MovieChat Forums > Switched at Birth (2011) Discussion > "Lil Wayne"

"Lil Wayne"

posted 8 years ago by NamelessinNewJersey
21 replies | jump to latest

Please don't tell me that superficially dressing up as a public figure of another race is going to be condemned in the next episode. Mingo wore an (accurate) braided wig, cap, and "diamond teeth." That's how you dress up as any celebrity: you use their most defining or wacky or joked-about features so everyone knows who you are. No one was mocking black people or black features in general (which was the case in black-face). They were having some fun with a particular public figure. It's widely understood that public figures are fair game (even the law sees it that way) - and in this case they weren't even saying anything unkind about him. More like cheering for him... with a sense of humor.

I suppose it's too much to ask for, but I really hope this isn't one of those things where the white kids take in a sober, self-flagellating lesson about microaggressions and the history of black-face. I wish it hadn't come up at all, but if the show has to go this way, I hope there will at least be some mutual understanding where the white kids get why Iris reacted that way but Iris gets that just because you can pick up a whiff of something racial, it doesn't necessarily mean anyone has done anything wrong.

[–] clancy98-101-791445 8 years ago

I couldn't agree more with what you are saying. Sure it would have been racist if he painted his face black and was making jokes but he wasn't. Lil Wayne is a celebrity who dresses very out of character from the norm, I don't see a problem. It's like telling a black girl she can't be Cinderlla for Halloween.

[–] monica_x333 8 years ago

I agree. The girl overreacted. I have seen many people of other races dress up as lil Wayne and from what I have seen no one has been bothered by it. I guess the show is just trying to teach a lesson about it.

[–] SyberiaWinx 8 years ago

Stupid stuff like this actually happens. Lucy Hale, one of the stars of Pretty Little Liars, got an unbelievable amount of ridicule for posting a picture of herself with what people considered a "Latina" hairstyle. It's ridiculous.

---------------------
Obviously! - A Sherlock Forum. http://obviouslysherlock.proboards.com/index.cgi?

[–] kolnoaMograbi 8 years ago

Agree w/all of you. However, regardless of whether Iris over-reacted or not, Daphne should've gone after her instead of continuing to party with Mingo. It's just what a friend should do, no?

"When you think of garbage, think of Akeem!"

[–] kirx 8 years ago

Nope.

[–] EmilyTheDramaQueen 8 years ago

I agree. It's not like he did black face like that stupid cheerleader from the Cowboys did a few years back, it's not that big of a deal.

"Who lives, who dies, who tells your story"

[–] J-Jams 8 years ago

There has to be something more to the story because I'm not getting it. The guy in the promo dressed up exaxtly like Lil Wayne and he looked fine to me. I thought it had something to do with black face but he didn't do that so what's the problem here? Unless he saids the n word, he's just another person on Halloween dressed up as a celebrity.

I am going to wait to see what happens but hopefully there is more to this story.

[–] bjamzilla 8 years ago

This show as usual did get it all wrong. In the real world, people take issue with other races mimicking black figures using BLACKFACE(who, for those who don't know was historically used to mock black people in vaudeville shows). But Mingo was not in blackface, so this issue loses all impact and makes actual cases of this happening on college campuses seem invalid. It just goes to show how out of touch the writers were. (That, or I wonder if the network wouldn't let them tackle black face)

Another thing that made no sense to me in this episode was how Daphne still identifies as Puerto Rican. She knows shes not Regina's biological kid and the last time I checked, Kansas is nowhere near Puerto Rico. You don't get to choose your heritage.

Wildcattin'...Wildcattin'. Pow! I'm gonna go.

[–] Taco_Lips 8 years ago

Yeah I knew it would be poorly handled, just like the rape/consent storyline. The writers are mediocre at best, and fail to make any valid point that might have been folded into the mess that is this series.

Even Iris' speech at the end hardly made sense because this idea that she suddenly didn't feel safe in her dorm all because Mingo chose to dress up as a celebrity whose race she happened to be from, was absolutely without logic or context.

