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Mudflap And Skids Racial Stereotypes

Posted by:
Lord Megatron at 2009-06-25 8:25 pm
There has been some criticism of Michael Bay's portrayal of Skids and Mudflap in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as a straight up racial stereotype. It turns out the bots jive talk, that cannot read, and one sports a gold tooth.

I can't believe what I'm reading!

But Mr. Bay doesn't really see it that way and insists it's just good, clean fun and "putting more personality in. I don't know if it's stereotypes — they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors," he tells the Associated Press. "This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it."
The personalities and lines "were kind of written but not really written," Mr. Bay said. "So the voice actors is when we started to really kind of come up with their characters."

He reiterates it's purely for the kids. And because they are in there for comic relief, "it makes it more accessible to them."

Tasha Robinson, associate editor at The Onion sort of lets up on Mr. Bay's portrayals saying that if the Twins were played by real black actors, "then you might have to admit that it's racist," Ms. Robinson tells the AP. "But stick it into a robot's mouth, and it's just a robot, it's OK."

She does ask the question, though, "why do they talk like bad black stereotypes [if they're robots]?"

Well Ms. Robinson, if you saw the first film, you would know.

Comments
KilledbyDeath said,  - 2009-06-25 21:02:29
This "controversy" is so stupid that's all I'm going to say.
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-25 21:06:36
In an earlier news bit titled "Everyone's A Critic!", TriPredRavage had said these words in response to the Twins being stereotypical:

>>"The people who are claiming that the film was racist/sexist don’t know that they are talking about."

>>"In the first film, Jazz was the “black” guy and everybody LOVED him. He was cool, he had personality, and then he died, which was a play on “the black guy always dies first in movies” thing. When he first appeared, Sam asked how Jazz knew to talk like that, to which Optimus told him that they had learned Earth’s languages by studying the internet."

>>"Now we have Skids and Mudflap who are rookies, kids. As I was in the bathroom before the movie, a kid came in yelling “Aww SNAP!” in the same way of speaking as the twins did. Kids talk that way because it is “cool”; Skids and Mudflap are kids, and they learned to talk that way from US. If anything, it’s not racist, it’s a social commentary on the youth generation."

>>"But THEN everybody is up in arms because the twins “can’t read.” WRONG. The twins say they “don’t do much reading,” at no point did they say they CAN’T read. Nevermind the fact that NO ONE could read the symbols except a Prime, but god forbid that the twins can’t either. For that matter, how many of us can read Earth’s ancient languages? Latin? Hieroglyphics? I sure can’t, and I’d be willing to bet that not too many people in the world can either. Clearly a racial stereotype."
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-25 21:06:44
He continued with:

>>"Now, those are both fictional world justifications, so let me give some real world explanations. How BORING are Ironhide and Ratchet? They have NO screen time because they have no personalities. So, we’re saying we’d rather have the twins speak in perfect American English just like Optimus and the others. That’s pretty lame. At least the twins had personalities. Nevermind the fact that EVERY animated series has had characters with different dialects in them somewhere: G1: Tracks, Cosmos; BW: Ravage; BM: Botanica; RiD: X-Brawn; etc… I don’t remember anybody ever having problems with them… I guess it must be just because the twins were 'black.'"

>>"Seriously, though, if they had wanted the characters to have been “racist” in the way that people are claiming they are, they would have left the twins as that beat up ice cream truck, made them Decepticons, and killed them first. Get over it people."

Well, spoken TPR! And what's interesting is that you mention Tracks and Cosmos, who share the same voice actor.
Lord Megatron said,  - 2009-06-25 21:23:55
@KilledbyDeath: We shouldn't even have to say anything. It's sad.

@Sabr: Agreed, people are just trying to find something to complain about. I'm sure that if these people new about the past of the Transformers, it would cease the accusitions made by the media. I really, really enjoyed the movie! I thought it's storyline was a bit contradicting, but the overall movie left me with a big grin on my face. What it does lack in story, it makes up for in GREAT fight scenes and intense action!
DocWho said,  - 2009-06-25 21:33:48
Yes, how racist they are.

