Tom Arnold doesn't make a convincing bigot
I just didn't buy it at all. Damn FINE men in the movie though!
If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten
[deleted]
He sounded as if he was mocking bigots, actually. He acted as if he was pretending to be racist, simply to impress the aspiring KKK members on his swim team. That was probably the intention.
If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten
I think you made an astute observation - one I would not have made, to be honest. I saw a few of Tom's interviews regarding this movie and he made a point of stating that the character is not prejudiced. I would have taken the character at face value had it not been for that.
I thought Tom did a good job of playing a character who believed in stereotypes about blacks in general, but wasn't really a hateful racist.
shareconsidering Arnold's background as a white-trash comedy icon, marrying Roseanne Barr, and later being the "reg'lar guy" mouthpiece on FOX's Best Damn Sports Show, Arnold's somewhat out of place trying to portray a Country-Club bigot at a blue-blood Academy-- If I had to write a backstory for his character, I'd say he was one of those guys who maybe was a used car salesman, then got lucky and married the daughter of the Dean of the School (or some other in-law connection), then politicked his way into a position there..
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
Stan Lee, 1962