If she has issue with his dress style, she should maybe take it up with black rappers like Lil Wayne who actively dress up like this in seriousness and somehow expect to be respected for it while they promote this trend along with the 'thug-life' idealogy, which all just brings down the entire black community.

I hope perhaps they look in to how certain campus groups can also make people see issues where there maybe aren't some, or at least make it a bigger deal than something was. So like Iris and her black student union, suddenly she's very sensitive about black issues, only after joining that group/cause.

I've seen the same thing with female friends who joined feminist groups in College, suddenly they saw sexism and oppression EVERYWHERE in the slightest little thing, despite it not even remotely being thought about in the context they were trying to twist it.

But I doubt they will have the balls to get into that side of things, either.

Don't get me started on how Daphne got sucked into it, like seriously how did she become an issue (before the article she wrote) to be called out and hated like she did? Talk about the writers trying to make it all about Daphne... *eyeroll*

But if they do want to go that route, why not bring it back around to her Deafness, her being switched, her being raised by a single alcoholic latina woman in a poor neighborhood. People then judging her as a rich white girl despite not knowing anything about her etc.

Bottom line: People judge everyone on how they look, which absolutely sucks and something I absolutely try not to do in life, and actively teach children and even other adults that judging someone by their race, weight, clothes, disability, and on and on should never be done.


Riddle wrapped inside an enigma, wrapped inside a taco.

[–] jonnypenn84 8 years ago

In all fairness... she was raised in a puertorican household her whole life with her mother and grandma. She grew up with the culture. Plus she lived in a puertorican neighborhood

[–] geniebean4 8 years ago

yeah, exactly. this issue isn't cut and dried. i mean, white people from puerto rico identify as puerto rican, so her situation is sort of similar to that? they dealt with this in an ep a while back when daphne applied for a latina scholarship and was rejected for being white. it was established that she still thinks of herself as puerto rican and so does regina.

[–] Manna-Fest 8 years ago

yeah, exactly. this issue isn't cut and dried. i mean, white people from puerto rico identify as puerto rican, so her situation is sort of similar to that?

Um, that depends if those white people were declared citizens of Puerto Rico. It's like the immigrants who come into America and pass the citizenship test. They become American, so those white people are fine declaring themselves Puerto-Rican. That's not the case with Daphne who wasn't born there nor became a citizen there so simply being raised by Regina doesn't make her a Puerto Rican in anyway. She and Regina are both clueless to think that and anyone else who feels this way. That's not how this works.

they dealt with this in an ep a while back when daphne applied for a latina scholarship and was rejected for being white.

Well that's reasonable because she IS white. Her parents are white and not Hispanic. She would not be Hispanic/Latina whatever in anyway. Being raised by a Hispanic woman/family doesn't make you Hispanic or a nationality of wherever these people came from. Bay would be Hispanic because she's actually Regina's daughter and it's a race to describe anyone of Spanish descent. She wouldn't be Puerto Rican since that's a nationality, but she would be Hispanic. Daphne isn't Puerto Rican and isn't of Spanish descent so she's not Hispanic. She's simply white and should be seen as such as her parents are.

[–] jonnypenn84 8 years ago

You're being wayyyy too technical. Being puertorican is more of a cultural thing nowadays. There are literally thousands of puertoricans (and their parents) in nyc that have never been to Puerto Rico before. It would be more ridiculous if bay applied for the minority scholarship

[–] Manna-Fest 8 years ago

That means nothing. A white person growing up in a black community and a black family doesn't mean they get to identify as black. Daphne is Caucasion/white, end of story. Plus, Puerto Rican is a nationality, it's something you are when you're actually born in the country or considered a citizen there so Daphne wouldn't fit the bill anyway unless she went there and became a citizen. She'll be an American-Puerto Rican, but you get the drift. It's like a British couple that comes into America and has a child. Their child wouldn't be British. They would be American.

[–] MollieDanny 8 years ago

Manna-Fest said:

That means nothing. A white person growing up in a black community and a black family doesn't mean they get to identify as black. Daphne is Caucasion/white, end of story. Plus, Puerto Rican is a nationality, it's something you are when you're actually born in the country or considered a citizen there so Daphne wouldn't fit the bill anyway unless she went there and became a citizen. She'll be an American-Puerto Rican, but you get the drift. It's like a British couple that comes into America and has a child. Their child wouldn't be British. They would be American.

