Magic Minorities - Page 2

The Big Lebowski has a Magical Cowboy.

 

He's just as white as everyone else in the movie, but he's definitely framed as being a different species than the rest of the SoCal menagerie.

Dolph Lundgren is a magical caucasian in I Come In Peace. he even helps Brian Benben find love in addition to catching the alien drug dealer.

Worst perpetrator of the Magical Aboriginal in recent years is Baz Lurhmann's "Australia." And to make things even more annoying, it's also a KID and the GODDAMN NARRATOR OF THE MOVIE.

 

Seriously. The kid stops a stampede with his magical Kid Aboriginal-ness. Fuck that movie so hard.

Whoopi Goldberg in Girl, Interrupted comes to mind. 

Whoopie Goldberg on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Guinan does indeed get fleshed out over time, and her character played a big role in Star Trek: Generations (as well as befriending Mark Twain), but at the same time she did often serve as a magic minority when the plot required it, sitting in Ten Forward and dispensing wisdom. In fact she is revealed to be literally magical in that she's part of an immortal race, if I remember correctly.

Yeah, but she fuckin' HATES Q. I always liked the weird voodoo curse stance she takes when he first shows up.

Come on, Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost? Are we just naming black characters now? 

 

Also I would dispute the black teacher from American History X. I think you're referring to the really zealously anti-racist principal or something of that nature? If I recall correctly, doesn't his magical negro trope get subverted when he gets a little TOO zealously anti-racist, to the brink of fascism? I feel like that character was definitely implicated in some bad shit by the end of the movie. In fact that's one of things I remember most about that film, that little upending of the character. 

 

His friend in prison, however, is so magical it hurts. To be fair though, I'd say that was a broad a stereotype as Ethan Suplee and Fairuza Balk were Awful Rednecks. 

 

ETA - Well, I guess Oda Mae was literally magical. But still! She was the most fully formed person in the movie! 

And she got to make out with Demi Moore! Though that scene gets shown to us as Demi Moore making out with Patrick Swayze.

Yeah, Ebert pointed out that he found this a little disappointing/cowardly at the time. I imagine the reason it was done that way was because Hollywood was squeamish about showing women making out unless it was meant to be titillating. Also (more understandably), the filmmakers probably figured people would have trouble taking such an important emotional scene seriously upon seeing Whoopi Goldberg making out with Demi Moore.

Edited by Naisu Baddi - 6/15/12 at 3:44am

A Caucasian with religious/superstitious beliefs who comes from a foreign land to impart wisdom on the young apprentice...

 

You'll kick yourself... (Click to show)

 

That's actually a different trope:  Mighty Whitey

 

 

Depends on who you ask.  Some folks insist that Zwick's films are basically Mighty Whitey at its' worst, others believe them to be considerably more nuanced and if nothing else at least well-intentioned.

 

Of course, I'd note that a lot of the people that lean towards the "Mighty Whitey" side of the argument often either haven't watched the films or appear to have fundamentally misunderstood aspects of them ("The Last Samurai" title is not referring to Tom Cruise/Nathan Algren, folks...though it is, perhaps understandable as to why people would think so).

Glory, Last Samurai, Blood Diamond... Zwick seems to have a weird fascination with placing white people at the centre of concerns that were more significant to other cultures just so he can show how enriched they were and how much they helped. His new film is about the construction of the Great Wall of China. Guess what race the lead is?

 

I'm not denying he's well-intentioned I just think it's reductive and kind of weird.

 

The story of the Massachusetts 54th is the story of Robert Shaw, who was a fascinating, honorable man. It's not reductive to have a white person at the center of Glory. Shaw very much was the center of that story. With Blood Diamond, I think you could have made a great film out of just the Djimon Hounsou side of the script, but the reason blood diamonds are an issue is because there are wealthy westerners who are willing to buy them. So, in that way, it makes sense to have the Danny Archer and Maddie Bowan characters. Plus, DiCaprio is so much fun in that role that if anything I think the movie could have used more of him. As for The Last Samurai, Zwick had wanted to make a film about samurai for many years, and the only way it got green lit was as the Nathan Algren story. I happen to like the movie, but I'll admit that a film that was all Katsumodo all the time might have been even better. I can't think of a single magic minority though from any of Zwick's films. His minority characters are generally strong, driven people with their own agendas and lives separate from what's going on with the white lead.

