Seems two of the good bots are twins who do nothing but bicker and speak, allegedly, in Ebonics. Here's the story:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=302710



"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" introduces some 40 new mechanized characters of all shapes, sizes and even sexes - but it's a pair of jive-talking 'bots that critics are singling out as more than just harmless comic relief.

Skids and Mudflap, twin robots disguised as compact Chevys, constantly brawl and bicker in rap-inspired street slang. They're forced to acknowledge that they can't read. One has a gold tooth.

As good guys, they fight alongside the Autobots and are intended to provide comic relief. But the traits they're ascribed raise the specter of stereotypes most notably seen when Jar Jar Binks, the clumsy, broken-English speaking alien from "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace," was criticized as a racial caricature.

Wall Street Journal film critic Joe Morgenstern described Binks in 1999 as a "Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit," a reference to a black character from the 1920s and '30s that exploited negative stereotypes for comic effect. Extending that metaphor to the "Transformers" sequel was AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire, who calls Skids and Mudflap "Jar Jar Binks in car form."

And Manohla Dargis, film critic for The New York Times, takes it a step further, writing that the "Transformers" characters were given "conspicuously cartoonish, so-called black voices that indicate that minstrelsy remains as much in fashion in Hollywood as when, well, Jar Jar Binks was set loose by George Lucas."

Director Michael Bay insists that the bumbling 'bots are just good clean fun.

"We're just putting more personality in," Bay said. "I don't know if it's stereotypes - they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it."

TV actor Reno Wilson, who is black, voices Mudflap. Tom Kenny, the white actor behind SpongeBob SquarePants, voices Skids. Neither immediately responded to interview requests for this story.

Bay said the twins' parts "were kind of written but not really written, so the voice actors is when we started to really kind of come up with their characters."

"I purely did it for kids," the director said. "Young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them."

Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman said they followed Bay's lead in creating the twins. Still, the characters serve no real purpose in the story, and when the action gets serious, they disappear entirely, notes Tasha Robinson, associate entertainment editor at The Onion.

"They don't really have any positive effect on the film," she said. "They only exist to talk in bad ebonics, beat each other up and talk about how stupid each other is."

Hollywood has a track record of using negative stereotypes of black characters for comic relief, said Todd Boyd, a professor of popular culture at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, who has not seen the "Transformers" sequel.

"There's a history of people getting laughs at the expense of African-Americans and African-American culture," Boyd said. "These images are not completely divorced from history even though it's a new movie and even though they're robots and not humans."

American cinema also has a tendency to deal with race indirectly, said Allyson Nadia Field, an assistant professor of cinema and media studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"There's a persistent dehumanization of African-Americans throughout Hollywood that displaces issues of race onto non-human entities," said Field, who also hasn't seen the film. "It's not about skin color or robot color. It's about how their actions and language are coded racially."

If these characters weren't animated and instead played by real black actors, "then you might have to admit that it's racist," Robinson said. "But stick it into a robot's mouth, and it's just a robot, it's OK."

But if they're alien robots, she continued, "why do they talk like bad black stereotypes?"

Bay brushes off any whiff of controversy.

"Listen, you're going to have your naysayers on anything," he said. "It's like is everything going to be melba toast? It takes all forms and shapes and sizes."

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Du hockey comme dans le temps

Tough to say here. I can see both sides of this. Bay's last comment is true. Someone
is always bitchin' about somethin'!
A few years back,WB had a cartoon about pigeons that talked like they were out of GOODFELLAS. I thought it was funny,but that was the same deal,promoting a stereotype.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Unfortunately, comic inspiration often comes from real-life experiences. In this case, similarities can be drawn revolving around ebonics. Just happens.

I guess I missed both President Obama's and Tiger Woods' gold teeth......

Wait, not every black man has a gold tooth. Not every black man can't read.

To say that two (let me stress this part) TALKING ROBOTS that sound like they're speaking in Ebonics doesn't mean that the common white guy doesn't get its just a talking robot, and that all black men don't sound that way.

So, if a robot does it in a film directed by a white director; its racism, but if Eddie Griffin or David Chappelle do it as a character, its comedy?

