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Dissecting the Casual Racism of “Airplane!”
https://medium.com ^ | Jul 10, 2020 · | Nathanael Molnár

Posted on 06/30/2021 11:45:17 AM PDT by Red Badger

Airplane! (1980) is a fun spoof comedy with lots of laughs, right? I watched this film on Netflix for the first time the other night. Instantly, I recognized so many references and clips that I had previously heard and seen. At every turn, it’s filled with great gags that are so incredibly clever and intelligently crafted. Even for someone watching it for the first time all these years later, I loved it. Then came the racist jokes. I think it’s easy for people to dismiss this as being a “product of its time.” I agree, but that doesn’t excuse the racism, nor does it mean that we can’t dissect why these jokes are problematic. If we gloss over casual racism in older movies, it doesn’t allow us to understand the issue with them; and if we don’t understand why they are problematic, then we can’t take the necessary steps to evolve as a culture.

Let’s start first with this: what is the kind of humor that Airplane! is embodying? From the very beginning, this is clearly a spoof comedy. It’s going for absurdism that largely comments on the stupidity of human beings. Common gags involve people misunderstanding each other (“don’t call me Shirley”), playing on expectations for how routine things operate (the announcers arguing in the airport), and visually contrasting what characters say is the case with what the reality is (the dance scene where Ted is stationed). These jokes are based on wordplay and expectations; essentially their craft is what makes them funny. The jokes regarding race in the film are different; these jokes are not based on wordplay or craft, but are rather made at the expense of a particular group of people — specifically targeting them. The other gags in the movie relate in no way to race; anyone could have been at the center of those jokes and the intended effect of the gag would not have changed. The joke is based on something other than the identity of the character involved; they are merely a vessel for the punchline. However, these jokes only feature White characters. The jokes involving People of Color are usually based around that person’s color, whereas none of the jokes involving White characters specifically involve them being White. The identity of the character in these gags is irrelevant; the identity of the character in the jokes involving People of Color is pertinent.

Throughout the movie, two Black men talk really fast to each other on the plane, with subtitles translating their “Jive” into English. Many of the other White passengers make periodic comments, saying they can “never understand them.” One of the White passengers turns out to be “fluent in Jive.” Many other momentary gags with People of Color often involve them playing into some preexisting stereotype. Airplane! makes it clear from the beginning that it is going for balls-to-the-wall absurdism: everything is a gag, and nothing is to be taken seriously. This makes it easy for some people to write off the more problematic race jokes as having no more stock than any other gag. When a joke goes after someone’s personal identity — their race, their gender, their sexual orientation, their physical attributes — they themselves become the joke. No longer are they merely a vessel for the joke, they are now the face of the punchline; and no one wants to be a face in a punch line. It’s not even that these jokes aren’t funny in and of themselves; what matters is who is telling the joke. In the case of Airplane!, all three of the directors are White. There are also three additional White writers, and another three White producers. This is a team of all White men writing jokes targeting People of Color, which immediately makes it a White interpretation of a Person of Color. This is where it turns from being merely a gag into a caricature.

When a Person of Color is involved in the joke’s craft, or is even the one telling it themselves, they are making the joke at their own expense. It doesn’t target a group of people different from themselves; it is based on their own identity. That becomes your joke to tell. Had this movie been directed by three Black people, with three additional Black writers, and another three additional Black producers, these jokes would hold no venom. It isn’t the joke itself, but rather who is telling the joke, and who is the punchline. Filmmaking is all about making mistakes so that other filmmakers can learn how to do it better. Inclusivity in Hollywood has changed drastically from 1980 to 2020. There are filmmakers working today who were inspired by Airplane! and other films of its time. What these filmmakers need to do is see where Airplane! went wrong, and then work to improve. It’s all about who is telling the story, and the filmmakers who are currently in positions of capability within the industry directly influence who the storytellers are. Airplane! is a brilliantly crafted spoof comedy that should be timeless. With nonspecific jokes, there shouldn’t be a period of time where they don’t land. The race jokes, however, are specific, and in our period of time, they are uncomfortable to watch. As comedy fans revere Airplane! as one of the greats — and 80% of the film is phenomenally written and perfectly executed comedy — let us not gloss over the shortcomings of the filmmakers with these specific jokes. If we turn a blind eye, or chalk it up as merely being a “product of its time”, the filmmakers of today cannot learn from these shortcomings, and subsequently work to be better.


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Business/Economy; Music/Entertainment; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 2020; airplane; oldnews; paragraphs
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To: Red Badger

They take the statues...
Now, they want to take your films.
GFY, Nate!


61 posted on 06/30/2021 12:10:09 PM PDT by gathersnomoss (LIVE FREE OR DIE)
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To: Dubh_Ghlase

A favorite.