How racist are the red and green robots! Red and Green robots should be very insulted! Bay is portraying a negative portrayal of Red and Green robots! All Red and Green robots should boycott this movie!

>.>

....

Red and Green robots!

Honestly, those two were the breakout characters for me. I was sitting with a crap load of kids IMO, and they all LOVED the twins. Michael Bay made a good decision with MC Paddington. Those two aren't racists, they're a parody of kids who try to be cool.

Remind me again why Red and Green....ROBOTS....are racist? They're a completely different species! D:
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-25 22:30:03
My only problem with the movie were the extra cussing and the excessive, unnecessary innuendo, and yet these people complain about a much more minimal point of the film.
safeguard900 said,  - 2009-06-25 22:31:19
@ PLEASE, KEEP A CIVIL TOUNGE IN YOUR MOUTH !!!!!!!!!!!! You don't see me complaining about NOT SEEING THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIE, WHILE YOU TALK ABOUT RASISM TO TRANSFORMERS!!!!! P.S. Michal Jackson is dead.
megatron said,  - 2009-06-25 22:42:55
who cares. look at jazz in the last one he has a black guys voice he jumps off the cadillac sign hes a p o n t i a c those are bad jokes from ignorant people. so lets make the best of it .
if we talk about it we wont get a third movie!
Budgrimlock said,  - 2009-06-25 23:19:57
please Mr. Bay, Mr. Spielberg, Mr.'s Kurtzmann, Orci, and Kruger, let me in on the writing for the next few installments. I'll give you what you want and make it what we fans want too. That's what I do. I need a job.
megatrong1 said,  - 2009-06-26 00:50:42
i saw no problem with the tf i wasnt afended im part black non of my friends were afended i aculy most of my friends like them also i agree with saberblade about :everybody is up in arms because the twins “can’t read.” WRONG. The twins say they “don’t do much reading,” at no point did they say they CAN’T read. Nevermind the fact that NO ONE could read the symbols except a Prime, but god forbid that the twins can’t either. For that matter, how many of us can read Earth’s ancient languages? Latin? Hieroglyphics? I sure can’t, and I’d be willing to bet that not too many people in the world can either: i agree because how the hell could the twins read it if it takes a prime also he right how many people can read a ancient langulage i can read hieroglyphics for uknown reasons but i know no one yet, yet again i live in redneckvill
Blasten Blaster said,  - 2009-06-26 01:32:07
OMFG i saw the film and thought they were kinda black like jazz from TF 2K7 but being black myself i was in no way offended. This is just another way people are trying to screw up transformers for us like ªJazzª now being "autobot jazz"
Mr Rogers said,  - 2009-06-26 02:08:37
what would the warriors do about this? would they go get some wool or fight for they're right?
Scorpomike said,  - 2009-06-26 07:50:07
I think they should have a robot sex scene in the next movie. How do protoforms get created anyway? Otherwise I don't even see the point in having different genders of robots. How sexist is that? It wouldn't make any sense.
TriPredRavage said,  - 2009-06-26 09:27:17
Thanks for reiterating that for me Sabr, I didn't feel like going over it again, lol. The thing is, I haven't heard a single black person be upset about it yet. Political correctivity is fine and dandy as it does hinder truly racial comments, but at the same time, I feel like people are sometimes taking it too far and it hinders originality/individuality as well.

Obviously, I didn't think it was racist.
Shatttereduniverseprime said,  - 2009-06-26 09:53:34
Anyone who thinks the twins are a racial stereotype is ignorant, plain and simple. They had very unique personalities in the film and were actually pretty good, if anything they were a little too goofy for me at times but overall they were good characters. Why no one complains about Ravage being a racial sterotype (a black panther, a very small joke on the actual group) is beyond me. I mean by the very core of Decepticon beleif they are racists too because they want to exterminate the Autobots......HMMMMMM sound familiar anyone?
TriPredRavage said,  - 2009-06-26 10:08:45
Rock on, Shattereduniverseprime!
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-26 10:59:14
Ok, 2 points. Number one, my fiancee is black, and she was absolutely livid at those two characters. Yes, they are racial stereotypes. Big 'ears', big teeth, one gold, illiterate and talk in a type of 'ghetto' speak, and they are completely stupid. Congratulations, you just described the 'Sambo' stereotype created in the Jim Crow days in order to dehumanize African Americans.