Edited by Dr Harford - 6/15/12 at 10:06pm

Yoda is the ultimate Magic Minority. For realz!

 

 

Star Wars is serious business, son!

 

It's been widely commented on that Yoda is a de facto stand in for Vietnam: He's small, wise, does not use any sort of technology, but yet has access to The Force, which he describes as a spiritual energy that permeates the universe and everything in it (which is a kind of Animism: not sure how well that matches actual religion in Vietnam).

 

Another magic minority; the American Indians in X-Files.

American Indians in Avatar.

 

Fuckin' Avatar.

 

I think people have trouble seeing Whoopi Goldberg making out with anyone, man or woman.

"I was a fool to think anyone would want to see naked photos of Whoopi Goldberg!"

 

(pit spits them back out)

"Nywuh?"

Charles S Dutton !

 

Rudy

 

One of the greatest inspirational speeches of all time!

 

 

Alien3 (actually FIGHTS an Alien for Ripley)

 

Man I miss Roc. Charles S. Dutton is just fabulous, but too often the Magic Minority.

I remember reading Journey to the Center of the Earth as a little kid and being sort of offended by the depiction of the Icelandic guide, Hans. Not sure why. 

 

 

 

"Crocodile Dundee" ekes a number of gags out of sending up the cliched spiritual, magical aborigine. 

 

"You can't take my photograph"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You believe it will take your spirit away."

"Nah, you've got the lens cap on."

 

"How does he find his way in the dark?"

"He thinks his way. A lot of people believe that they're telepathic."

[Neville trips over a branch]

"Ooh I hate the bush"

 

etc

 

Of course, it rather undermines its stance with the whole cliche of Mick's outback skill sets (which have something of a "magical" connotation to them in places) setting him apart from the rest. But he's the main character, so it's a different trope I guess.

I just saw The Intouchables this morning, which is a 2011 French film that's now in limited release here in the States. It's based on the "true story" of a very wealthy quadriplegic who hires a young black man from the wrong side of the tracks to be his personal caretaker. It's actually a very funny, touching film and I highly recommend seeing it, if it's playing in your town.

 

But yeah. Young, black kid from the streets does what myriad caretakers before him could not do, and touches the lives of everyone in the manor, and helps the quadriplegic fall back in love with life. Then you get to the very end, and...

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

Yeah...

Hey, it's better than what was done in Extraordinary Measures, in which a real life Asian doctor was played by Harrison Ford.

 

Or is it?

The Right Stuff is one of the greatest movies of the '80s but I sure could do without the scene where the Aborigines pray for John Glenn.

 

Any thoughts on Jame Earl Jones in Field of Dreams?

James Earl Jones was resistant to the hero's entire quest, not to mention the notion of magic itself. Further, the character was an accomplished and respected author, who had chosen to withdraw from public life, and has to be kidnapped at "gun point" before he'll accompany Kevin Costner to a baseball game, much less share with him advice or enlightenment.

Just doesnt fit the mold for me.

American Indian activist, musician and actor Floyd Red Crow Westerman features in several episodes as well as a season ending cliffhanger, as a Navajo medicine man and elder who helps bring Fox Mulder back to life after he confronts a train box car full of horror, hidden in the desert of the reservation. He also gives Mulder advice and info, of a mysterious and mystic nature over the years, as I recall.

He is definitely a magic minority, but he's also an incredibly cool guy, and I think it's a great role. Actually I think the X Files is very respectful to Native Americans and native American mythology as a rule.

Hilariously enough, Red Crow Westernan was the American Indian Spirit Guide for Jim Morrison in The Doors (another role and movie I actually very much approve of).

