Who's that you're calling a racist Kwame McKenzie?
Posted on 12/14/2005 4:52:26 PM PST by RWR8189
Most black men I know will think twice about going to see King Kong. First because of the story, second because of Peter Jackson's other recent blockbuster movies. The story feeds into all the colonial hysteria about black hyper-sexuality. This imagery has a long history and is difficult to shift. It was so pervasive and prevalent even in the 17th century that Shakespeare could write Othello knowing that his audience would understand the Moor stereotype. As Kristin Johnsen-Neshati, Associate Professor of Theatre at George Mason University notes in her writing on the subject: "Moors were commonly stereotyped as sexually overactive, prone to jealousy and generally wicked. The public associated 'blackness' with moral corruption, citing examples from Christian theology to support the view that whiteness was the sign of purity, just as blackness indicated sin." It is so pervasive that after fronting a pop psychology TV series a decade ago as a psychiatrist I was offered a 20 part series on sex. The story also touches the raw nerve of the Darwin-based association between black men and apes. Though the monkey noises and the discussion about whether Africans are the missing link between apes and humans may be out of the classroom, it still has to be endured by black footballers when they travel to away games. Peter Jackson used the same hackneyed stereotypes for the Lord of the Rings triology. The most fearsome baddies were big black and just a bit too Maori looking, the good guys - well white. So when King Kong unfolded and the 1930s New York crowd scenes were almost devoid of black faces, rather than the 15 per cent you would have expected, and when the first black actors had small non-speaking parts - dancers and the only major black character was the strong caring second officer to the ship's captain - the good and dutiful slave stereotype - I was squirming in my seat. If I had not been at a premier with my transfixed son I would have been out of the door soon after the wide eyed, homicidal, half dressed, blacker than black natives of Skull Island started cavorting one hour in. I was lucky that my paternal instinct to stay and explain this to my son at the end got the better of me, because the next two hours were fabulous. Though it was always impossible for the film not to endorse the black male stereotype, and one has to ask why Jackson so wanted to make King Kong as opposed to anything else, his attempt to shelve the lust angle and portray the relationship between Kong and Darrow (played by Naomi Watts) as owner and favourite pet - in that order - worked. The cinematography was excellent and my worst fears were not realised. But I could not help but feel that if Jackson had put as much thought into the rest of the racial imagery as he did into the relationship between Kong and Darrow this could have gone down as a much less offensive film. As it is it leaves a bitter sweet taste in my mouth and a complex discussion on negative stereotypes that I have had to have with my son. It left me thinking, that if censors look at violence, sex, and sexual violence when giving a certificate why do they not look at negative racial stereotypes? E-mail your comments on this article using the form below: I have read Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings and did not find it offensive. The movie is one of the best adaptations I've ever seen and Peter Jackson was true to the story. As a black woman, I think as a group we rely too much on whites to portray us positively and accurately on-screen. Most of the movies I watch by black directors, and/or with headlining black actors show mainly negative stereotypes of blacks. The characters range from sociopathic gang-members and pugnacious black women to the wise-cracking black side-kick for comic relief. We cannot choose to portray ourselves negatively, cashing in on Hollywood's preference for such characters, while at the same time complaining that white directors and scriptwriters constantly paint us in bad light. Adegoke Kemi, London It is this type of hypersensitive over-analysis that makes me wonder how we can possibly live in a harmonious multicultural society. A child watching King Kong would see a film about a giant gorilla; it’s only an adult’s prejudice that sees anything different. Eric Blair, London The mere use of "men" to refer to white people and, rather racially suggestive in itself, the lack of this term when referring to black people even in the comments below just shows that there are some people who still remain ignorant of racial stereotypes rampant throughout today's society. This film is like no other - black will be used to symbolise all that is evil, and white will symbolise the good. This stereotype has been ingrained throughout literature, films, throughout most of our culture that is considered normal by a large part of our society. Slavery was considered "normal", until a few people spoke out, and slowly raised awareness of the fact that it was wrong. Therefore, I commend McKenzie in raising our awareness of this racial issue prevalent in most of our media, and hope in the future it will be addressed on a grander scale. Nicola Siu, London Kwame, I am asolutely appalled by your suggestion of racist undertones in this movie. If you can draw racist implications from this film then I would pretty much imagine you must be offended by every film, book and play ever written, as I’m sure any overly PC halfwit could derive tenuous racist content from anything. Please silence your ramblings before you influence any other weak-minded souls. Paul Harris, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts Kwame, surely Hollywood is all about stereotypes, be they