Methinks someone needs to realize its just a movie about TALKING ROBOTS; no more, no less.

nm...reading helps...

I think the people who cry about this shit just reinforce these stereotypes. Not one moment while I was watching the film did I think about those robots as black stereotypes. Only until it was brought up did I think about it. Fuck man I was raised in the "hood" and used to talk like that in my youth...Gotta move on from that bullshit

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"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."

Gotta have a sense of humor and not be so ultra-sensitive. I remember when guys like Don Rickles told all kinds of ethnic jokes. I'm half Italian and half Polish-I made myself an offer I can't understand...Comedy clubs had people twelling all kinds of jokes with an ethnic twist. People understood that the jokes were not meant to be taken seriously. The stereotypes played upon, were used for comedic purposes only and were not mean spirited. Today, too many people are itching to point out if something is politically incorrect. Relax and have a few harmless laughs.

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Go Cubs!!!!

I haven't seen the movie yet but why is it racist to have a robot that talks like a black person? If there was a robot that sounded like a German person would it be racist? If there was a robot that sounded Italian would that be racist?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

If a german sounding robot was zeig heiling around and an Italian robot talked like Tony Soprano maybe that would be racist. I seem to remember some beer commercial with uncle Paulie that was called racist.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

So would the fat German kid in Willy Wonka who loved chocolate be racist?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I wonder if Dan Patrick discussed this with Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller and/or Michael Irving?

Miller should have told them to go suck a lemon.

Dude, everything is racist if you want it to be. Who you vote for, jokes you make. Just about anything.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I dismiss it....

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Go Cubs!!!!

White rappers=suck, but there has been a few. Hell, one of them fancies himself a wrestler; or is it he thinks he can rap? Either way, John Cena sucks. But I digress....
Ebonics= ebonics is when someone speaks in a way that isn't "the norm." Have you listened to some white backwater idiots from the South? Ebonics is just a label that's been applied to Urban slang.
Gold teeth/grill=haven't seen a white guy with a grill....yet; but the same backwater white idiots who can't string a sentence together have had their fair share of gold teeth too.

My point being Nas is that if you chose to see racism; you will see it. The same complainers who saw these two robots and saw racism probably watch the same characters played by the actors I mentioned and don't bat an eye at it as its being performed by a black entertainer.

And you know what? My two examples I mentioned (Obama and Woods) are yes, as far from the street as you can get. But they are still black/mixed heritage. But just as you dismiss them as not being examples of all black men; I'm saying the same. Two talking robots do not represent an entire culture.

Nor should it. We want in our society to get to the point of judging a man by his actions and his deeds; not by the color of his skin. So I'm saying; two talking robots in a movie?

They have no skin to begin with.

The point is somewhere in there, but you have it so completely backwards, it's baffling.

Yes two robots do not represent an entire culture, which is exactly WHY having your two "black" robots be illiterate idiots who can't speak correctly may be seen as racist by a non-trivial number of people.

And I don't really attribute it to deliberate ill will on the part of the director or actors, it may simply have been a subconcious decision that can be used as an example of something to avoid.

Dude get outta here with that. People just need to stop cryin about shit and stop tryin to cause an uproar over something.

Maybe I should start raising awareness about how latinos are portrayed. Gangbangers in Westside story, drug dealing criminal in Scarface, Convicted felon in Carlito's Way. Oh yea all the latinos were played by white actors with terrible "spanish accents". I get it alot more than you may think I'm just not so damn sensitive about it because while alot of people may not like it alot of the stereotypes are true of all our races

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"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."

Then if we are to avoid it, we should never ever ever ever show anyone who is slightly perceived as dumb at any time ever; because not only should it not be used as a stereotype of the urban black, but of anyone who isn't intelligent. Not every person from the South for example is married to his sister, uses "Did ya'll jeet yet?" as a sentence if I can revisit the stereotype of stupid whites from the South.

