic work. It's not a question of "Can't we even joke about these things without being on our guard all the time?" It's a question of why directors, producers or writers should feel that they have the liberty to write negatively about other races or cultures without taking the time and effort to find out the reality. It suggests the attitude, "It doesn't matter if I write incorrect stuff about other races, because their feelings don't come into the equation if the majority finds it entertaining."
Insofar as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is concerned, I understand that it is a parody and the stereotypes were meant to be a mockery of older films of the same genre. I am perfectly fine with that. However, I would contrast this with what I have heard about "Temple of Doom" (not having watched it myself), in which the film's misrepresentation of an aspect of Hindu religion is not a parody but actual ignorance on the creators' part. That is what I would find truly offensive.
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