Media: Guess Who and Bringing Down the House

For our topic this week, I decided to post a clip from the movie Guess Who? featuring Ashton Kutcher, Zoe Saldana, and Bernie Mac. In it, Ashton Kutcher is Zoe's boyfriend, being brought home to meet the family for the first time. This is the dinner scene, where Ashton Kutcher first meets the grandfather. The grandfather is dismayed that Zoe's boyfriend is not black, displaying how often times older generations want their kids and grandkids to marry within their race. Ashton is forced to make racist jokes, after he offends Bernie Mac, Zoe's father, and her grandfather by repeating a racist comment his grandma said. I think this clip is a good example of how in trying to navigate racism we can get ourselves into worse situations, but also how comedy uses racism and makes light of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kBu4Z5ii94

There's a very interesting process going on for the viewers in this scene. First, we pity Ashton Kutcher, then we agree with his view that racist jokes are terrible, and then we laugh at his racist jokes - which he tells so as to not "empower" them - and the entire situation he is in. The scene deliberately uses racism and racist issues in America to add to the comedy of the movie.

I also found a clip from Bringing Down the House. The movie features Steve Martin as a lawyer, and Queen Latifah as a convict wanting to clear her name. The two meet online, with Queen Latifah using the name lawyergirl. She manages to convince Steve Martin she is a blonde, skinny lawyer, and the two arrange a date. Steve Martin is shocked when he realizes he has allowed himself to be tricked, and refuses to help Queen Latifah. In this clip, she visits him at work, with some evidence that could help her case. The clip starts at 5:45, and shows how black people who speak in AAVE (African American Vernacular English) are not expected to be intelligent.