And if you keep avoiding anything slightly offensive to anyone, you'd eventually get films were everyone talks exactly the same, no matter if they are black, white, asian, hispanic, etc. And if you do that, then you'd have something that is completely unrealistic. All of us talk different. I'm a kid who grew up in Bridgeport for half my childhood, the other half in the suburbs. In my everyday language, you hear a bit of my Irish heritage, a bit of my Lithuanian heritage, and a bit of suburban life. I work in a very culturally mixed workplace, where I hear Spanish (which at one point I used everyday, not so much now) and I hear ebonics. At no time do I think that if someone uses a bit of dialect from their background do I think "that guy has to be a stupid black/latino."

Granted, most comedians would be out of a gig; as humor comes at the expense of someone, and to avoid hurting anyone's feelings, there would be no humor. Not every white man sounds "uptight" either like David Chappelle (and going back further, Eddie Murphy) would do in stand up/skits. As someone who is white, I can look at it and go "The performer is having a bit of fun at a white guy's expense, and we don't all sound that way," and think nothing of it.

Back to the movie at hand, Reno Wilson voiced one of the robots, and he's a black actor. So, does he hate being black, or is he a sell out? Or was he just playing a character?

And again, you can find racism anywhere you look, if you get right down to it.

I forget whichever bank has the "no fine print" commercial on both WSCR/ESPN recently, but the whole, "That's fine, it's cool, whatever" while sounding like a black woman could be construed as racist as well, as not every black woman talks like that. Is that offensive? Did it set out to be racist? Or was it just an example of (possibly) a white ad agent trying to market; without understanding how that comes across?

My guess is that this thread is a bunch of white guys telling a black guy he shouldn't believe what he sees, hears or feels. Such is the backlash.

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B. Anthony

Strange but true.

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Just seems to me that these guys who are allegedly "creative" (George Lucas fits the bill here, too) often tend to rely on lazy caricature as a stand-in for "personality."



Shouldn't we be holding our entertainment to a higher standard, or is everyone really OK with forking over $10 a ticket to see a fucking cartoon, of all things, joylessly adapted to film for no real purpose other than to turn a profit for a lazy studio?

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Can't disagree with you there. It's easier to do jokes and what not when you go to the base denominator.

Granted, you're asking for a higher standard for entertainment. Have you paid any attention to what comes out of Hollywood these days; much less television?

This may be one of the stupidest things you've ever posted.

Come on Nas, that comment is taking it a little too extreme, don't you think? This society is so trigger happy to place a "ist" label for having a different opinion over a subject matter.



When these rappers are raking in the dough due to their image that they want to portray "gold tooth, grills, whatever it may be", they aren't complaining. It is an attempt to stand out and be recognized. So you must understand that the image can be used both ways and not cry when someone uses the image that you [the rapper] created.

Who is Michael Irving?

Not to stray from Nas' tangent of setting people on fire, but the movie robots are to have learned to talk from the internet and pop culture of today. Turn on the TV and tell me you dont see this at all times. So now are white people not allowed to watch black actors or comedians when they are talking this way? I am not black, but if I were I would be more offended by the white suburban kids acting like "gangstas" and the attrocity that is eminem.
Sorry to offer facts based on the movie, I gotta go get some gasoline and spray paint and burn a polish guy to see if Nas is right.

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And who is Michael Combstock?

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

So if you don't think it's a big deal, and we don't think it's a big deal, what is the problem exactly? We both seem to agree that it's not a big deal.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Uh huh. I think there was a certain post about someone making a off-handed and racist remark about Michelle Obama that I agreed was out of line and racist.

In you own opinion, this wasn't a big deal. And since we agreed with you; then you jump on us?

Nas, here's a bit of advice I got a long time ago; and its was meant as a bit of advice when it comes to parenting; but I think applies to all of life:

Pick the battles you want to fight.

When I have heard racist commentary; ie Don Imus' 'nappy headed hoes' I was right alongside you, saying that bastard was out of line.

When I see two robots sounding stupid; I see two robots sounding stupid. If I waste time and effort fighting against alleged racism in a popcorn flick with talking robots; does that not take time and effort away from fighting a good fight, ie Imus?

My point is fight bigotry where there is bigotry. When its a poor taste form of entertainment, ignore it and focus on something else.

i was offended by white men can't jump. that is factually untrue.

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@audioidkid