Italian mobsters, English toffs, the wild but decent Scots of Braveheart or any other of a million and one different examples. That is the nature of the beast, and is well understood by 99 per cent of all viewers. Your piece is surely a case of chasing racial shadows. Black African society does undeniably hold a certain sexual curiosity for the rest of the world, and I fail to see why this should be regarded as a total negative - it is simply an oversimplification, like all the other stereotypes. And by the way, since when are Maoris black? Perhaps they should be told. In general, I don't see what anyone has to gain by seeking special victim status for themselves and their ethnic group - on the contrary, it sets off all sorts of alarm bells. Glad you liked the rest of the film. Peter Dickinson, Kiev, Ukraine I think it's not easy for white people to be sensitive to the feelings of people of African descent when those people see themselves depicted in negative ways. Obviously, there is a racist element to the King Kong story. I think that it's a duty of white people to put some effort into these issues and not just as activists. Ordinary people learn to drive and to fill in tax forms and all the rest. Ordinary people can also learn to be considerate of their black neighbour. It's not easy, but it's very much worth the effort. Let's create harmony. We'll all benefit from that. Geoffrey King, Amsterdam I think it's a mistake to blame Jackson for the Lord of the Rings; if anyone's going to be attacked as racist it's Tolkien, and he has been. Tolkien wrote from a background of northern European myths, both in terms of what non-human evil beings looked like and in terms of the fear of the strange and threatening human peoples to the east and south. Doesn't every TV psychologist get asked to do a series on sex? Sex, and the psychology of sex, is such a complete obsession of our era and our television producers in particular that it seems a little hyper-sensitive to assume that the author was asked because he happened to be black. Robert Elliot, Twickenham, Middx I not sure wheather you are saying that King Kong represents a black man, or that people are racist if they compare black men and gorillas. People are stereotyped all the time, but I think in this case you have been a bit over sensitive. It only adds fuel to the fire to go around accusing people of being a racist without ever having actually talked to them. Just because you think it, does not make it true. Richard Hayes, Manchester When I see a gorilla all I see is a gorilla, not a black man. The association of black men with apes is racist, not "Darwin-based". Darwin associated all races of men with apes through a common ancestor and genome sequencing establishes this as a fact. Adam Carpenter, London Kwame McKenzie wrote a decent heartfelt essay, I hope black youngsters will get some understanding of this kind of programming. As for the white readers, judging from the first replies, with their fashionable reverse accusations, denials and pretences at being colour blind, it looks like it was a waste of time addressing them, since white folks are already fully aware, albeit subconciously, of how this kind of racial mind f**king works, and enjoy the fruits of it. I plan to see Kong, but I am not going to deny the damage of its film legacy, because, unlike them, I cannot afford to ignore it. Corbin Shelley, Detroit, Michegan The Age of Discovery was one of lighter skinned European encountering darker skinned people perceived to be less civilized. Kong is not stereotyping but portraying a "late" episode of discovery. Clifford Walters, London I would say that Lord of the Rings, being the epitome of imagination and creativity both in the book and the film, is neither about black nor white people. Its a story of a fight between good and evil, in which fortunately the good wins in the end. Its a gift to us from Tolkien and P. Jackson for all to enjoy. J. Sanjay, Doncaster I strongly commend Kwame McKenzie's points about King Kong and have chosen not to see the film myself because of the reproduction of out-moded racist stereotypes (and I speak as a white, working class woman). For Jackson to recreate the film without addressing the racism of the time of the original is, frankly, unforgivable. Yes, white people (particularly women) are stereotyped all the time, but I don't understand how that means we should ignore damaging and incredibly negative stereotyping of ethnic minorities, of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender and so forth. This film portrays native islanders as primitives and savages - a popular stereotype which fuelled colonialism and slavery for centuries. Maybe this is why the developing nations campaigning outside the WTO talks for free trade and culturally specific development cannot get a fair hearing. Between economic self-interest (fuelled by myth) and racist stereotyping I think the answer is self-evident. Louise Livesey, London I don't see this story in terms of men, white, black, or otherwise. I see it more in terms of an animal cruelly treated, in the uncaring destruction of the natural world around us. Sarah Marquis, London Bunkum. Geoff Harrison, Milnthorpe, Cumbria If there was ever ridiculous over-analysis, this is it. It's a film, a fantasy film at that. Relax, take a chill pill, eat your popcorn, enjoy the effects and stop taking everything so seriously. Steve McBain, Singapore King Kong's racist subtext has been explicated so thoroughly over the years, it has become a cinematic cliche. In fact, a close reading of most Western cinema would reveal notions of racial hierarchy lurking just beneath the surface. Unexamined they will persist. But, damn ... King Kong is one hell of a ride. Salim Muwakkil, Chicago Kwame McKenzie most