That brings to mind the American Indians in Natural Born Killers.

 

Good points. I guess if anything, Costner is the magical dude who saves him.

Pretty sure the real life dude was of Middle Eastern descent.

 

Glad you could get past the questionable racism of that film. I couldn't, mostly due to bits where he laughs at orchestral music then puts Earth Wind And Fire on and gets the white stiffs to dance.

Has anyone mentioned the Kinky Asian Femme Fatale yet?

 

 

 

 

She's trained in the mystical arts, and uses her powers for evil. It's not racist when she gets hers in the end, 'cuz she's evil. Right?

 

This is the first example that comes to mind, but I'm sure there are many others.

 

Costner is always the magical dude in movies.

 

He didn't do a good job saving Kennedy, though, did he?

Looks like THE CROW.

Yep.

 

The baddie's girlfriend in Live Free or Die Hard fits this pretty closely, only instead of mystic abilities she knows kung fu. After she makes her exit from the film John McClane says something like 'I'm sure you can always get another Asian hooker' to the villian.

Lucy Liu in PAYBACK also fits the Kinky Asian Femme Fatale.

And then Tarantino uses her to sort of subvert the idea with O Ren Ishi.

I really dig The Brothers Bloom, but the character of Bang Bang could be said to fit the mysterious Asian fetish girl trope.

I don't know if Tarantino is necessarily subverting it or not, but that character is way too fleshed out and unique to be considered any kind of a stock character.

 

As to a few points made earlier in the thread, the term I've always heard used for the white person who helps out the group of minorities is the "White Savior"*. See urban school/sports dramas: Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers, The Blind Side, Glory Road, Hardball, Finding Forrester**, etc; historical dramas, such as almost every movie Zwick has made***, Lawrence of Arabia, Amistad, Last of The Mohicans, Avatar, etc.; and other films where the white person steps in on behalf of the troubled minorities: Grand Torino, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Help, The Ghosts of Mississippi, Cool Runnings...

 

*The first point I'd like to make is that not all of these movies have pat prejudices or themes. And a few of the ones I listed are even classics. But the central conflicts still resolve around issues of people of different ethnicities, and the main protagonists are all white.

 

**In a case like this, the issue isn't so much that Sean Connery's character is a mentor to a black student that makes it a white savior movie, but that he's a mentor to black student from the hood. Things like 'You the man now, dawg' are simply insulting, and this is one of the main problems with portrayals of minorities in film, the assumption that all of us come from impoverished, violent communities on the low end of the socio-economic ladder (and of course when there is a black or brown character that doesn't come from that type of community, they are generally portrayed as Uncle Toms).

 

***I recognize that some of Zwicks films, as well as other ones on here are based on true stories. But they still choose to cast the main players in the events as the white ones, and the fact is that (moving on to a different director), true story or no, a movie like Glory Road has no reason to get made. It's been done to death. At the very least, use one of the minority characters as the main character, and use their perception of how race affects the whole thing, rather than focusing on the good hearted white people standing up for them. Remember The Titans is a crap film all around, but at least it handles its racial themes in a dignified manner.

 

Thank God somebody brought this up.  As a minority I get so sick and tired of seeing enthic people treated with either kid gloves making it seem incredibly contrived, or those characters (and by extension all minorities) outright insulted with unbelievably cliched characteristics...it's not that all characters in movies don't fit some sort of stereotypical mold, it's that minorities continually seem to be painted with negative characteristics (blacks are usually either aggressive, loud and unruly, or constantly spouting ghetto-tastic one-liners, or just boring Uncle Tom types who seem completely desexualized, especially if they're playing opposite a white female lead...no sexual chemistry allowed.  And blacks are treated the best in films!...don't get me started on Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, who may as well not even exist.  Are there exceptions?  Of course, but a broken clock is right twice a day.

Is that the line in the film? I seem to remember it differently.

 

Edited to add: I guess not, I checked the script online.

Edited by Dr Harford - 6/22/12 at 9:05am