Michael Bay-Bay's Kids?

I went to go see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Wednesday night to a packed theater, the only way I like to see the big summer blockbusters. It offers a unique perspective into the tastes of the public as far as what does and does not work in a film. It's also a whole hell of a lot more exciting because it adds a depth to the film that you just can't get when you wait a couple of weeks and see it with a nearly empty auditorium. It also makes you feel like less of a geek when you uncontrollably break out into cheer for your favorite multi-ton alien robot. After the film ended, it was no surprise to me when I heard people cheering and applauding. People got it, people liked it.

Before I go see a movie like this I want to catch up on some reading and watch as much video as I can on it to help build up my own hype. I'm a Hollywood big budget fan, and I want in on all the action. What I won't do however, is read reviews. Reviews spoil everything for me because I want to form my own opinion on the film rather than let the opinion through the eyes of someone else tell me how it's going to be. I made the mistake of reading Roger Ebert's tear apart review the day before it premiered, and I have to admit, it jaded me just a bit. It made me start thinking that perhaps the sophomore installation couldn't match up to my expectations. I quickly got it out of my mind and gave it not a second thought. Transformers 1 was fresh and full of bang and this one was going to conquer it. I walked in without reservation or any preconceived thought that went against that idea.

Two days later and I've been scouring the Internet, reading up on what people have said and trying to find the succulent dish on Transformers 3 and I come across this. Apparently Michael Bay has been accused of adding a touch of racism to the movie in the form of the Autobot twins, Skids and Mudflap, two street talking, and humorous additions to the Cybertronian team. Sure, they talk a lot of shit in the movie, they provide more than their fair share of comic relief and attitude, but that sort of thing has always been the spirit of The Transformers since the original cartoon aired on television. Some Autobot or Decepticon was always running their mouth about something and it's because it's a direct influence of the human culture they're surrounded by. I realize I'm talking about just a movie, but I felt the same way when people tried to insinuate that Superman was gay in Superman Returns. Just because these characters might reflect a sliver of identity to a certain culture doesn't mean that's the context in which it should be taken in. Do we look at celebrities such as Eminem and shout racist because he happens to be a white man who affiliates himself with a predominantly black crowd, sings rap and hip hop music, and coordinates a little bit of bling into his wardrobe? He's well accepted as an artist and no one makes mention that he's trying to act black. It's ridiculous.

One article I read chastised Bay's decision of having the characters 'speak with voices that sound like urban black stereotypes...'. Last I checked, black people weren't the only ones who fit that. I've encountered many white people that speak the same way. Race should not be defined by the way someone speaks, although sadly, it does. People target the specific speech of someone and will associate them with gang bangers, thugs and crime just because they happen to use an idiom that is in the popular vernacular with those types of people, and unfortunately, in their minds, those people almost always have to be black. It's ignorant. The Autobot character, Ironhide, refers to a Decepticon as a punk ass, but I have yet to hear anyone call him a racist. Isn't punk ass identifiable to those stereotypes? People are up in arms because one of the twins has a gold tooth. Of course, they're right to be upset. Obviously black people are the only ones to ever have gold teeth.

I'm not saying that I am blind to the fact that there is an abundance of urban style attributed to the characters. That's not my argument though. My argument is that to call someone racist or liken them to a particular race because they choose to speak a certain way, dress a certain way or act a certain way is racist in and of itself. I'm guilty of doing it just like everyone else, and to deny that at one point or another we all haven't done it is as wrong as those who are quick to point the blame. To stereotype the stereotype isn't furthering the cause to eliminate racism from this planet, it's adding to it. We have to stop labeling something because of color. An action isn't a color. A way of speaking isn't a color. People are colorful and people live colorful lives in the true sense of the term. We all have different things that make us unique and bring us together as one unified race. At the risk of closing this with a line from the first movie and sounding very cheesy, I'm going to anyway. There's more to people than meets the eye.