It DOESN'T MATTER that they weren't painted black, they were clearly stereotypes, and if you had any education on the subject matter at all, then you would see why this upsets people. My fiancee is a History major, and knows where this all comes from. She had a problem with Jazz from the first movie, but now she sees that he actually had a lot of redeeming qualities, whereas the twins really didn't. They were there to poke fun at the Black community's expense. Way to go.
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-26 11:05:27
Oh for crying out loud. EVERYBODY couldn't read the symbols. Only Jetfire could because he's old enough to know the language! The Twins NEVER said that they "CAN'T read AT ALL", they just said that they "DON'T read MUCH"!

As for the gold tooth, are you implying that only Blacks get gold or silver teeth? Haven't you seen Home Alone? One of the crooks (Harry) had a gold tooth and both he and his partner (Marv) were WHITE. In fact, I'm White and I used to have two silver teeth (till they fell out, they weren't permanent teeth). Saying that a gold tooth is like a symbol of Black people, THAT is racist!
Jumpercliff said,  - 2009-06-26 11:36:01
Okay, I can just say that the people who are making these wild accusations are no better than Joe McCarthy back in the 50s. You should have read the review my paper did of the movie, the guy gave it only two stars!
DinobotsRULE said,  - 2009-06-26 11:37:52
It's not racist. Making a big deal of it and saying it's racist is racist. Besides there was Jazz in the first film who seemed like a stereotype and died.
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-26 11:42:54
Sabrblade, what group of people are often characterized as having gold teeth? Black people. Sure, fillings used to be made of gold. However, these are robots and DON'T NEED FILLINGS. The gold tooth had been there for show only, which is, in fact, used to characterize black people. The illiteracy complaint isn't that they couldn't read that language, but that they had no idea about the whole thing and said that they DON'T READ ANYTHING MUCH. THAT is why they are being characterized as illiterate.

But I guess that you must be an expert on the subject because... nothing? Why not throw out anything that is really racist because the idea of calling something out makes YOU uncomfortable? Why not talk to someone who has done the research on racism, has to deal with it themselves on a daily basis, and pays attention to it? I'm sorry, but you're obviously willing to ignore anything to consider this a good movie, so I'm going to leave you in your imaginary world where racism doesn't exist.
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-26 11:46:54
Finally, racism exists and if you ignore it, it will not stop. If people didn't fight against the accepted norm then black people would still be slaves. If you don't complain and make it into a big deal, then nothing is ever going to change. I'm sorry, but this is something I WANT to change. Protesting and boycotting doesn't work for every situation, because it can take something obscure and make it popular because people are now interested in it to see what the fuss is about. This is different. It's already popular and will be regardless. This is a case you need to point it out or else it will become all to common. I'm sorry, but this has to stop.
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-26 11:54:34
Jumpercliff, You find me one article that states that this movie is somehow a red threat to the United States and I'll concede that point. Otherwise, I'll point you to the case of Apples to Oranges.
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-26 11:59:57
Then explain why Jazz was the same way in the first film (though he was more like a young adult instead of a kid) and yet everybody loved him!
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-26 12:09:13
Actually, my fiancee really didn't like him either. However, after the second movie, she liked him a lot more. There are a number of differences that make Jazz a better character.

1, he had no typical physical black stereotype characteristics. If he had a dorag on, it would have been a different story.
2, He was highly skilled at combat.
3, he was a high ranking officer in Optimus Prime's command. In fact, he was second in command.
4, He didn't get much screen time.

