Is King Kong racist?

[Extra Stout]

It's not the depiction of the giant ape that is "racist."

Nor is it really "racist" against black people, i.e. of African descent.

It's the depiction of Melanesians as wild savages* that could be problematic. (Last time I saw Vijay Singh on TV, he did not have a bone through his nose, nor was he trying to throw the other golfers into a cauldron.) The original just took that for granted, you know, "white man's burden" and all that. Jackson tried to take the edge off that by depicting the islanders as possessed zombies rather than being savage simply by virtue of being Melanesian; the reviewer seems to think that makes it worse rather than better.

But what can you say? The original was made in 1933. It reflects the at udes of the time. It is what it is. If you try to sanitize the material, you pretty much can't make the movie because the plot disintegrates.

*We won't talk about the Solomon Islands.

[SA210]

it'll do well

[Useruser666]

Did I ever say that I agree with the writer you ing re ? Can you not read? I only said that I kept an open mind when reading the article and could see his viewpoint. I didn't just turn off my brain and call bull .

BTW, his theory cannot be proven so stop asking for proof, dip .

Thanks for turning this into an insult battle.

"I think he brings up some good points about the story especially if you consider when in history the original was created."

So you think he has some good points? That is the ridiculous part of this whole discussion. He has nothing to back up anything he says other than, "Hey it was made back in the day when everything was racist!" Yeah that's absolutely a great basis for making the charge that someone or thing is racist. I consider calling out racism where there is none something seriously inappropriate. It is just as bad as racism itself. Oh and thanks for breaking this down to insults.

[Oh, Gee!!]

Thanks for turning this into an insult battle.

you're welcome

1. So you think he has some good points? That is the ridiculous part of this whole discussion.
2. He has nothing to back up anything he says other than, "Hey it was made back in the day when everything was racist!" Yeah that's absolutely a great basis for making the charge that someone or thing is racist.
3. I consider calling out racism where there is none something seriously inappropriate. It is just as bad as racism itself.
4. Oh and thanks for breaking this down to insults.

1. It's ridiculous that I think the writer makes good points? Sounds like an personal attack to me.
2. When it was made is but one consideration. The writer also uses imagery of the ape being plucked from his native land and brought to the west, the dark-skinned natives acting like savages, and Kong's obsession with the white-skinned beauty to bolster his argument. You don't have to agree with the writer; I don't agree with him. But I do think he did do more than claim the movie has racist undertones without giving reasons as to why.
3. really? who cares?
4. you said that already

[JoeChalupa]

I can see where he gets his opinion and I don't know why but it is clear to me. Is he right? I don't know but I think he explains his view.
Opinions are based on facts or information the way the opinionee sees it.

What may offend or strike someone may not fly right over another person's head. It doesn't mean that the issue isn't there..it just may not be there for everyone.

I guess it is hard to explain.

[Useruser666]

you're welcome



1. It's ridiculous that I think the writer makes good points? Sounds like an personal attack to me.
2. When it was made is but one consideration. The writer also uses imagery of the ape being plucked from his native land and brought to the west, the dark-skinned natives acting like savages, and Kong's obsession with the white-skinned beauty to bolster his argument. You don't have to agree with the writer; I don't agree with him. But I do think he did do more than claim the movie has racist undertones without giving reasons as to why.
3. really? who cares?
4. you said that already

Calling an idea ridiculous is not even close to calling someone re ed. You're stretching that just like the racism in Kong.

I see what symbolism the article writer is trying weave links between, but I can at step one call him out for such false accusations. If the writer uncovered some quotes from the director stating he made it as a smybolic reference to slavery or racial cultural differences, then I'd maybe give it an ounce of credit. But he doesn't even bother to push that aspect of his story. This is probably because this is just a load of BS trying to use race as a way to lure readers in. Flame pieces like this often cause more harm than good and detract from the real issues at hand.

[Ocotillo]

The only thing that crosses my mind when I see a monkey is that time at the zoo when my daughter was about 3 and it was mating season, apparently, and I had to explain to her what that certain part of it's anatomy was that it was playing with. Apparently ya'll think of black people and how someone else must be a racist. How ironic.

That is a stereotype of the black male being an oversexed beast!!

[JoeChalupa]

Again, it is perception that I am talking about. If his perception is that it is somehow racist, and again I can see how, then it is not a false accusation simply because one does not agree with it.

But the with it. I'm waiting for the DVD!!!

[Oh, Gee!!]

