A 5 at best
This movie has its moments, but overall, it's at best a 5/10, and that's pushing it.
shareAnd yet it is considered a comedy classic by most everyone else, not just for its slapstick humor, but for the way it addressed racial issues.
I can understand the racial factor (although I hate the use of the n-word for any reason whatsoever), but never understood the allure of slapstick comedy. It was barely funny in silent movies. The only successful example I can think of slapstick is the Naked Gun series, and then really only a handful of scenes.
shareThat’s where we have differences. Words are just that – words. They don’t bother me. What bothers me is the context in which they are used. I’m far less bothered by the use of the N-word in the context of showing racism & stupidity than I am when it is used in rap songs, movies, TV shows, etc. as an accepted way to talk.
I find that people who have a zero-tolerance of the N-word are usually the same ones who want to ban a book like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” for the use of it, regardless of the fact that it is used in the proper context (Civil War era talking) and is used to show a boy (and the rest of us) that we are all the same under the skin.
As far as slapstick humor, to each their own, but I think you are just too stuffy. I don’t only laugh at slapstick, but slapstick in our everyday life happens. When it is funny, we laugh – or at least the ones of us who aren’t “above” laughing at silliness.
I absolutely hate that word, and don't want to hear it/read it. Even saying "n-word" is bad enough, IMO.
I think being stuffy is when you actually find something funny, but won't let yourself laugh at it, that is, won't admit it to yourself internally. I, on the other hand, don't find it funny, with minor exceptions. Some of Peter Sellers' scenes in the Pink Panther films are funny, and even then it is the French accent I find funny, not so much the slapstick.
I absolutely hate that word, and don't want to hear it/read it. Even saying "n-word" is bad enough, IMO.
Well, then there is nothing left to discuss. share
I am sorry, I should have mentioned that I enjoyed our exchange. For one thing, most exchanges on the internet and especially IMDB, are full of hate and name calling, so this was a breath of fresh air.
shareI feel the same about the exchange, but I find it pointless to have a discussion with someone who embraces zero-tolerance.
In all seriousness, I've seen schools ban "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" because blacks objected to it having the N-word in it. I'm not saying we should celebrate the word, but it was used in the correct context and the message it delivered was the best it could. Of any books, that and "To Kill A Mockingbird" should be must reads for all schools in America. But, people want to ban that book as well for the use of the N-word.
Unfortunately, too many people now ONLY concentrate on the word and not the message. They aren't able/willing to look beyond the superfluous and get to the actual important part.
I agree w/ you. Your point of view is correct. I would never advocate banning books. I am just saying that, in a perfect world designed by me (!), I would go through my day never coming across that word.
I wonder if there are edited versions of Finn that do not contain that word?
There probably are, and it would ruin the message. My kids aren't teens yet, and I don't use the N-word around them. They know what it is, but it isn't used in our home.
I have the movies "Lincoln" and "42" saved to show them what it was like back then. I think it is important that we don't forget what it was like. And, I think to have my son watch "42" and hear guys say, "I don't want to have an African-American on my team." won't give him the same appreciation as an unedited version.
And it is also why I'm so saddened that African Americans are so loose with their use of the N-word.
> And it is also why I'm so saddened that African Americans are so loose
> with their use of the N-word.
YES! My sentiments exactly.
BTW, I loved the part in Lincoln where it showed how he rode to the WH in a horse-drawn carriage w/ one body guard next to him!
There is another really good movie, although I can't remember if the N-word is used. Likely it is due to the time period. Men of Honour. It's based on a true story about the first AA Navy Diver.
shareSo, instead, what the middle and high schools have in their library are books like Twilight. Sorry if you're a fan, but the level of writing between that and a lot of literature today just can't even hold a candle to Mockingbird or Huck Finn. As much as I hated reading most of the Hemingway books I read, I have to admit, the man had a way with words.
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