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In 1986, teen heartthrob C. Thomas Howell took on the role of a lifetime in Soul Man, starring as a rich kid who pretends to be black to get into Harvard, painting his face and donning a Jheri curl wig. Hollywood learned from its mistakes, with only a Jar Jar Binks or two slipping through the cracks of blockbuster racism nowadays.
Well, this week Hollywood Theatre will host Soul Man in Hecklevision (in collaboration with Movies in Black & White), with an audience tweeting live commentary about the racism during a screening of Soul Man. The organizers invited comedians to come and tweet jokes. We wanted to know what other racist movies the expert panelists think deserve the Hecklevision treatment.
District 9 (2009)
It's supposedly an allegory about Apartheid, yet has white actors playing nearly every significant role. In fact, the only black actors you see on screen are either drug dealers, pimps or prostitutes. It's actually hilarious how far this movie misses the mark while at the same time trying to be heavy handed. The fact that every single extra at all of the government offices is also white is insane, especially considering the movie is set in a post-Apartheid South Africa. It's a racist movie that tries to address the horrors of racism. You really don't get much more racist than that. – Dan Weber, comic and host of Reading the Bible with Dan
Crash (2004)
This is a straight-up racist movie. It's racist that we lend it any gravity. It's thinly-drawn stereotypes illustrating how racism pervades society but how "we're all the same, gosh-darn-it" through improbable coincidences, inspired by an incident in which writer/director Paul Haggis's Porsche was carjacked. And we ate it up because we thought meant we weren't racist. It's like the Academy wanted to prove they had at least one black friend. I'm pretty sure it karmically laser-focused in on and obliterated Brendan Fraser's career. That's on us, for rewarding Crash. – Jon Washington, host of These are the People podcast
True Lies (1994)
I don't know if it's intentionally racist or not, but every time I watch it, I can't help but think that James Cameron really enjoyed coming up with horrific and ridiculous ways for Arabs to die. – Jason Lamb, Movies in Black & White founder, co-host of Minority Retort.
Dangerous Minds (1995)
I don't know that I'm uniquely qualified to comment on race issues, since I'm very white and my name is literally Becky, but I remember when Dangerous Minds came out, that movie had kind of an ick factor about it. I mean watching a white lady with an intermittent regional accent swoop down to save everybody (except Emilio) from the cruel jaws of the streets by shoehorning them into the library with the promise of a hot meal for reading a poem felt a little weird even then. – Becky Braunstein, comic
Norbit (2007)
Eddie Murphy plays the title character, a sniveling, bitter "nice guy" who hates his lover, Rasputina (also Murphy), who is the most misogynistic, fat phobic she-devil to ever fart up the silver screen. He also plays Mr. Wong… that no one told Murphy that he shouldn't portray the most offensive, dog-eating, heavily accented Chinese person imaginable is utterly gobsmacking. Say what you will about 16 Candles' The Donger, but at least he was played by an actor of that race, and with no small amount of charm.
For most of it's screen time, Norbit can't decide if it hates fat women or Chinese men more. We reach a climax of sorts, where Plot A of sexist fat phobia meets the Plot B of casual racism: Murphy's Mr. Wong grabs a loose spear, and attempts to stab Rasputina through her hideous, fat body (It basically says) "You can't stop chinese people from whale hunting! And fat bitches = whales." Rimshot. Ellipses. Crickets. – Carolyn Main, cartoonist
GO: Hecklevision and Movies in Black & White screen Soul Man at the Hollywood Theatre 9:30 pm Thursday, Aug. 11.
ALSO PLAYING:
The Queer Commons series presents the landmark 1985 lesbian romance Desert Hearts, the tale of a professor who visits a ranch to escape the stresses of her divorce, only to become entranced by the owner's daughter. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Aug. 10.
