MovieChat Forums > Beauty Shop (2005) Discussion > Dull, unfunny and racist

Dull, unfunny and racist

posted 11 years ago by Torgeir-6
12 replies | jump to latest

I just saw this very dull piece of uselessness and I have to wonder how movies like this can be profitable. It's a movie that claims to be a comedy, yet it wasn't funny once. Comedies are my favourite movies but this one doesn't even deserve the title.

The story is paper thin and because of the lack of substance it feels like you're just watching some random everyday people and hearing their everyday random banter.

The only thing that is slightly interesting in this movie is the fact that several of the characters are racist and it's treated by the filmmakers as normal behavior.
I don't recall the exact wording but the comment one of the women make about "whiting up the salon" and also the shared reaction of most or the women to the fact that a white woman is to work with them is very racist and I'm shocked that there doesn't seem to be anyone addressing it in the movie or on the web.
Also I found it awkward and embarrasing the way queen latifah's character talks about herself being black. I can't imagine anyone I know using their color like that whether they be white, brown or black.

I'm left pondering if the white people who made this movie feel so guilty because of america's history that they feel it's ok to be racist against whites and if the extreme focus on own color that I see pop up again and again among some black performers in movies and music is a residual negative side effect caused by the many years people with black skin have been discrimimated against in the US.

Looking at this and many other american movies and shows it seems like the society as a whole has a sort of common mental illness that is an absurd obsession with skin color and "race".
The whole concept of race is completely unscientific and has nothing to do with biology or any other science. It is however an idea of difference that has been used to oppress and violate various ethnic groups throughout history. Especially when attempts are made to rank the "races" should alarm bells go off as this is step 1 to seeing other humans as inferior. The ranking parameters are of course determined by the ones doing the ranking. (Bell curve anyone?)

It seems sometimes that americans believe they either belong to the white or black race as if each "race" is a cohesive block that is fundamentally different from the other block. While in reality the black population are a random mix of many African ethnic groups mixed with whatever over time and the white population is a random mix of European ethnic groups also mixed with whatever over time.
In their native lands, Europeans and Africans alike have slaughtered their neighbours time and again for various reasons. There is nothing cohevise about neither block or "race" apart from skin color, . So even though most americans are descendents of a tapestry of conflicting ethnicites, so many still cling to this one physical feature, make it their identity and even feel kinship with others, purely based on this one trait. It's insane really, absolutely illogical and a huge destructive lie that has taken hold and acts as truth.

The skin color says something about the climate and strength of the sun where a persons forefathers lived and nothing more.

I guess the country is suffering this illness because of the trauma caused by slavery and segregation and I wish you could send an entire nation to the therapist to get things worked out because at the moment it seems like this thing is stuck in the american mind and through the tidal wave of american culture flooding the rest of the world there's a chance we'll all get infected.
I've seen this in my own country where in the 80's no one except for neo-nazis used the term race, yet now, after 30 years of being mentally pounded with american culture on the stupid box I see people using the term more and more, even journalists and educated people.

It's ironic that a nation who largely sees itself as having dealt with racism and the country's awful past, with the result of reaching a point of hysterical political correctness, can't see that it's the focus on skin color itself, combined with the phony idea of race, that somehow got to be seen as a truth over there, now are the very things that perpetuate social segregation, moronic stereoptypes as seen in this film, and racism itself. The idea of race keeps us apart, the constant focus on color keeps it staying that way.

Movies like this, in addition to just being a bad product, is the vile excretion caused by this illness and it isn't doing anyone any good. After all, you wouldn't go around distributing the insides of your hankerchief worldwide would you? Apply that this flem of a film and we would never have had to endure this waste of space and time.

Maybe if focus was on other things than who is white and who is black this movie could have had a chance.

Get well soon America.