The biggest problem with the twins is the fact that they had more lines than 75 % of the cast. If they were background characters that had 3 lines, there would still be complaints but not to this degree. And finally, MY biggest complaint, they sacrificed screen time with better characters (Sideswipe, Arcee, Jolt) for these two. I mean, I'm assuming they would be better characters, since I could barely see anything about them.
cyberwuss said,  - 2009-06-26 18:07:47
I think if you are upset about racial stereotyping of african americans you should complain to Kanye West, 50 cent, Jay Z, the list goes on. I am not racist but I do hate rappers. Why? Because THEY are sexist, racist, and promote racial stereotypes of blacks MORE THAN A SINGLE MOVIE EVER HAS OR COULD. To top it off they have been doing it for over 25 years "singing" (really just yelling with no pattern at all) in a way that promotes even worse acts of evil than racism. Murder, stealling, lying, sexism, profanity, raping women are all promoted by rappers. If you are going to be mad at this movie dont be mad because they were "black" but because they were "rappers" because rappers are truly disgusting people who are highly overpayed for what they do. But did you complain about them? No you didn't. DId you complain about movies like Roots, In The Heat of the Night, or as someone else put it, White Men Can't Jump? Of course not. Therefore, if you don't target rappers or movies that involve the KKK you have no point. BTW Nature makes panthers black ALL OF THEM so how can that be racist? The night sky is black is that racist? No. So drop the argument already since it is...nothing.
cyberwuss said,  - 2009-06-26 18:20:35
Also since you are throwing around words about being "educated" maybe you should read up on the massacre at Nanking around WWII. If you knew about that then you would realize african americans have it perfectly fine compared to the rest of the world. If you saw how racist some other countries were you would drop an atomic bomb on them with your personality. Nanking was closer to hell than a slaveship or a plantation has ever been and it was done by asians against asians. The president of the US is black and america is the least racist place on earth. Get over it.
G1 prime said,  - 2009-06-26 19:00:51
Cyberwuss just... Stop speaking... Are you serious right now? How the heck does ANYTHING you just said have anything to do with what Ballistic was saying? How can you even bring up rappers when they have nothing to do with Ballistic's point? First of all, not ALL rappers are like what you describe which shows you obviously don't know anything about the hiphop culture. There a minority of rappers that promote those things and because of how extreme they are the media pushes them to the forefront, which only purpetuates their stupid cycle of their popularity. Second of all, good hiphop is not as rare as you think, and these incredibly gifted lyricists are pushing very positive messages, so actually try and find out about something before you absolutely asinine statements.

And I'm not even going to get into how utterly stupid a statement like "america is the least racist country in the world," is. That has to be one of the most blatantly ignorant things I have ever heard in my entire life. It's people like this that allow stupid stereotypes and missinformation to perpetuate throughout society.
cyberwuss said,  - 2009-06-26 19:33:09
My point is: Not ALL black people are racial stereotypes and everyone knows this. My other point is: Black on black violence is worse than white on black violence/racism at this time in history. My last point? Skids and Mudflap aren't making fun of blacks, they are making fun of stupid rappers. So blame rappers instead of moviemakers for the racial stereotype that was setup by them and not moviemakers poking fun at the rappers who setup the stereotype to begin with. Oh and anyone who thinks it is racist is just admitting that most stupid rappers are black. So that is why they are more racist for doing so (I personally don't like the white rappers like Eminem even more than I hate black rappers.) It isn't a joke against blacks, its a joke against rappers of all shapes/size/color. Bottom line. By saying "america is the least racist place on earth" I mean that in africa black people are dying by the scores because of black on black racism and anyone who was born in america after the death of MLK has never experienced racism to this degree, therefore they have nothing to complain about that much. Everyone goes through troubles in life which is what I meant by "Get over it"
Clutch said,  - 2009-06-26 20:32:21
Ok, lets start with. I am bi-racial, as is my girlfriend. We both saw the movie. Did I think the twins were a stereotype, yes... Did I think is was racist, no... The Twins represented a particular section of the African American Culture (Urban Youth), much as Jazz was his own niche culture (Miltary or BAMFs) two different styles of culture. My first reaction of the twins was that of the little kids in my area (upper-middle class), who attempt to act "Hard" or "from the streets", when they really have no concept of it. This is backed up in the fact that any "combat" the Twins are invloved they are of a limited roll.