Church of Film's Love & Eternity series features Swedish director Hasse Ekman's Girl with Hyacinths, the story of a middle-aged man seeking answers after becoming the soul beneficiary of his deceased young neighbor's will. North Star Ballroom. 8 pm Wednesday, Aug. 10
Weird Wednesday unearths a truly glorious cinematic turd in Curse of Bigfoot, a teen creature feature bolstered to feature length using discarded footage from other, crappier movies. Joy Cinema. 9:15 pm Wednesday, Aug. 10.
Rushmore gets the Movies at Dusk treatment at Pix, which, like the movie, is kind of perfect, considering that Max Fischer himself might enjoy the setting. Pix Patisserie. Dusk Monday, Aug. 10.
Ridley Scott's 1985 fantasy epic Legend hasn't aged perfectly, but Tim Curry as the devil remains the stuff of nightmares. Mission Theater. Opens Wednesday, Aug. 10.
This year, Sylvester Stallone lost the Oscar race. unexpectedly And considering Rocky is now 40, well, there's a special kind of irony to that. Mission Theater. Opens Wednesday. Aug. 10.
Like an eastern take on Alice in Wonderland, Hiroyki Okiura's A Letter to Momo is a colorful look at a young girl whose adventures with the fantastic run parallel to real-world issues. It remains an overlooked gem. Clinton Street Theater. 7 pm Thursday, Aug. 11.
With Attack the Block, Brit Joe Cornish beat Stranger Things to the Amblin-loving punch by five years with the story of modern goonies taking on an alien threat with fireworks and a few (well, a bunch) of well-placed swears. It remains one of the best sci-fi romps of the decade. Hotel deLuxe. 7 pm Thursday, Aug. 11.
The Hollywood's 90th anniversary celebration continues with the Oregon-shot Buster Keaton classic The General, featuring a live score from Portland composer Mark Orton. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Friday. Aug. 12 & 19.
Flicks on the Bricks transforms the Square into… well, it's still the Square. But now it's playing Willy Wonka! And Quin Candy is nearby. And there's a performance by Kory Quin! So, um, there's a connection there somewhere, if you just use your… um, brain? Pioneer Courthouse Square. Dusk. Friday, Aug. 12.
The avant garde documentary Sonic Outlaws traces the story of legendary Bay Area-shit-stirrers Negativland and their fight against the evils of U2. 5th Avenue Cinema. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, 3:30 pm Sunday Aug. 12-14.
5th Avenue Cinema rolls out a tribute to A Tribe Called Quest's Fife Dawg—one of the many lost legends this year—with the tender and triumphant documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life, following the rise and fall of the hip hop innovators. 5th Avenue Cinema. 7 & 9:30 pm Friday-Saturday, 3 pm Sunday, Aug 12-14.
The NW Film Center's retrospective of Joan Crawford-starring subversive melodrama continues with cross-generational romance Humoresque (Friday), the manic Possessed (Sunday) and the Otto Preminger-directed forgotten masterpiece Daisy Kenoyn (Monday), a film notable for its then-uncommon sympathy for a woman in a love triangle. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium. See NWFilm.org for full details.
The 1987 Navy-based murder mystery No Way Out may have laid the groundwork for pap like The General's Daughter, but the pairing of Gene Hackman and Kevin Costner is still one of the best mainstream potboilers of its era. Laurelhurst Theater. Friday-Thursday, Aug. 12-18.
The Goonies once again hits a Portland screen. Why nobody's made this a permanent thing is still dumbfounding! Academy Theater. Friday-Thursday, Aug. 12-18.
Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot may have been a breakout for Marilyn Monroe, but let's be honest: Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon look pretty great in those dresses too. Hollywood Theatre. 2 pm Saturday-Sunday. Aug. 13-14.
Michael Ironside will be in attendance for a screening of the Cronenberg classic Scanners, followed by a Q&A in which he will hopefully stare violently—explosively!—at whoever brings up Free Willy. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Saturday, Aug. 13.
Willamette Week