certainly did see racism in King Kong, but what he saw came from within his own mind and not from the film. It is this personal racism “colouring” his world which allows him to see such images in the film, and I suppose in the world. There would have been no way to make that film, or any other involving diverse groups, that would have satisfied his bigotry. There is enough real prejudice in this world without such nonsense. Clany Soileau, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Next you'll be telling me that it's black and it's a monkey, therefore all white people think that blacks are monkeys. Now maybe in Dixie they think that way, but I always thought that (a) the “villain” in the movie was a gorilla, and (b) all gorillas are black. I don't think that the gorilla was chosen as the villain because of its colour. And you might want to consider who the real villains in the movie are. They are the people who chased and abducted the gorilla, and chained it against its will. If you want to look for metaphors then you could see a damning commentary about white slavery practices, rather than a “look at the bad black guy” metaphor. Seeing only that view only highlights your own susceptibility to seeing things in a predetermined manner. To me, the current stereotyping of black males comes from a never-ending stream of hip-hop videos which glorify violence, guns, drugs and a particular portrayal of women, combined with the shameless apeing (pun intended) of the hip-hop image by some high-profile black sports stars/celebrities. Richard Ashworth, Pinehaven, New Zealand I'm sure many people will be saying “It’s just a movie” in response to this article, but the author points out that even "just movies" have been reinforcing racial stereotypes for decades and Jackson is equally guilty of this Hollywood cliche as all the other cliches in Kong. If people don’t see the racism or racist stereotyping in a movie, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. When someone points it out, don’t accuse them of being overly sensitive. Sit back, think about what was said and thank them for enlightening you. Seth Richardson, London Not many people “like” to be aware of negative stereotypes, but in my opinion, McKenzie offers some good points on the complexity of Peter Jackson's choices. Though I do not believe Jackson's intentions to be racist or cruel, the original Kong's characters, and hence the new one's, continue to feed pop-culture stereotypes. Even the background characters will factor into our understanding of the “island native”. Viewers these days seem very aware of the negative impact of the racial stereotypes in older movies, claiming “we aren't like that now”, but I would argue that most white viewers in the 1930s were not aware of the harm at that time. These days, the visual clues are more subliminal to the white viewer, or modified slightly from the old standards, but McKenzie is right - the lead heroes in blockbuster Hollywood action films still tend to be white males, supported by distinct minorities: black male, asian male, or white female. When was the last time before Hotel Rwanda that a major motion picture came from African stories or literature? I don't think the Lion King counts, nor does the recent Sahara (another white-male led action adventure). I applaud McKenzie - instead of sitting back and just eating popcorn, he had a discussion with his son. Joanne Crofts, Buffalo, NY As far as I could tell all the Orcs in the Lord of the Rings were not black they were Cockney. Stephen Henderson, Brixton, London There are plenty of excuses for including negative stereotypes in films - it could simply be secondary to plot development, it could be truer to the original, it may even be funny - but these just don't ring true for me. Wouldn't it be a greater achievement to tell this story without resorting to stereotypes? It would be more difficult, certainly. But saying we should ignore the issue is like telling someone to "just relax and laugh" at an off-color joke. Constructive, thoughtful criticism is important for making things better, even the movies. Kate Tribble, USA I seem to recall that the evil wizard in LOTR was white. In fact every maniac and bad guy was white. So your attempt to portray Peter Jackson as a racist is unfounded. You are the racist for seeing the orcs as black people. Something that had not occurred to me. Besides, there is no rule that says someone must have a certain amount of blacks in a movie. The value of a movie is the storyline and acting not how many people of a certain race are in the film. You are amazingly racially hypersensitive. Tom Frost, San Antonio, Texas I lecture on film and in the spring of 2004 developed a talk on race relations in mainstream American films. I expected to find in looking at films, from Birth of a Nation until the present, that we had "come a long way baby" and I was dismayed (in watching significant films on race over a century) to find that stereotypes of African Americans (especially men) draw on the same vocabulary of types now that they did nearly a century ago. In writing the lecture, I discovered and relied heavily on Donald Bogle's book, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks. I have not yet seen the re-re-make of King Kong but the same reaction (both noting the hypersexuality of Kong a a black male and the slight amelioration of the stereotype in his relationship with Ann Darrow) as that of Kwame McKenzie came into my mind in seeing just a few images of the film - and I am white middle-aged, middle class woman, not a black man. I am so saddened that we are still collectively playing out our racism by sexualizing (or in the case of Asian men desexualizing) the "other". Adrienne Redd, Jenkintown, Philadelphia I understand the sensitivity