Its funny because if I recall correctly, the first impression of early press releases of the Twins was that of "Red Neck", "Hick" and "Hill Billy". Which leads me to question had Bay stuck with that concept what the reaction would be now.

IMO the twins were an attempt to make a new kid appeal character...

Sidenote, my Girlfriend, was actually more offended by the low level Mobster representation that Wheelie had.

While i was more offended that the climax of the film went from the War Within style story of the fallen, to the Season Two G1 episode where Megs and the 'Cons tried to harvest the sun and turn it into energon....
Clutch said,  - 2009-06-26 20:39:43
@ Cyberwuss....

The genocide in Africa is not "Black on Black" violence in the American Standard. These are crimes commited out of lust for power, conflicts in beliefs, and the ability to claim resources.

By your rational, the actions of Nazi era Germany were simply white on white violence, as opposed to the Religous Genocide of a tyranical yet charismatic leader that was able to rally people behind his personal hate.

Your intent is there, but your understanding and evidence is flawed.
cyberwuss said,  - 2009-06-26 20:45:30
I agree I was out of line with the african wars statement. I am trying to get across that more of the people complaining about the movie should be counting their blessings instead of complaining about every politically incorrect thing that ever comes by. In other words, be happy you are able to goto a movie and see it at all instead of being paranoid about racism that isn't actually there (in the movie).
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-26 20:50:21
Cyberwuss, first of all, WWII is over and has been for a long time. Second of all, rappers act that way to get media attention and to sell records. Do you think for a second that if that sort of character they tend to portray in their music videos stopped being profitable that they would continue to act that way afterwards? Not really. There's also the fact that BET, the biggest collection of black stereotypes was created and is owned by Caucasians.

And by the way, Black on Black racism? That is literally the DUMBEST statement I've heard. For your information, in other countries I've yet to hear about any wars or violence being perpetrated based on the color of someone's skin, so your statement is completely ignorant. Not to mention that I'm not hearing about any wars on black people in Canada or Mexico. And I don't remember any slavery in their past either.

Cyberwuss, you have absolutely no point to your arguments that even really need to be refuted. You're ignorant, and it's the people like you that stood by and allowed numerous atrocities to occur right in front of them because they were unwilling or unable to see it in front of them.
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-26 20:53:29
And by the way, if you want to do yourself a favor, look up 'Jim Crow'. The fact that the stereotypes invented back then as a way to socially control Black people is still being used today in any fashion is deplorable.

And besides, even if they're not racist, they dragged the movie down. They had too much screen time, and because of that, most of the other, more interesting characters were ignored.
cyberwuss said,  - 2009-06-26 21:03:35
@Ballistic

I do agree they dragged the movie down, I'm just saying it was for different reasons. The races involved around WWII (which happened more recently than slavery in america.) were the Japanese and Chinese races, which do have a difference. Most of the ones in africa have minor differences as well but it is more because of other reasons. Hate is still hate, racism may not be the word for it, but the fact remains that more things happen against black people by black people than by whites. And I've heard plenty of Canadians use the *N word*.
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-26 21:19:03
Name one Canadian to use the 'N word'. Hell, I'm from Canada, and when I was in Toronto, Canada's biggest city, every one of the jobs I had taken had a black man as my boss. It at least sounds like it's easier to climb the social ladder there.

Hatred and racism, while related, are still different. Hatred is general, racism is specific. You don't need to be burning a cross to be a racist, and it doesn't have to be obvious to hurt people. In fact, it's the more covert racism that does the most damage, as it is purposely ambiguous to people so they do not object to it, but it degrades the public opinion of those people little by little over time. And this is not 'little'.

