I was watching Jurassic Park 3 today and I was reminded that all 3 of those movies had the black guy die. Horribly. It can only happen so many times before you start to think something’s up. It happened all over, action films, horror, thrillers. The worst is when the black guy goes to get himself killed and then none of the other characters even comments on it after he disappears.

The word “representation” gets a lot of flack, but when I was growing up it was really demoralizing to watch film after film where the black dude was either a clown or was horribly killed a few minutes into the movie. Unless it was a hood movie anyway, but there’s an obvious problem there.

Anyway, this isn’t one of my more thoughtful rants, but just something I actually do like about modern film.

  • multitotal@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    I liked the trope, because it was a reflection of the racism inherent in American society. It was there for everyone to see. Getting rid of the trope didn’t get rid of the racism. But now Hollywood libs can pat themselves on the back, just how Congress democrats took a knee in African garb while doing nothing about the laws that disproportionately target Black people or about the racist police force.

  • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    Someone should do a horror movie where the black guy keeps finding himself in the position of Guy About to Die, only to accidentally end up fine each time and survive the movie. He trips on a loose floorboard just in time to inadvertently dodge the crossbow bolt, he decides to go use the restroom right as the killer is passing by, his phone gets a text at just the right time and he doesn’t notice the eyeless ghost in the mirror that kills you for looking at it. Give me a black Arthur Dent

    Hell yeah 2 new movie recs

  • deathtoreddit@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    What? Yk I’ven’t thought of the trope at all until I remember that first scene in Jurassic Park.

    Racism is a helluva drug for these connards…

      • CicadaSpectre@lemmygrad.ml
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        4 months ago

        Muldoon wasn’t evil. He was the warden, tasked with park safety. He wasn’t super fond of the dinosaurs because they were ludicrously dangerous, especially the raptors. Honestly, he was a pretty good guy, trying to find Hammond’s grandkids, and dying covering Ellie while she ran for safety.

        • Justice@lemmygrad.ml
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          4 months ago

          Yeah, but, like, did you consider it from the dino’s point of view?

          Because I did

          But on a serious side, most of the people working at Jurassic Park (in the first one anyway) were mostly just neutral people on a good/bad scale I suppose. Except Hammond. Even Nedry (sp?) was just exploiting his exploitative boss (underpaying him).

          I don’t know how much of a point was trying to be made, but there’s definitely an underlying theme of capitalism forcing what could be a questionably ethical scientific project (bringing back extinct animals) into fast-tracked, hyper-capitalist, “just pay experts to come and rubber stamp this shit immediately so we can make money” disaster.

          • Nakoichi [they/them]@hexbear.net
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            4 months ago

            It is even more explicit that Hammond is a bastard in the books and the second book opens with some heavy anticapitalist messaging.

            Also Muldoon lives in the books.

            • Muad'Dibber@lemmygrad.ml
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              4 months ago

              I remember the first book being fairly anti-capitalist too, iirc it focused a lot on 90s silicon valley corporate culture being absolute scheming parasites, profit above all, especially lives.

            • Justice@lemmygrad.ml
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              4 months ago

              I read the first Jurassic Park book and a bunch of other Crichton books when I was like 13/14. Over 20 years ago. I enjoyed Andromeda Strain. All that shit has oozed out of my brain though and only the movies remain

          • CicadaSpectre@lemmygrad.ml
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            4 months ago

            Oh yeah. Hammond in the first film was only slightly better than in the book, from my understanding. Exploitative, rushing things, wanting quick and easy solutions, and thought he could fix shit just by throwing money at it.

      • PeeOnYou [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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        4 months ago

        wow… i have seen the movie so many times and yet I don’t recall that scene at all. It’s like I just saw it for the first time… that’s so bizarre

  • CicadaSpectre@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    I was just watching JP3 and feeling bad for Nash (and Cooper), because they die badly and are later part of a poop joke.

    Still love the movies overall, but yeah, that trope is certainly… well, a trope. It really is everywhere. Only include 1 or 2 black characters in a cast, then kill them off. Fucking wild the shit media did in my childhood that I can only notice now.

    • Mzuark@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      4 months ago

      Having two guys get eaten by dinosaurs and then making it a joke because of poop is really fucked up actually

      • CicadaSpectre@lemmygrad.ml
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        4 months ago

        And it’s not like either of their deaths were particularly clean or quick. Cooper’s actor did a really good job with his last line. Felt like genuine terror. And Nash? Poor bastard had way too much time to suffer.

        But hey, funny poop joke pulling out their bones and being stinky.

        2000s were fucking wild.

  • WhatWouldKarlDo@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    Canadian Bacon is a really dumb movie that I absolutely love. This exact trope comes up in it, and it never fails to get a chuckle from me. I like to think that the movie was at least partially responsible for ending it.

  • Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    I’m glad it died down, I mean Get Out is one of the best original horror movies of the last decades. And also for some reason Samuel L. Jackson didn’t even need to be in a horror movie to get absolutely destroyed by either shark, force lightning, explosion, mass gunfire, King fucking Kong’s fist etc.

    As far as Jurassic Park goes though, no one had it as bad as Eddie in The Lost World, Zara(babysitter) in Jurassic World and everyone who got caught by a Velociraptor.