62 posted on 06/30/2021 12:10:36 PM PDT by gathersnomoss (LIVE FREE OR DIE)
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To: Red Badger

The death of comedy? Why not liberals, you’re destroying everything else?


63 posted on 06/30/2021 12:10:39 PM PDT by Bullish (CNN is what happens when 8th graders run a cable network.)
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To: OttawaFreeper

The author has a perpetually worried look that somebody wok-er than he is going to call him out on something he said or wrote.


64 posted on 06/30/2021 12:11:14 PM PDT by Tallguy
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To: Red Badger

Not a single example of a racist joke. The jive bit was as much making fun of white people for being clueless as it lampooned jive.

One of the pilots was played by Kareem. There were no jokes about his blackness...only that he was really a basketball player, not a pilot. He got sick from the fish just like everyone else.

These SJWs like to throw allegations based on their feelings, with no proof whatsoever.


65 posted on 06/30/2021 12:12:29 PM PDT by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: dfwgator

Jim Carrey is an A-hole, always has been.


66 posted on 06/30/2021 12:14:09 PM PDT by Bullish (CNN is what happens when 8th graders run a cable network.)
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To: EEGator

Chump don’ want no help, chump don’t get da help!


67 posted on 06/30/2021 12:14:17 PM PDT by ThreeYearLurker
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To: Red Badger

First they came for Barbara Billingsley.


68 posted on 06/30/2021 12:14:31 PM PDT by Neanderthal (The Devil walks with Democrats)
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To: Red Badger

The dummy can’t see that the hapless whites are the butt of the joke in the jive scenes.


69 posted on 06/30/2021 12:15:04 PM PDT by Chaguito
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To: Red Badger

Watched over a dozen you tube segment of people watching Airplane for the first time, over half of them of color. They were howling during the whole thing especially when Barbara Billingly talked jive to the black guys.


70 posted on 06/30/2021 12:15:20 PM PDT by mware (RETIRED)
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To: Red Badger

Further proof (as if needed) that these folks are clearly not gifted in the brain’s “department of intellect”. Keep this person away from tools more complex than a screwdriver and hope to high heaven that they never come close to something that actually requires a human level intelligence.


71 posted on 06/30/2021 12:15:57 PM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: billyboy15

Dave Chappell does a really funny bit about the Alphabet People. You know the Ls, the B’s, the G’s, the Q’s, etc.
It is really funny.
However, Dave can get away with it because he is BLACK


72 posted on 06/30/2021 12:16:18 PM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: Red Badger
This homo isn't a liberal, he's a full-blown commie. Commies definitely have no sense of humor - at least intended humor. I will continue to watch Airplane! as intended. As a spoof of the 1970s catastrophe flicks.


73 posted on 06/30/2021 12:18:37 PM PDT by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
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To: Red Badger

I remember Mr’s Cleaver saying “I speak Jive”. Of course, that’s dated. Now she would say “ebonics”. But that’s not as funny. :D


74 posted on 06/30/2021 12:19:40 PM PDT by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
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To: Red Badger

Jackass has no idea what he’s talking about.

The joke was that Mrs Cleaver spoke jive.
Nobody was laughing at the poor guy sick from fish.

Does this @$$ muncher know who Mrs Cleaver is?

No, no he does not.


75 posted on 06/30/2021 12:19:44 PM PDT by CaptainPhilFan ( )
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To: NohSpinZone

Golly, LOL!


76 posted on 06/30/2021 12:19:56 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

“When a joke goes after someone’s personal identity — their race, their gender, their sexual orientation, their physical attributes — they themselves become the joke.”

My BIL is from Poland. He’s collected Polish jokes for 40 years. And he LOVES to tell them!

I’m Baptist. I don’t know a ton of Baptist jokes, but I love to tell the ones I know. Some of which are a little painful because, like a lot of stereotypes, there is an element of truth - sometimes a LOT of truth - in the jokes about Baptists.


77 posted on 06/30/2021 12:20:21 PM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: dfwgator

Another great Keenan character was Frenchie - the Rick James loving, Superfreak dancing, Jheri curl wearing walking stereotype. Very hilarious.

Cheech Marin parodied East LA Hispanic types. Christopher Guest parodies all matter of white people types in his movies. All hilarious because they are based on or are exaggerated versions of the truth.

It would be nice if we could go back to pre-Obozo days when everyone loved The Cosby Show, Michael Jackson, Prince, In Living Color, etc., and we had a sense of humor.


78 posted on 06/30/2021 12:20:25 PM PDT by Cecily
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To: rktman

“Sorry about the ‘up yours, ni**er’”. :D


79 posted on 06/30/2021 12:20:39 PM PDT by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
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To: OttawaFreeper

Not just the television program of M*A*S*H, but what about the movie. Remember Spearchucker Jones?


80 posted on 06/30/2021 12:20:45 PM PDT by 7thson (I've got a seat at the big conference table! I'm gonna paint my logo on it!)
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