Finally, the US is not a perfect place to hide from racism. In New York, in the past 12 months I can remember at least 3 cases where police officers gunned down a black man, shooting him at least 20 times. Racism is still alive out there, and it's still hurting people.
skullcruncher prime said,  - 2009-06-27 08:47:33
1: skids and mudflap,are "teenage" autobots
2:teenagers speak,and dress,and in certain ways to fit in(humans)
3:skids and mudflap are doing whatever they can(in the movie),to impress prime,while still trying to relate to human TEENAGERS
4:although the application is flawed,"ebonics"(not being racist,but a dialectal form of the ENGLISH language)
5:the facts are this(at least in my opinion)everyone has at one point in their life tried to be like someone else,talked like someone else,dressed like someone else(a crappy white rapper from detroit anyone?)
6: it boils down to personal perception,if a black individual,and i will say this ,some of the greatest humans i have met in this journey called life,were african americans, saw a movie about caucasion americans communicating with robots speaking(ghetto") he gets pissed
7: on the other side of the fence if a white individual sees a movie about a sociopsychopathic black man in compton killing everyone including his friends,he thinks wow what a crazy s.o.b. i want to be like him
8 so what this boils down to is perception,one person percieves negative stereotypes,the other individual views it as SOCIOPOLITICAL SATIRE OF INNER CITY WHITE KIDS ACTING COOL,or at least trying to be coll to impress their friends the term is COMIC relief
9: being an individual,who is of german/jewish,and irish heritage,and also being viewed as a subversive individual,because of my tattos,and peircings,i have been a victim of bias
10:people,the sooner we all stop playing the color game,and start playing the human race game,the better we be will be as HUMANS,and last but not least,IT IS F@#^IN movie
skullcruncher prime said,  - 2009-06-27 08:49:30
i apologize for typos ,just got out of work
Clutch said,  - 2009-06-27 13:06:37
@ballistic

Not disagreeing with you, but I feel that Jar Jar Binks, was more a "Jim Crowe" sterotype. His style of speech, his subservient personality, and the aura of shame he had...

The Twins in a way are a representation of the failed attempt the urban youth had when they attempted to make their style of living, speech, and how they act to be culturally accepted. Why Bay felt it was a good idea to do that is beyond me....
ROY DAWG SOUTH GATE CALIFORNIA said,  - 2009-06-27 17:15:06
OK I DO NOT THINK IT HAS TO DO WITH COLOR .I TOOK MY TWO CHILDREN 4 AND 8 THEY LOVED THE CHARACTERS TO SEE CHILDREN LAUGH THAT REALLY MADE ME FEEL GOOD .CAUSE IM A BIG FAN AND SO ARE THEY .WHAT PEOPLE NEED TO DO IS STOP CRITIZING THE MOVIE .BIG DEAL GOLD TOOTH ,SPEAK BLACK . ANYWAYS ONE CHARATER IS BLACK AND THE OTHER IS SPONGEBOB WHICH IS VERY FUNNY.SO WHAT TYRESE ACTS WHITE IS THAT RACISM I DONT THINK MICHEAL BAY IS TRYING TO SEND WRONG MESSAGES .SO IF PUTS IN THE THIRD MOVIE( LEAN LIKE A CHULO )OR SHOULD I SAY( LEAN LIKE A GOBOT )IS THAT RACISM .HE REALLY DOING HIS BEST GIVE THE GUY A BREAK . PLEASE AUTOBOTS TRANSFORM PEACE OUT IM BEING BLACK CRITISIZE ME PLEASE ROY DAWG CYPRESS HILL
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-27 19:08:41
1. Turn off the Caps Lock key.
2. Use correct puncuation.
3. People have a right to their own opinions, and some are less willing to change their opinions than others. Screaming at them doesn't really help.
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-27 19:23:18
First, Tom Kenny did BOTH characters. That would be confirmed if you read the credits. Second, the biggest reason that those twins were such a big problem is that they combine physical characteristics of the 'sambo' black stereotype from the Jim Crow era with the ebonics style of speech, and the fact that they are portrayed as stupid. THIS is why it is racist. I know I've said this before. They don't have any physical characteristics of young teens, they have the physical characteristics of a Black stereotypes. If they were pants around their knees, it would be more ambiguous. That's not the case. It's big ears, big teeth, and one that has a gold tooth. If they had lips, they'd be large too. Do any other robots have these characteristics? No, they don't. Only the stupid ones do.
Joe Hodge said,  - 2009-06-27 19:26:59
I feel why some would be upset about the twins mudflap and skids as being a racial sterotype. There are many reason I can understand why. One is the facial features of big ears,lips, and a buck teeth with a gold piece. The slang was another issue. Bay said he geared these two for kids?? If so then he should be ashamed! The only real words that came out these robots was cuss words. How many parents would like to have there kids going around talking about popping a cap in somebody??

