MovieChat Forums > Bringing Down the House (2003) Discussion > 'Bringing Down the House' How ironic!

'Bringing Down the House' How ironic!

posted 22 years ago by Debbieuk
9 replies | jump to latest

This film is not a satire of racism, it's just stupid. Up to this point I'd loved every Steve Martin film, sadly I found 'Bringing Down the House' to be an insult to anyone with an IQ beyond that of their shoe size. The plot was predictable- that I could deal with because there are very few 'original' movies. What makes 'Bringing Down the House' so poor is that clearly it was trying to be too clever, it was trying to make fun of how we stereotype people according to race and social standing but it was too badly written to communicate this to the audience. I loved Queen Latifah in Chicago but I didn't realise what a poor actress she was until I saw this film.
Let's take the character of the little old neighbourhood lady- was she representing the 1st generation voice of white middle class racists? If so why was she not the one who was to be reformed as opposed to Steve Martin's character who really didn't display such overt bigoted traits in the first place.
Personally I hated the Queen Latifah character, if anything I think she'd encourage people to become racist, embodying every annoying and obnoxious habit a bigot would impose on an ethnic minority. I do accept that in England we have different race issues than those in USA but I couldn't appreciated 'Bringing Down the House' on any level. If you want to see a good racism satire film watch 'Blazing Saddles' Thanks for listening, don't see the film!

[–] solidus1299 22 years ago

i think youare confusing racism with the mixing of cultures. latifah didnt HATE martin's character before he was "transformed", so how is she a racist? there is obviously alot of strong racial satire, (which not many people can handle) in this film, but by no means, in my opinion, is this meant to hurt any specific race. On the contrary, it is meant to overcome racial barriers and let the cultures mix. All the other stuff you said about the movie, I agree with you, it was predictable, it was very badly written,and blazing saddles IS great but I do not believe it to be offensive to anyone, if they are open-minded enough.

another thing, I think that the movie meant for latifah to transform martin to a black person, I think she was trying to transform him to a more youthful generation. I figure this because if a white kid saw the movie, i doubt he would find it offensive, since martin's character is VERY uptight, even for (according to the movie) a common white person.

[–] Rockmand16 22 years ago

i am white and i found this movie to be very funny, and even though some characters were racist, i didnt find this movie to be offensive at all.

[–] Budee43 22 years ago

well didn't she tell the kids how fun it would be to go down by the pool and make fun of the stupid white people.

[–] Rockmand16 22 years ago

Your point is...

[–] xemodreamer 22 years ago

the character was joking. they even mention that she was joking in the movie.

[–] 22 years ago

[deleted]

[–] katrina11brain 22 years ago

omg debbieuk get a hobby and a life!! who would waste there time righting a stupid paragraph insulting this movie? damn it u are so stupid

[–] Sunshine14clr 21 years ago

Katrina, it is just her opinion. there isn't anything wrong with talking about a film. this site isn't just to praise movies, its to talk about them even if you dislike them. u don't have to attack her like that.....oh by the way its WRITE....not righting.....maybe you're the slow one........

[–] Debbieuk 21 years ago

Thank you sunshine. I was just catching up on the replies to my messages, I am glad it sparked a small debate. Personally when I feel passionate about any subject matter I do feel the need to express an opinion but I respect the choice of others to disagree. I think it'd be hard to dismiss the racism aspect of Bringing down the house simply because of the elements such as the slave song and the whole representation of white upper class lawyers and black criminals. I think if someone is going to make fun of the way society labels different races or cultures then it has to be handled in an intelligent and careful manner. Bringing down the house was a bit of a mess, it just didn't say very much, wasn't very funny and instead of pointing out how people can be overtly racist and making fun of it, I personally felt it actually encouraged racism. There wasn't very much consequence of actions from what I recall though to be honest it was now too long ago to remember and it's the kind of film I'd choose to forget.
PS I doubt very much that anyone could perceive it to be 'sad' to write about something they're passionate about. I was burgled the other day and I'd consider those people to be 'sad' if more people just typed messages on the internet instead of causing real harm to other people it'd be a better world.