1. The bus gets stuck in the mud, and the Charles Dutton character tries to motivate the men (pushing the bus out) by yelling, "What are you...Shaka Zulu, or Clarence Thomas?"
2. The only conservative character in the film, is also the least likeable character. Seems like the classic 'straw man' to me.
Any thoughts on this?
Well it's a Spike Lee movie what did you expect. However I did find it interesting that the only other Republican on the bus was also gay, and he was also played by Isaiah Washington who in real life said something offensive towards gay people and he's also a Democrat.
And the shot at Clarence Thomas, was just pathetic. Clarence has done more for Black America then Spike Lee.
"It's always better to do what's Right, then what's Popular"share
I hadn't remembered the gay character being a Republican.
But I seem to recall him being one of the lightest-skinned men on the bus (coincidence?). Wasn't the cop fairly light-skinned too?
They were two Gay men on the bus, the one im talking about is the one who was in the army, and he also got in a fight with the actor.
"It's always better to do what's Right, then what's Popular"share
During the flap and hatefest on Washington*, followed by his removal from the Greys Anatomy tv show....I NEVER once heard it reported that he had played a gay man (in this film) and with some dignity, as I recall.
*After his gay insult was reported by a 3rd actor. He would have gotten off lighter if he'd assaulted or stolen from another actor.
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Yeah, whoever wrote this knows nothing about Spike Lee, Clarence Thomas, or Black Americans. Spike Lee has done more to get Black Americans noticed in film and TV than anyone else. All Clarence Thomas did was sexually harrass a black woman. He has spoken out vocally against affirmative action and goes out of his way to alienate other blacks. I would love for the person who wrote that quote to put together an actual list of what Thomas has done for Black Americans that is so great.
The point of that quote was not to be Liberal propaganda. Clarence Thomas has always been a controversial person in the Black community - many blacks see him as a sellout for whatever reason. And while I personally as a black person find the "sellout" label insulting, many of his politics are far from mainstream Black Americans. I believe that was the point Lee was trying to make. We should not dismiss this as "liberal propaganda", but rather look at it as a part of who these character are and their mindsets.
Thank god you brought some intelligence to this conversation, anyone who thinks Clarence Thomas helps people has obviously never seen his track record.
shareI think if I have to read another topic on another board about a movie labeled "Liberal Propaganda" I'm going to puke.
Seriously, every movie with anything even vaguely political in it has some Limbaugh wannabe starting a "Liberal Propaganda!!!" topic on it's message board.
Yes, sorry. The whole world is out to get the rich old guys!! You're onto us! What will we do now?!?!
Funny hwo you say Conservatism is the root of all racism. offthepigs.
Liberalism supports abortion which started Planned Parenthood which was started by Margaret Sanger. She beleived int eh eugenics for slavs, jews, blacks and others.
Planned Parenthood still does this subtley for minorites. Look up on what Alveda King says on this. She is MLKs niece.
When Nazi Germany adopted the principles of eugenics to create a Germanic "master race," Sanger wrote in a letter:
"All the news from Germany is sad & horrible, and to me more dangerous than any other war going on any where because it has so many good people who applaud the atrocities & claim its right. The sudden antagonism in Germany against the Jews & the vitriolic hatred of them is spreading underground here & is far more dangerous than the aggressive policy of the Japanese in Manchuria.."
You're wrong. She believed that birth control should be used to prevent the birth of children into poverty without regard for race or creed. And by the way, nobody supports abortion, some people just believe that the right to an abortion is inherit in a woman.
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."-Dr. Strangelove
Governor George Wallace opposed the Nazis, too. In fact, he volunteered to put his own neck on the line & fight them. Doesn't change the fact that he was still a racist.
And by the way, nobody supports abortion
Clarence has done more for Black America then Spike Lee.
BULLHOCKEY!!!!1
The reason many black Americans dislike Clarence Thomas is because he dosen't share in their socialistic mind frame, where white people should pamper and nanny all the black people who can't take care of themselves. It's not white people's faults that black people can't get their act together. The days of segregation and slavery are over. Obama's in the White House and he didn't get their from affirmative action, or a nanny holding his hand throughout life.
share"It's not white people's faults that black people can't get their act together."
LOL.
You remove a group of people and strip them of their self-image/heritage. You then miseducate them into hating themselves so they will accept your domination. After using them for cheap labor. They are "freed" from the ones who dominated them. They are now without homes or employment amongst people who resent their presence. The liberators then leave them at the mercy of those who dominated them who in turn come up with special laws for them that again curb their development. Then comes segregation where you allot them the most undesirable amenities and give them sub-par materials to work with. Then when the group tries to address these issue their leaders are attacked by the descendants of their former oppressors. And to top it all off the government funds a program to subvert your efforts for improvement. And then after this same government dumps drugs into the community of this group which destabilizes an already reeling area. What did all this stuff get cleaned up? Maybe I didn't get the memo. This is institutionalized oppression. Hundreds of years of damage won't be undone in a few measly decades.
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I love how people play the "liberal propaganda" card when it refers to issues of race and class. How is it a negative for a black director to portray black people in a realistic, positive light? What is so offensive, or dare I say scary to the right-wingers when confronted with a different side of the story? Nobody is forcing you to believe anything, it's a film! It doesn't ask you to do anything but observe with an open mind. Remaining willfully ignorant to things and ideas you don't understand is what's keeping us as a society from truly flourishing. Fear is the enemy of us all.
shareI was referring to the way that black conservatives are often demonized, or made fun of, in popular culture (e.g. "out of touch", Uncle Tom, Oreo, "acting white", not "authentically black", etc).
It's not a "different side of the story", but rather the same song-and-dance that we typically get from Hollywood and most of the media.
I cannot begin a list of all the great accomplishments of Clarence Thomas. Probably, because he did nothing that I would remember.
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Spike Lee is a resentful, eye's poppin'outta his head little troll, who now when lookin' back at this movie must think twice about this "NATION OF ISLAM" Led March...The LAST thing this country would be tolerating is a gathering led by someone who runs the "NATION OF ISLAM"...Sorry Spike ya Lil' per, but ISLAM and it's bullshyte doesn't sell in this country anymore.
Wake up, Time to DIE.
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Let's not forget Obama's pulling of troops early in Islamic nest breeding areas which led to their MASSIVE buildup that we're dealing with now!
Wake up, Time to DIE.
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Really sad that someone can watch a movie like this and quibble over supposed political propaganda. It's about a group of black men going to the Million Man March. What did you expect, Dirty Harry?
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