Although I'm happy to see Big Worm and this young lady working, they added nothing to the movie, and it was so obvious that they were merely there to equalize the cast and expand the potential box office appeal. I don't like this sorta thing, and really, really wish this sort of diversity for the sake of diversity in Hollyweird would just die.
Looks like I got my wish. Sorta.
Universal is facing a potential PR disaster for its decision to digitally remove the names and images of the only black couple in 'Couples Retreat' on the film's UK movie poster.It "regretted offending anyone, huh"? How about they simply don't put the Negroes in the movie in the first place next time?
According to England's The Daily Mail, a Universal spokesman said the updated ad was released "to simplify the poster to actors who are most recognizable in international markets."
But some are calling foul on the complete removal of actors Kali Hawk and Faizon Love from the film's poster. "I think this was an ill-conceived move," Mediawatch-UK director Vivienne Pattison told the Mail. "We celebrate diversity in Britain and we could have coped with seeing the same poster used in America."
In the U.S. version, all eight principal stars, including Hawk and Love, are seen standing knee-deep in water with their names displayed above. For the UK version, a different backdrop is shown with only the six (white) actors and actresses on display.
"Any discrepancy between the posters is cause for alarm because it makes racist assumptions about target markets," says Ann Simonton, founder of the non-profit organization Media Watch. "But this is a somewhat common response to how advertisers target audiences. So much of advertising depends on our ignorance and it's important for the consumer to remain ignorant. When they eliminate diversity, it maintains this false view of our world. It's sickening to think about what the industry's motives are, but it's important that they be called on it."
Daily Mail film critic Jason Solomons weighed in over the weekend, noting, "We don't cater much for the black cinema-going audience in this country, which is a great shame, so it seems strange that when there are black stars in a major feature film, this fact isn't promoted. And, in terms of business decisions, this seems a pretty counter-productive one."
For its part, Universal has acknowledged the omission, saying it regretted offending anyone and is abandoning plans to use the revised poster in other countries.
Question: Is Universal pictures racist for removing the two black actors from the movie poster, or merely givin' the people what they want?
'Couples Retreat' Poster Causes Controversy in the UK [MovieFone]
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Going into this a bit deeper, is it so much "diversity for the sake of diversity" that bugs you as much as it's the lazy reliance on trite stereotypes? If these two black characters had felt like they were cut from some new cloth, would anything be wrong with the gratuitious diversity?
If yes, why so?
It has a lot more to do with the characters being completely inconsequential to the story than it does them being stereotypical. They were proverbial "3rd legs". They added nothing to movie, which came off as patronizing.
So, that's why its not too shocking (and maybe not even racist IMHO) that they were excluded from the movie poster. Frankly, I'm shocked they were on it in the first place.
What's sad is that the word "racist" gets tossed around so much I don't hardly know when to apply it any more. I guess I'm more appalled that no one in the publicity department thought anyone would notice.
I guess the UK is like - hey, we never claimed to be post-racial!
I had no interest in seeing the movie, so it doesn't bother me regardless. It's humorous on that level, however...
A story I read on it was that it truly was marketing.
That story, probably off of AP-Yahoo! said that they decided to not market the blacks because blacks don't tend to do well in movies overseas. Such as Will Smith has never opened up past seven in a box office line-up and clearly July 4th is Big Willie weekend here in America.
Dat ish stinks to high heaven, they knew what they were doing. Racist? No. Just insensitive as hell and callous.
Well considering that the UK is probably at least or probably even more racially inclusive as the US so saying its racist doesn't hold water. The real reason probably is the characters role in the movie is very minimal. Like i said in the original post If all black characters going to portray is a negative stereotypical comic relief leave them out please. I would rather be ignored than mocked.
I have to respectfully disagree, at least in part, with the "third leg" concept. I haven't seen the movie, but I know what you're talking about. Thing is, there are gazillions of white characters in movies that could easily fit that description of "useless to the plot." It's just that when the third leg characters are the only blacks in an otherwise white setting, people will notice their "uselessness" more.
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