you feel towards the film. If the whole film centred around the natives of Skull Island, and they were constantly having sex, I could sympathize. But they're just a back-drop, they are setting the stage for the appearance of Kong. Frankly, most audiences will not remember the natives once the film is over, unless they are predisposed to be looking for something to be offended by. How many white people got in an uproar over the title White Men Can't Jump? Whites are constantly stereotyped, but it appears they are not as sensitive as blacks. As for Peter Jackson, he's not to blame for British soccer fans. And you should remember, only some of the bad guys in The Lord of the Rings movies could be considered Maori-looking (which is something that hadn't occurred to me until you pointed it out). They are just Orcs. There are many things one can choose to get upset about. Why waste your time? Brant Williams, Missoula, Montana I agree that some of the recent crowd behaviour towards black footballers is appalling and cannot be condoned. Linking this behaviour to King Kong and The Lord of the Rings is ridiculous. Peter Jackson appears to be motivated by making films that are true to the original source material. Whether that be a classic book (LOTR) or a classic film (King Kong). Why do we need to read anything more sinister than that into it? You could just as easily turn the theory around: Jackson presenting a stereotypical view of the violent, exploitative white man who captures Kong for material gain and then kills him when it goes wrong, while encouraging the audience to sympathise with Kong, a noble creature who puts his life on the line to defend his friend against a couple of dinosaurs. Personally, I choose not to take either view but look forward to enjoying what sounds like one of the better movies of the year. Simon Carter, London Kwame, Many thanks for your insight into the racial imagery which we are going to be subjected to when we go to see a big gorilla rampage across New York city. As much as I respect your comments, I cannot help but feel that by publishing this you have made certain that people will see things which otherwise would not exist for the average cinema-goer. The days when white men put on boot polish to imitate blacks are long gone. The majority of people do not think like that anymore and fewer would even consider it if it was not pointed out to us. I for one am looking forward to going to see this movie, not because I am thinking of “black sexuality”, but rather because I am looking foward to not thinking for three hours and eating popcorn at a high rate of knots. The same as most cinema-goers, regardless of colour. Lari Meyer, London Do you think sexuality is still related to sin? If black people were more sexual, does it annoy you? Does it really annoy black people? Strengthening taboos only leads us to pain and confusion. Luis Ferrer, Córdoba, Argentina Peter Jackson chose King Kong because he has always been captivated by the story since he was a kid - that's what he said. Jackson's movie is about a giant ape; it is you who is choosing to see racial undertones there, in my opinion. And the heroes in Lord of the Rings were white because they were so in the Tolkien books. I don't know how you took the orcs, cave trolls, etc, to symbolise blacks, rather than just plain evil. Name withheld, New Jersey The reason that the orcs were "big, black and just a bit too Maori looking" happens to be because the actors playing them were, in fact Maori. Kwame McKenzie is attempting to raise the race issue in order to publicise himself. I know many black men and boys who went to see King Kong and who will see it as the harmless, and mindless, entertainment that it is meant to be. Jonathan Knight, London
Some people just have too mch time on their hands.
I suppose it would have been more correct to anticipate this problem and make King Kong a large, white gorilla. And in keeping with the white is black and black is white theme that avoiding all possible offense requires, Kong's love interest should have been recast with a much darker complexion.
Give me a break.
Hmmm...let see. Big...Black...and an Ape. Yep it's a movie about Patrick Ewing. </sarcasm>
Seems like a stretch to me.
And frankly, after seeing the new "Kong" Burger King ad, Id rather see Kong looking in the window than that replusive plastic-headed, gender confused "King".
Never read an article with a Kwame byline.
Coming soon - "Kong, Albino King of the Jungle"
"Now maybe in Dixie they think that way"
Speaking of stereotypes...
This guy is going to be even more pissed when he sees the Broadway version starring Shaquille O'Neal and Mary-Kate Olsen.
That dang HIV virus had fed into the hysteria as well, somehow.
Does that mean the elves, with their pointed helmets were the Klan?? What a buffoon. And Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer is Nazi Propaganda.
Kwame can leave can he not?
I am too simple minded for this crap. I am pretty much a right-wrong, on-off, black-white kind of guy.
I know what I know, and if I get gored I might entertain for grey stuff.
Why do they sell green olives in a jar, and black olives in a can? Don't make me play the olive card!
When I was walking Waikiki beach I found that when I scooped up a handful of sand that I found a pebble that was black in color was resting below numerous white colored pebbles.
I'll take my action in scooping up some sand to my grave as a disappointing prejudice act that was uncalled for.
All apes and other dark-skinned primates are obviously a symbol of racism and should be hunted to extinction. This will deprive Hollywood, as well as the Discovery Channel, any chance to peddle their racist wares.
Is there a point to this post?
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