Poor Mutta. He couldn't get them to work together. Eddie seems to be making some headway though. I do think their general ineptitude is a bit exaggerated, but Phillipe's portrayal is the main one that's annoying me.
dariken said: Racism here, racism there, racism everywhere... I recall nobody screaming that from the horrible social injustice for being portrayed in racist white American stereotype when we had the fat pilot instructor who was so lazy he even used a electric wheelchair even though he didn't have to. Or the racist white Russian stereotype of men drinking heavily all the time. Or the racist stereotype of typical white weeaboo who can't even write kanji properly or understand their meanings. Or the racist stereotype of the Japanese actually being the only sane hardworking people in all of NASA, while whites are either lazy, drunkards or playing petty powergames and stabbing each others in the back all the time.
You just can't see that because you have been conditioned into believing that racism against whites does not exist, or if something indicating otherwise happens it's just harmless humor, right? But for some reason you and your kin will readily start screaming racism if any of the majority groups (blacks, hispanics or asians... they all outnumber whites globally) are portrayed in similar fashion.
I love how anime is the last bastion of entertainment that is not tainted by overt political correcteness.
Excuse me? Plenty of white people have been portrayed normally or even admirably (Brian Jay, anyone?). Deneil is portrayed as a "crazy" old man, sure, but never saw it as racist- that's actually what makes him a cool/unique character. As for the Russian portrayal... they actually are heavy drinkers, believe it or not, to the point that it would be viewed as an offense if you refused to drink with someone (apart from religious or health reasons). They are (as a culture) very family-oriented as well, which was also portrayed well. The only one I see as potentially racist is Lowry, but even that is dubious considering that there are plenty of people like that.
Whites and particularly Americans have been portrayed very nicely in the series; Hibito even mentioned preferring America to Japan earlier in the series. I don't think you can get much less racist than that when it comes to whites. (Heck, if it was made by whites, you might hear someone claiming Nasuda is a racist portrayal of Japanese people, when he isn't.)
I'm a white guy, and I'm not saying racism against whites doesn't exist, but this show seems to have a harder time portraying people of darker skin tone than any other race/nationality. Jennifer, Buddy, Amanti, and now Phillippe have all been portrayed in an exaggerated manner. Now, even the first ones aren't all that bad. Jennifer wasn't as flanderized at the start of the series; bodybuilding isn't unique to black people (nor is it Buddy's only trait); and Amanti was referred to positively (Mutta thought she was beautiful) despite having "precognition" as her defining trait. Phillipe seems like the worst example in the show so far with his overly emphasized "Yah man" moments, continual Reggae dancing, etc. It's like his entire character is comprised of a Jamaican stereotype.
What I'm trying to say is that racism as a whole is largely absent from the series, though there is subtle creep in certain areas. I think it handles trans-nationality very well overall, with characters like Phillipe being the exception rather than the rule. That shouldn't preclude someone from ever mentioning racism as a criticism, but one bad portrayal doesn't make all of the others bad either, so calling racism on the whole show seems entirely unnecessary. |