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Mark-Paul Gosselaar felt uncomfortable revisiting Zack Morris mocking of Native Americans on Saved by the Bell

posted 3 years ago by TMC-4 (19417)
11 replies | jump to latest

https://people.com/tv/mark-paul-gosselaar-racist-saved-by-the-bell-episode-never-get-made-today/

Gosselaar, who rewatched the 1990 episode as part of his Zack to the Future podcast, said he had forgotten about the racist depiction. "I cringed seeing myself portraying a white dude being Zack Morris, who is like the all-American, blond-haired white dude in an Indian Native American headdress," he said, according to People magazine. He added: "This is one of those that I don't, I don't like remember putting on the headdress. I don't remember putting face paint on. I don't remember standing in that awkward way that I was standing where my arms are folded and like a very stereotypical way...This episode would never get made in current times, and rightly so."

[–] HelpMeRhonda (1155) 3 years ago

Of course he doesn't remember doing all that.....

I don't know why he's ashamed. White characters who have Native American ancestors can't pay homage to those ancestors by donning a headdress for one class project?

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 3 years ago

What a jackass. They make fun of white people, too. This country needs to grow up. To do that, we need to round up and remove all liberals and send them to the country they most admire. China.

[–] PaladinNJ (20310) 3 years ago

That episode was just on reruns today.
Earlier in the episode Zack was trying to make light of his Natives American ancestry and got rightly called out for it by his teacher. He learned his lesson after talking to Chief Henry and finding out the truth.

In the scene Mark is describing above, Zack wasn't mocking anybody. He was paying tribute to his Native American ancestor.

[–] Shibez (887) 3 years ago

Was he as equally upset when he made fun of stereotypical Indian American people who own 7/11's in the Thanksgiving episode of saved by the bell: The College Year's?

[–] BOandBarbecue (2264) 2 years ago

[–] Shibez (887) 2 years ago

I can no longer find a free streaming copy of the Thanksgiving episode but here is the episode that someone made with commentary....go to 15:00 minutes into the episode to see the line that Zach says. https://archive.org/details/ScottByTheBellAThanksgivingStory

[–] BOandBarbecue (2264) 2 years ago

i think you overreacts. doing impression of other race does not equals raceism. i do impression of asian all time, i bend eye lid back and talk funnys, and im arab. of course we all knows that only white peoples are capables of racisms but if he say indian peoples have BO and poor socials skill (rudes) then he racists but i dont see racisims in saying 7/11s in funny voices becuase that is true indian peoples in americas he is making observations.

[–] corey (724) 3 years ago

Jeeeeze, grow a pair dude. Its TV. Go watch some "F-Troop" episodes

[–] WandererFromYs (1675) 2 years ago

It was supposed to be mildly offensive, that was the point of the episode. He found a single picture of a Native American ancestor, and rather than doing any actual research, he went with the common stereotypes that he already knew. His teacher called him and made him redo the project after talking to a real Native American. Zack learned a new appreciation of his Native American roots, and did much better on the second project.

There is no reason no reason it couldn’t be made today, I think a main character learning a valuable lesson is something that still holds up in entertainment.

[–] javie (2203) 2 years ago

They copied these midgets in the form of silhouettes.

[–] janelsenor (2042) 2 years ago

It was a misguided attempt to show respect to Natives. The discussion on the podcast is very interesting. They had a Native guest on it and it was interesting to hear his take on it too.

That said, I have a Native friend who absolutely loves the episode.