Another note is about reading?? Sure they did not say they don't read but said they don't do much reading. Though they were asked about reading the symbols and said that, they should of said we can't read those symbols that that we don't do much reading. Though geared for kids?? Why would you want kids not reading?? Come-on Bay people are not stupid! I looked at the two as one bad joke. It did offend but not as much as some. Though I feel the reasons. People tend to stomach this because they are robots. Also Bay defends the bots because one is done by a white actor. A bad impression of he did then. The actors could of been any color and the outcome would of been the same! I'm just explaining why some people got offended. Hope this helps!
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-27 20:01:50
@Ballistic: Tom Kenny voiced Skids and Wheelie. Reno Wildon voiced Mudflap. I just saw the film again today and stayed for the cast list again. Look it up. All sources say Reno Wilson was Mudflap.
ROY DAWG SOUTH GATE CALIFORNIA said,  - 2009-06-27 20:56:33
U NO WHAT I DONT CARE NO MORE F IT WHO MADE THE CHARACTERS IM N THE DAM MOVIE NOW WUT SABRMOUTH I WAS RAVAGE RAURRRRR
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-27 21:14:07
The voice for both of the Twins sounded very similar to Tom Kenny for me, so I'm still finding it hard to believe they were voiced by different people. But, if I'm wrong about that, then I'm wrong. However, Orci and Kurtzman, the writers for the movie, even thought it was racist. Apparently the characteristics for those two robots were done by Michael Bay and someone else, and it really offended the writers. Here's a link:

http://www.scifiscoop.com/news/the-transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-racism-debate/
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-27 22:32:08
@Roy Dawg: All I'm asking is that you be calm and rational about this (and to turn off Caps Lock, which is as simple as pushing a button ;D).

@Ballistic: Yes, the voices are similar, but Reno Wilson is Mudflap. It says so in the end credits and in all the arcticles about the Twins being stereotypical. It even says so in the article linked at the top of this page. And I quote:
"TV actor Reno Wilson, who is black, voices Mudflap. Tom Kenny, the white actor behind SpongeBob SquarePants, voices Skids."
Ballistic said,  - 2009-06-27 22:42:55
@Sabrblade

Yes, but a black voice actor doesn't stop making it offensive.
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-27 23:56:26
I never said it did.
Nobody said,  - 2009-06-28 18:48:00
This is insane! It's just for fun! Get over it. Today everybody sees things as some racial insult.
Gigantor said,  - 2009-06-28 20:58:27
True, true. I don't think that Bay intended to offend people. This movie has just been the pits ever since its debut in North Korea.
Sabrblade said,  - 2009-06-28 21:17:43
What about its premiere in Japan (which came before the North Korean premiere)?
Buildbot said,  - 2009-06-29 14:02:32
to put it simply
THEY ARE THE TRANSFORMERS EQUIVALET OF JAR JAR BINKS
all the adults hate him
the kids like him

the more intresting note on this is that they are putting in charaters to appel to a 5-11 year olds in a moveie rated PG 13
Boss Man said,  - 2009-06-30 01:08:22
I don't think it's that big a deal, and I'm a minority- lol.
Colonel Sanders said,  - 2009-07-02 19:36:39
Give them their freedom and this is how they thank us. By trashing our long awaited transformers movie and making us turn to synthetic cotton. Shame on you Lincoln...Shame on you
doesnt matter said,  - 2009-07-05 21:20:33
ITS A MOVIE!GET OVER IT!Its just supposed to be funny.they couldnt read but noone in that movie could read it but jetfire because it was old language.
Mudman said,  - 2009-07-07 14:08:31
quoting Sabrblade: "Saying that a gold tooth is like a symbol of Black people, THAT is racist!"

