There is only one possible white actor who could have played Ralph Kramden, and that is:
Mark Addy
He looks and sounds like Jackie Gleason. And could have done a lot better then Cedric the Entertainer.
As for Norton, possibly Rick Moranis.
Brad Garrett would've been good in this movie.
shareI agree with you. I have no problem with blacks, but this should have been a movie with white people
sharewHY DOES IT MATTER IF IT WAS MADE WITH BLACKS OR WHITES???? IT'S JUST A MOVIE! wHY IS RACE ALWAYS AN ISSUE WITH YOU PEOPLE?
share"wHY DOES IT MATTER IF IT WAS MADE WITH BLACKS OR WHITES???? IT'S JUST A MOVIE! wHY IS RACE ALWAYS AN ISSUE WITH YOU PEOPLE?"
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The original characters were white people from Brooklyn, the show was originally conceived by white people, the main audience fan base is white people, and, finally, remakes of classic shows that distractingly attempt to "update" white characters with black characters always suck. Of course, it might've been a more palatable effort if they had cast actors with credible talents (like Eddie Murphy as Norton, say), but instead they cast brainless, humorless twatts like Cedric the non-Entertainer. It was a disgrace to the name of the great Jackie Gleason.
Obviously, the producers were trying to pander to black audiences. No matter what black people have to say, the original characters exhibited caucasian traits (i.e. Norton's fastidiousness, Ralph's tastes in leisure activities like bowling and his lodge meetings, the musical score, etc) just as surely as the Jeffersons exuded black American traits. Sorry, them's the facts. Black folks are simply going to have to accept that white people have personality too, and it's offensive when classic white characters are co-opted and exploited in such talentless, tasteless fashion.
"No matter what black people have to say, the original characters exhibited caucasian traits (i.e. Norton's fastidiousness, Ralph's tastes in leisure activities like bowling and his lodge meetings, the musical score, etc) just as surely as the Jeffersons exuded black American traits. Sorry, them's the facts."
Fastidiousness is a white trait? And to think white people used black people as their maids and custodians for centuries. What a mistake that was! They could have just hired other white people and saved themselves the trouble.
Try going to a bowling alley in NYC, LA or Atlanta (and probably other big cities) on a Friday or Saturday night and try and keep track of the number of black people. The best bowler I've ever personally seen was a black dude. Speaking of the Jeffersons, George Jefferson had his own bowling team for Jeffersons Cleaners. One of the best episodes was when they lost the bowling championship to Cunningham Cleaners. In another episode, he took a troubled kid bowling.
Have you ever heard of the Masons? There are 4,500 African-American Mason Lodges worldwide. And there's black members in the predominately white Mason Lodges. You name any kind of lodge or club and there's black members...uh, except the KKK. And George was always joining some kind of lodge or club in his quest to "move on up". I guess the writers must have ran out of ideas and gave him white things to do. Tell me, what do you think black people do with their time? Besides calling white people "honky". I'm dying to know.
EDIT: Actaully, I remember seeing on "Dateline NBC" there was a black woman who joined the KKK but they didn't let her come to the meetings. But that's another story.
The revolution will now be televised. Sundays on Adult Swim.
Tell em, Blondy. Bowling is a people sport. Not just for white people. Its amazing how some of the people on this site try to sound so intelligent but you can always tell they've barely ever left their computer in their mom's basement. "Caucasian traits"??? PLEASE!! You can find those traits in any race or religion in America.
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the only reason i see it mattering is the characters name Kramden sounds like a distinctly european name imo.
but it shouldnt matter. i actually liked this movie and felt they did a good job with presenting both modern honeymooners and black honeymooners. it doesnt replace the show. its more of an homogage. but still there were a few generic black stereotype moments but they seemed minimal compared to other movies that target the black demographic.
what do you mean "you people"
"For there's a man inside me. And only when he is out...can I walk free of pain"-Tobias Funke
I don't know who Mark Addy is, but the fat guy from King of Queens would have done well. Hell, his show is like the New Honeymooners anyhow.
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You want a promotion? Pray god to lotion.
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"Well the world has sat by and watch many whites try and sing, rap and dance like blacks and screww it up so I say that's one for the blacks with several million more to go."
That's pretty stupid, even putting aside how little somebody like Elvis "screwwed" it up, because black people were in no way responsible for the movie. There are no black executives in any major position in any studio in Hollywood, the director is white (very white from his IMDb pictures), and the producers [aside from those associated with Cedric] are white too.
I don't think "the blacks" won a point on this one.
Crimeny, this whole thread is pretty damned racist . . .
"The blacks", "the whites", "you people" . . . I can't believe no one has complained about all of this yet.
"She knew in her heart that the winter would soon come, and the last of the spring would be gone."
what's offensive about saying "the blacks" or "the whites"?
shareEh, I dunno' . . . I just hate to hear people lable. But I suppose that in a subject such as this one someone would need to get a little more in-depth with who they're talking about. So let us just forget my earlier two cents, hmm?
"She knew in her heart that the winter would soon come, and the last of the spring would be gone."
If a re-make is going to be done, do it right. If they re-made the Jeffersons, the Cosby Show or Sanford and Son with white people as the main characters it would be called racist! I am far from it, but come on.
shareIf they chose to do a movie based on one of the greatest shows of all time they should have done a better job portraying the movie to the show. Rather than coming up with some crap that made fans of the show upset.
But there is no need to bring up the issue of race into this discusion just because the movie wasn't great. I think that it is sad and most of you need to GROW UP and deal with the fact that it was made with African American actors and actresses.
Putting black people in place of the white cast, is like making a movie based on the Cosby Show with an all white cast.
"Big gulps eh? Well, see ya later." - Lloyd Christmas
<quoting from someone else>I agree that the cast should have been white and I think that the guy from King Of Queens ( I believe his name is Kevin James) would have done an excellent job.
I totally agree, even in a King of Queens episode, they do a hoonymooners scene and Kevin James was pretty good, not spot on but gave a familiar presence of a Ralph from the hoonymooners.
I think John Goodman would have played a good Ralph Kramden...
shareI was actually thinking John Goodman being a Ralph Kramden, but Mark Addy wouldn't be too bad.
What's funny is that if there was to be another Honeymooners movie (though we all know that will never happen), and if John Goodman and Rick Moranis were in it, then it'll be quite ironic, since Goodman and Moranis were in The Flintstones movie, which ofcoarse resembles the Honeymooners in so many ways.
You are forgetting that the film STILL would have sucked. The writers and producers are the ones who make these movies stink -- not the actors. What you are saying is that white people make a movie good automatically. That is racist -- 90% of Hollywood films suck and have nothing but white actors. Learn some class next time.
sharemikvance is right. this movie would have sucked no matter what because the producers and writers are just money hungry d-bags who dont care what kind of piece of crap they put out as long as people pay to see it. a better (and probably less shady) production team would have gotten a better cast and script.
they got what they wanted. paid. and after all this, we're still talking about the movie. and some people are probably going to go rent it to see just how bad it is, filling the producers' pockets even more. we have officially had just a little bit more of our souls sucked out by shallow jack-offs in high places.
Amen. Funny, I was thinking about this movie while throwing out my trash. Hmmm...I wonder why trash would remind me of this "remake" :)
shareI willing to bet that this horrible script sat around for a least a decade and no one wanted to make it until someone thought that a black cast would generate interest. That was the only way this film could get made. This movie would have sucked no matter who played what. I'm surprised people think it would have been better with John Goodman. Because The Flinstones was such a great movie, right?
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
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