'What is a Gronk?': 11 User-Generated Highlights From the Blackface War of '09

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4. THE TROPIC THUNDER ARGUMENT

· From elmo

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 10:38 AM

did Harry Connick boycott the recent Hollywood blockbuster movie Tropic Thunder because Robert Downey Jnr painted his face black and talked in his best Uncle Tom accent to portray an African American..

OR DID HE GO ALONG TO THE PREMIERE AND LAUGH HIS ARSE OFF WITH EVERYONE ELSE

The hypocrisy is pathetic

The American public were so outraged over Robert Downey's recent blackface routine he was given an Academy award nomination.

· From Ben

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 10:55 AM

Do you have nothing better to do? Really?

Couldn't you be impregnating a farm animal somewhere?

Are you just sitting on google looking for this stuff so you can write as many unintelligible, grammatically incorrect rants about it as possible, all over the internet?

It was racist! What don't you understand? The whole joke was that they had painted themselves black! They didn't even have the courtesy to REHEARSE from what I can tell, because they thought the mere fact of painting themselves with SHOE POLISH was THAT hilarious.

Just... argh... FUCK. OFF.

The Downey stuff was satirising people exactly like YOU. They even made the character AUSTRALIAN. Because of retarded, ignorant AUSTRALIAN RACISTS LIKE YOU.

Brain explodes

· From penceyprep

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 11:28 AM

I'm really surprised by how many people think this is ok, then use Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder to defend it. Do you also use movies when talking about other real life scenarios? Because movies are, you know...made up stories.

Blackface is insulting. That's it. No spin, no white guilt perspective, no angry black perspective. It's just wrong.

And even if you look at from just the humor perspective, the whole skit wasn't funny...blackface or not.

· From I'mJustSayin

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 11:55 AM

Tropic Thunder was satire. RDJ's character was poking fun at Hollywood actors and the length one may go to for an Oscar. (Think Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart playing a Bi-Racial woman) This was jut plain uncouth.

· From Pete

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 2:49 PM

I'm an Australian. We were taught about world history in high school. Including that of the US. Add to this a lifetime of media, the internet and US movies & TV shows all over our screens in Aus too. So, obviously there could be something wrong with airing this. The fact that it wasn't picked up on and aired wasn't racism. It was stupidity. Innocent stupidity.

Amusing is the irony of Harry Connick Jr playing an African American man in Tropic Thunder, though it was done in better taste, it probably got some beef too I imagine.

· From SunnyDaze

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 3:35 PM

WOW! So that was Harry Connick Jr playing Robert Downey Jr. playing a black man! He SHOULD have won the Academy Award!!

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5. THE MICHAEL JACKSON FACTOR

· From BJ

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 3:43 PM

Actually the joke was that MJ is now white. You don't even get it.

· From oioioi

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 10:39 AM

I found that particular Act uncomfortable to watch because the man, Michael Jackson, has not that long ago, passed away :(. Yes I'm an Aussie, and yes I love Hey Hey, BUT how they let that one pass into the Show is beyond me - it's just not respectful, in my humble opinion. But, as in many walks of life, there are bound to be many things that make us cringe as individuals ... let's not turn this into a disrespectful low blows slanging match here, eh Guys? Peace ....

· From G

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 2:15 PM

Hey Hey It's Saturday was a crap show....thank God it finished - 28 years on Aussie TV was FAR too long....why did they bring it back!??

As for the skit....well, black face or not, it was in really poor taste to do anything to do with Michael Jackson!

· From Braithe

Posted 08 Oct 2009, 12:26 AM

It was about a bunch of guys done up as the jacksons not just random black guys there is a huge difference

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6. THE REALITY CHECKS

· From Grace

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 4:02 PM

Leaving the politics and history of Australia's Aboriginal population and how it's totally okay to wear blackface there, could we focus on the actual issue here?

The show invited Harry Connick Jr, a man raised in New Orleans and heavily invested in their jazz scene, to judge a show. And then, apparently with total disregard to the ABSOLUTELY OBVIOUS cultural background of their guest, the producers sprung a MINSTREL SHOW on him. He's not piping up about something he just saw on TV and got snitty about and decided to elbow in with his American opinion, they invited him! Not only that, but he had no idea this was coming until it was happening and he was already on TV.

Can none of you Aussies see how this is a problem? They blindsided a Southern man with a minstrel show! Of COURSE he had to say something about it afterwards -- he wasn't given a choice about participating in that situation, and he certainly wouldn't have been there had he known about the blackface nature of the routine. This is the equivalent of throwing a surprise bullfight for a Hindu, or serving veal to a vegetarian. It's that level of vomit-inducing taboo. That the producers didn't realize Connick would react this way (and believe me, he is being restrained) is astounding.

Couldn't care less about Aussie talent shows, but if you're going to invite someone from a different culture to judge, don't get your noses bent out of shape when he sees the act through the prism of his culture.

· From Alison

Posted 07 Oct 2009, 5:04 PM

Australia had segreation until the late 1960's aboriginals were required to live on the missions (which were black only locations) and had to get permission to live outside from the government, they also had to get permission to take their children with them because the government had legal custody of all aboriginal children not their parents (there are many proven instances of denail to give permission for parents to leave the mission to visit their children in the hospitial).

Indigenous Austrlains were not given citizenship and counted in the census until 1967!

Before that legally they were not people in Australia.

As for Australia not having a history of slavery, we do.

After the american civil war and slaverys abolishement in America and the offical condemnation of slavery by the British the pacific islanders were taken from their islands on what were called 'work contracts' they told they would be returned home in 5 years and paid for working on the Queensland banana and sugar cane planations. The Kanakers as they were known were never returned or paid. I tried to find a link for people to find out more but Australias ignorance and cover up of it shamful past is complete all i could find was a refernce to 'forced migration' of the islanders.

If Australia was a country where every thing was equal there would not be such a huge difference in the life expectancy, infant moratality rate and literacy rates between Indigenous and none indigenous Australians.

Yes the performers of the skit honsetly didnt mean to offend, but that is the problem that they are so naive that they done recognise the inequalities and casual racism that occur everyday in Australia.

Yes Kevin Rudd apologised, but that apology does not fix the legacy that the stolen generation gave the Indigenous Australians.

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