[–] EmElleCee 11 years ago

Thing is, unfortunately, if there's a white person outnumbered by blacks in real life they DO get reminded of it. I'm speaking from what I've seen myself many times. I'm black and have witnessed this. It can be ridiculous but I'm used to it. It may seem mean but it could be the blacks who remind white people of their whiteness feel in areas where they're outnumbered by whites they're not exactly welcomed. Yeah, we can shop and eat at the same places in the same areas in public but some black people feel they can't immerse themselves in "white" culture. If ever invited to a party or wherever they may be the only or part of the few black people they may find themselves questioning who they are. They might feel insecure on how they can relate. "What should I say to them? How should I say it?" "White" culture's not appealing to some black people but also just altogether confusing to another group of bp. If the one white person is regularly surrounded by these black people, they're likely to adopt nicknames like whiteboy, white bread, etc. a lot of the time it's playful but I can see why it would be offensive. Some black people want the whole world to know how proud they are of being black. I heard a few times before that sometimes you have to say things to believe them wholly I guess. There's nothing wrong with someone exclaiming their pride as long as they don't try to belittle others. I don't remember one time when Gina, Queen Latifah's character, was abrasive while expressing her pride. I'm pretty used to hearing black women proclaim their pride. Bottom line is, this movie was a reflection of a certain kind black people. The characters spoke how a lot of black people speak. Unfortunately, this sort of isolating does occur. Gina obviously was against it. The movie was honest though.

[–] MyDarkStar 10 years ago

One of the most ridiculous things about this movie (of which there are many) is that the white people voluntarily put themselves in those situations. Notice how all of the white people in this movie are essentially envious of black people. They want to eat their food. They want to work in their salon. They want to have their hair styled like them.

Also, the white roles are essentially caricatures of white stereotypes. There's the overly naive white southern girl who wants to be black. There's an extremely stuck up white girl who has to get a boob job. There's a gay white guy who underestimates the black woman. There's the middle aged white woman who is overly fascinated by black culture and society, so much so that she is willing to subject herself to being in situations in which she is made to look silly and to feel stupid about herself.

The white health inspector is a caricature of "The Man" and all of the regulations used to bring down a black business owner. He's of course made to look stupid as well whenever he isn't handing out an overly unreasonable violation.

[–] blairbitchproject 9 years ago

And how many movies are there that portray black roles as caricatures of black stereotypes? The way you feel about this movie is how black people feel about every other movie depicting WHITE relationships, storylines, and leads. God forbid black people make their own films that poke fun and turn the tables on stereotypes. You're ridiculous and so are the rest of these closet racists getting offended by a movie thats not even marketed to them.

[–] nikkiten1979 9 years ago

exactly.

can't outrun your own shadow

[–] MyDarkStar 9 years ago

Examples ...?

[–] nikkiten1979 9 years ago

Projecting much are we?

can't outrun your own shadow

[–] MyDarkStar 10 years ago

It's a typical Queen Latifah movie. She's given all of the clever lines and all of the white people are made to look stupid and ignorant.

It's perfect that Ice Cube produced this because so many of his movies follow the same pattern. They've both been groomed by movie studios to be bankable black actors in that way.

[–] prbronx5 10 years ago

THis thread is racist and stupid.

[–] ethrush 9 years ago

I assume that you are posting the same rant about racism on the boards of all the movies with black murderers and drug dealers, right?

[–] carpener-606-111297 9 years ago

Typical made by black to black *beep* movie. Racist and ridiculous. Too bad Kevin Bacon and Djimon Hounsou are in this stinker.
One of the characters at one point, after a racist comment says "MTV is the devil". The writers were probably accusing blacks to be the Devil, since black music is the only thing to watch in that *beep* channel for years.
And the former boss and villain, obviously had to be white, never black.

[–] Princessoftales 8 years ago

If you found it unfunny and dull, then maybe it wasn't for you. Who cares.

[–] kalo-wolf 8 years ago

Did you maybe notice how their characters grow though, so by the end of the movie race was not the big issue it was in the beginning?