But if this white person believed that a black woman gave birth to her, then this white person would likely choose to identify as black. Since I do not believe I was adopted, I find myself wanting to share that sort of cultural connection with my mother. If I knew I had been adopted, then I may seek out both identities for myself. Daphne did not know that she had been switched at birth, though. She never knew to seek out any other identity, and after sixteen years, it is not something you can change quickly, like a hat.

For your last example, wouldn't that child hold dual citizenship, if his or her parent is a British citizen who just happened to give birth in the U.S.?

Either way, human beings created race, nationality, citizenship, culture. We can define these ideas any way that we want to define them. They are human constructs.

Any child, like Daphne, who grows up believing that she has a biological connection to a certain race (or nationality) will likely identify with its culture. Even if she discovers her belief to be false in adulthood, her cultural identity will have already been formed.

If someone told me that a different woman gave birth to me, and that my biological parents' race or nationality is different from the one I know, then I would be lost, looking for a way to connect with this new culture. I only know my current culture, whether it is biologically correct or not.

Isn't that what identity is? Isn't it more what you know, than what you are?

[–] lferrigon-1 8 years ago

I hate it when people look for things to be offended about instead of stuff that is really offensive. The girl was overreacting.

[–] mrumble-704-31166 8 years ago

Like i mentioned in another post this show is making ppl look dumb.
Im not naive i know we deal with stuff like racism IRL but imo this show went about it in the wrong way. Like they did with the rape SL...do u have any idea how many ppl i know from school who drank too much at a party and had sex with a guy?..a lot.. And do u know how many of them said they were raped because they were too drunk to give concent?..not a single one..it would be diff if she wss passed out or drugged..but she wasnt..heck didn't Travis even say that at the party ppl were saying all night they were gonna hook up?
I just don't think the writers know how to properly cover these types of situations..and that's why its ending.

[–] Livana_Faolan 8 years ago

I agree. And I was especially annoyed by the fact that she sat around, waiting for people to ask her how she felt about certain issues. Lady, if it's that important to you - speak up, even if people don't ask you how you feel! Just don't be whiny about it.

"Never mind walking a mile in my shoes. Try thinking a day in my head."

[–] aya-ar 8 years ago

I can't stand people that constantly play the race card. Like seriously, how about just rise above and have some self esteem and ignore all the negativity and be yourself not your color! Which you had no choice in. The majority are not racist, the majority respect and appreciate POC, yet POC only focus on those that don't and completely ignore all the positive things that happen with and for them. A black friend of mine once told me that the amount of racial jokes in the black community is very high and common and their jokes and mocking extend to other POC's as well like Asians and Pakis, yet you don't see any of us complain! Enough already with this race bs, yes racist people sadly exist but those black successful artists, business gurus, politicians and sportsmen never seen themselves to be inferior to white people and that exactly is why they became successful.

Aya A.R

[–] LetsSnack 8 years ago

When Iris mentioned the party only wanted hot girls but then said they really meant white girls it immediately pissed me off. There are so many beautiful women of all colors. Most men especially college age men do not discriminate when it comes to girls. If you're hot you're hot. They arent talking about color they are talking completely about pretty or not pretty.

Someone wrote a few times on these boards how this storyline is actually making black people look irrational and overly sensitive and Im starting to agree. I originally thought this was overly PC to make the viewers feel bad for being white or their privileged but after reading these comments Im starting to think its also making black students look ridiculously sensitive. I dont believe this is reality and the writers are trying too hard to create controversy.

[–] aya-ar 8 years ago

Exactly, aside from the fact that God has created every single person beautifully, but yes, there are lots of very attractive black men and women so what the hell was all that about ? Totally irrelevant imo. And this show has touched many issues before (deaf communities, sign language, bankruptcy, "rape", abortion, down syndrome,mid life crises, alcoholism, gangs) so they were like oh what the heck, its last season anyways, lets go "there" so people don't say why is there barely any black relevant characters in this show.

Aya A.R