By pointing out what IS racist about it, you're making it racist, when it was just comic relief.
shocky the spy said,  - 2009-07-07 14:24:12
Well said tripredravage!
shocky the spy said,  - 2009-07-07 14:27:00
also why are people complaining about Jazz when he has been that way for 25 years? also if people are saying they are racist for having big ears and teeth, what about bugs bunny was he racist fo having these features? also like the art designers would really look around and say" oh, lets base thier faces on racist art from TWO-HUNDRED years ago" come on think logiclly
safeguard900 said,  - 2009-07-07 18:23:05
Why the heck are we caring???????!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?! IT IS A MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WOULD WORK ON A RACIST MOVIE?!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!? NOBODY WOULD COME THEN!!!!!!!!!! ALL THIS IS IS A OF CRUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mudman said,  - 2009-07-09 10:07:52
also, how come no-one ever points out Jetfire? He has an English accent, and he is an old man(/robot) How come Skids and Mudflap are stereotypes, but not him? People these days seem to just TRY and find black stereotypes in everything
Mudman said,  - 2009-07-09 10:07:55
also, how come no-one ever points out Jetfire? He has an English accent, and he is an old man(/robot) How come Skids and Mudflap are stereotypes, but not him? People these days seem to just TRY and find black stereotypes in everything
Mudman said,  - 2009-07-09 10:08:34
sorry for the double guys
White guy with black friend said,  - 2009-07-09 15:03:05
Here's my two cents. Stereotypes are stereotypes. I watched this with a black friend of mine and she immediately commented on how she felt these two as being black. I didnt see it in a negative way, but I agreed that the connection could be made. She's black and a little offended, I am white and not offended. Different perspectives. But is this keeping anyone from advancing through life? Is anyone being held back? My point is, people have different perspectives on the things they experience. I work with people who pass around those "de-motivational poster" images depicting jailbait girls. I find that offensive because I have daughters. They dont, because they are young, and have no daughters. Some day (I hope), the race card wont be played anymore, and all this will just be footnotes in history books.
candyman said,  - 2009-07-09 15:30:46
racist,ignant what else is there to say?
Lord Megatron said,  - 2009-07-09 18:43:50
Honestly I don't know what to say, I'm at a loss for words. I just don't see why someone always has to complain about something so...ANCIENT. Why they have to go after Transformers for one incedent is beyond me when shows like Family Guy and American Dad spout off racist comments every ten seconds.
Shabandia said,  - 2009-07-29 06:54:09
damn, white guy with black friend, is telling the truth, i also hope that the race card will be dust of history, but america is on her way.
Cybertron Primus said,  - 2010-04-29 09:25:13
i do not think they are racist. i mean seriously what are you people smoking? it must be some crazy stuff. they played twin brothers and you have the audacity to say that they are racist. i have a second cousin who is black and im white and we get into fights sometimes but are we racist? no. so i think you should leave them alone. i thing michael bay is a smart man and you should leave him alone too.
childofmetal1987 said,  - 2010-05-31 06:36:48
racist my ass the black people sitting behind me weren't offended
Isaac Regal said,  - 2011-08-07 21:02:24
One of the most offending movie characters I've ever seen. Like someone said only the dumb ones had black physical features. ''Oh we don't read much'', oh like black people don't read? Most of the black people I know listen to fuckin Clapton and read science dictionaries. Fucking hate this movie, plus the black racist PROPAGANDA people! These are young kids, 6-10 years old laughing at black people, like they're gonna think people are actually like this? I wouldn't ever fuckin show this movie to my kids. I'm just so furious about this, yes I'm white who cares. Who was it talking about rappers? Check out: The Roots, The last emperor, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharaoh Monch, Vinnie Paz(Jedi Mind Tricks), Nas, Guru, MF Doom, Gil Scott Heron, Jay Dilla, Guilty Simpson, Canibus, Big Pun, Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind, Immortal Technique, Ill Bill, Sabac Red Slug(Athomsphere) and so on and so on. Albums like Rip The Jacker and The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness. Hip Hop has been dead for like 15 years those shitty pop stars you see on MTV have nothing to do with hip hop you ignorant prick, like Eminem talking about murdering his wife or sticking something up his ass, you think that's hip hop? My god.
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