If the writer uncovered some quotes from the director stating he made it as a smybolic reference to slavery or racial cultural differences, then I'd maybe give it an ounce of credit.

which is why it's an opinion piece and not a biography of Merrian. The guy has an opinion and provides reasons for that opinion. I'm tired of discussing it.

[SpursWoman]

That is a stereotype of the black male being an oversexed beast!!

....and I'm pretty sure there's been several *films* made about that.

[Ocotillo]

....and I'm pretty sure there's been several *films* made about that.

Did you ever see "Mandingo"?

[Useruser666]

I'm not saying the guy's not right because it's his opinion, I'm saying he's not right because he has no facts or basis other than his own opinion. I agree anyone can have an opinion about anything, that doesn't make them right.

[DarkReign]

And why the can't King Kong save a beautiful black woman?

I'm sure Halle Berry would have done the role justice.

Halle Berry couldnt act her way thru a 6th grade rendition of Rent.

Worst Oscar winner besides Marissa Tomei.

[SA210]

Hey, Marissa Tomei was great in My Cousin Vinny.

[DarkReign]

Hey, Marissa Tomei was great in My Cousin Vinny.

ding ding ding

You win! Marissa Tomei won best actress for her startling role in My Cousin Vinny!

"My biological clock is ticking...LIKE...THIS!"

[GoldToe]

You must not know great acting. Halle Berry is great actress!

[SA210]

Halle Berry Is a great actress.

[SpursWoman]

No, she just looks great...it's clouding your judgement.

[SA210]

You might be right.

[Yonivore]

Hey, Marissa Tomei was great in My Cousin Vinny.

My favorite line:

"Oh yeah...you blend."

[TonyMontana]

Is KING KONG racist? asks Jim Pinkerton in his Thursday NEWSDAY column.

"Lots of people say it is. And, if it is, why does the film keep getting remade? What does it say about us if the new KONG is a huge hit?"

Pinkerton writes: Any movie that features white people sailing off to the Third World to capture a giant ape and carry it back to the West for exploitation is going to be seen as a metaphor for colonialism and racism. That was true for the original in 1933 and for the two remakes: the campy one in 1976, and the latest, directed by Peter Jackson. (In addition, a KONG wannabe, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, has been made twice.)

Movie reviewer David Edelstein, writing in SLATE, notes the "implicit racism of KING KONG - the implication that Kong stands for the black man brought in chains from a dark island (full of murderous primitive pagans) and with a penchant for skinny white blondes." Indeed, a GOOGLE search using the words "King Kong racism" yielded 490,000 hits.

Comparing the new film with the original, the WASHINGTON POST's Stephen Hunter observed, "It remains a parable of exploitation, cultural self-importance, the arrogance of the West, all issues that were obvious in the original but unexamined; they remain unexamined here, if more vivid."

And by more vivid, Hunter might be referring to the natives of mythical Skull Island, where Kong is discovered. Director Jackson took people of Melanesian stock - the dark-skinned peoples who are indigenous to much of the South Pacific, including Jackson's own country of New Zealand - and made them up to look and act like monsters, more zombie-ish than human. Indeed, one is moved to compare these human devils to the ogre-ish Orcs from Jackson's mega-Oscar LORD OF THE RINGS films. The bad guys are dark, hideous and undifferentiatedly evil.

=============
I found this interesting - I never ever thought of King Kong as racist - but then, I haven't watched the movie either.

What do you think?

people see what they want to see. the racists are the ones making the comparison. that war is over in case nobody noticed. racism is dead except in the minds and hearts of the ignorant.

[chode_regulator]

I think anyone who makes any kind of connection at all between apes and black people is incredibly racist, even to suggest that other people might...it obviously crossed the writer's mind.

That connection never even crossed mine.

exactly. im sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of everything having to be racist or sexist or whatever the else. and all this hate crime bull . i htink im goignto move to canada in the next coupole of years. im realy starting to not like the people who have control, in govt and media, over america.

[JoeChalupa]

people see what they want to see. the racists are the ones making the comparison. that war is over in case nobody noticed. racism is dead except in the minds and hearts of the ignorant.

I agree but thinking that racism doesn't exist is ignorant too.

[ididnotnothat]

I agree but thinking that racism doesn't exist is ignorant too.

Looks like you are one of the few who read racism into this movie or at least can see what the writer is referring to.

[chode_regulator]

You must not know great acting. Halle Berry is great actress!

care to explain how the halle berry is a great actress??????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????