Where the black people at? Tolkien had an entire black civilization in his novel, and the director (Peter Jackson) just cut it. Oops, the original book was racist too, the blacks in the novel were ALL evil. Well, if the director could rewrite LOTR to include love scenes, he could have added a few Lando Callisto type token good blacks too, couldn’t he?
9. Planet of the Apes
I’m referring to the original here, not the lousy remake with Mark Wahlberg. The apes are a metaphor for a civilization run by blacks, of course. Whats so bad about that? They were depicted as savage and ignorant, and sent Charlton Heston off to live in apartheid with his white girlfriend at the end.
8. Star Wars 1 : The Phantom Menace
No, I’m not referring to the original 1977 star wars here, which was justifiably criticized for having not a single black person. Rather, my rant is against the “reboot” with Jar Jar Binks as a lame brained Jamaican accented stand in for blacks. Their entire frog species was derisively referred to as ‘primitives’ at one point. Yes, I know there was one legitimate black with a speaking role in the movie. Remember what his line was? Something like “Yes, your highness”...?
7. Grease
California as Hollywood always imagined it, no blacks or Hispanics. Runner up in this category: American Graffitti.
6. West Side Story
Well, I guess this might be considered a step up from chimps in the minds of some Hollywood producers. But how do actual black people feel about the definitive New York City musical not having a single black actor or actress?
5. Ben Hur
I’m not picking on Charlton Heston here. I’m picking off America’s “greatest” films. This one had like 9 oscars, right? Ok I can forgive Jesus as a blue eyed European, but you would have thought that in the slave galleys they could have found room for at least a couple of black extras. Contrast Ben Hur with “Gladiator”, which plows similar ground
4. Indiana Jones : Raiders of the Lost Ark
Harrison Ford travels the globe robbing graves and despoiling ancient tombs, and never encounters a single black person. The KKK would probably like the number to his travel agent, I guess.
3. Terminator
Remember the opening scene where the naked Arnold Schwarznegger approaches the guys at the telescope, and one asks “Hey, whats wrong with this picture?”. Was this an ironic reference to the entire film? Maybe not. Remember what country Arnold comes from.
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
Lets see: White Americans are in space. White Russians are in space. No black astronauts? I guess that giant obelisk had effects we weren’t told about. And isn’t NASA, as part of the US goverment, supposed to be an equal opportunity employee? Well, in Star Trek, they don’t allow arabs in space either.
1. The Godfather
Often cited as the worlds greatest film. A film with not a single black role, and which refers to blacks as “darkies with no souls”. No souls? Was this an attempt at humor, or a pun? It doesn’t pass the smell test though. Okay I know this film is “allegedly” historical. But if the script can derisively refer to blacks running numbers rackets and driving cadillacs, would it have killed them to actually show a few scenes? Apparently so.
A post script to "fans" of "Birth of a Nation". Yes, I concede this film is arguably worse than anything on this list, but I limited myself to the era of "talkies". Realistically, when's the last time you saw a silent film of any kind on cable?
Source: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-306646
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